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What angle should I set the VTA on my VPI turntable?

I can't believe after all these years, I am asking such a basic "analogue 101" question, but here it goes. I own a VPI turntable that has a "VTA on the fly" knob.  I thought the best VTA setting was for the arm to be 100% parallel to the record surface.  

However, based on some research, I am not so sure that is correct way to set the arm to achieve optimal VTA and correlatively, optimal SRA.  Not sure, ... but I think I have to raise the pivot side of the arm.

Any advice would be appreciated. 

Thanks.     
bifwynne

Showing 2 responses by hshifi

hshifi
572 posts
 
Hello,
Not even close to an expert here. Here is my two cents. Please do a final VTA adjustment after about 50 hours or per Michael Fremer set it to 93* when the cart is new. As the cart breaks in or settles you will lose about 1*. I think the angle is 92.3*. After a lot of playing you will naturally get to this. Or set it to 92* at the beginning and recalibrate after 50 hours. Regardless once set up I would do a listening setup. That’s what I did when setting up the Prime with the unipivot arm. 
hshifi
572 posts
 
Hello,
One more thing. Please do not set up your table with a cheap bubble level unless you checked or calibrated it with a really good level. I have made this mistake and found out these cheap bubble levels are not true. Your albums and your cart are not cheap. Please do not wear your gear out sooner than it should. It has been proven that a well set up cart sounds better and makes your cart and records last longer. I’m not trying to get on my soapbox. This equipment is not cheap and some of these albums cannot be replaced. I hope this helped. 
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