What is best VTA for Clearaudio Maestro Cartridge?

I'm a late poster to this thread. But I recently purchased a VPI Classic 1 turntable with the stock JMW 10.5i SE tonearm AND the CA Maestro Wood cartridge, and I thought I would share my experiences. In response to Dainapoo's 12/31/10 post, Musical Surroundings, the US distributor of Clear Audio products, specifies a compliance rating of 15 for the Maestro Wood. Assuming that the effective mass of the JMW 10.5i SE tonearm ranges somewhere between 9 and 11 grams, the Vinyl Engine resonance calculator computes the cartridge/tonearm resonance of the Maestro/JMW combination to be 10 Hz at either extreme. So, resonance compatibility, at least by the numbers, does NOT pop out as problematic.

Next, I spent quite a bit of time fiddling with the set up of my cartridge and tonearm. As I mentioned in another OP, I used the VPI jig to adjust alignment and overhang. The VPI jig incoporporates the Baerwald (sp?) geomtry in its construction. I also own a small bubble level designed for tonearm setup.

I used the bubble level to accurately adjust azimuth by placing the level on the tonearm head perpendicular to the wand and carefully lowering the tonearm onto an old record and adjusting the azimuth by twisting the weight on the back of the arm. Frankly, it's a pain in the as* because everytime I fiddled with the weight, I screwed up VTF. Ultimately, I made both adjustments.

Now, a lot of discussion above was devoted to SRA/VTA. I appreciate that record manufacturing processes can affect optinmal SRA/VTA, and I suppose to some degree azimuth too. I agree that the best approach is to adjust tonearm height to acheive a horizontal level of the tonearm head while the stylus is sitting on a record. Or, from the perspective of the stylus, 90 degrees. The bubble level made the job easy. As with azimuth, I placed the level on the tonearm head, but this time aligned the level with the wand, and adjusted the tonearm height until I achieved the desired SRA/VTA. Later, I fine tuned the SRA/VTA in the manner described above to achieve by ear optimal SRA/VTA.

I went through this detailed discussion because maybe I don't understand all the techno-talk, or perhaps I have an extremely undiscriminating ear -- which has its advantages. But after all the fuss adjusting my JMW 10.5i SE tonearm and Maestro Wood cartridge, I'm 100% satisfied with the performance of my rig. Trackability is perfect; no groove junping. The Maestro could navigate the most complex and dynamic classical music tracks. Couldn't be happier.

So I guess I'm just a bit confused. What's the problem??? What am I missing?? Have any respected reviwers commented that the Maestro Wood is not compatible with the JMW uni-pivot??

Dcbingaman, what is so peculiar about CA MMs and unipivot arms and azimuth? The Maestro compliance is middle of the road: I believe 15. Why would other cartridges be a better match? I understand that the VPI Classic w/ stock arm is highly regarded. So I guess I am puzzled?? FWIW, while it takes a lot of fiddling for sure, I think my Maestro/VPI Classic combo seems ok. Maybe I just don't know what "good vinyl" is all about -- which really may be the case.

Take a look at my OP -- "VPI Classic/Clear Audio Maestro Wood Question." I'm tweaked out!

Dcbingaman, here's my post from the other thread:

"I'm still fiddling.

My most recent tweak is VTF. Clear Audio recommends between 2 amd 2.5 grams, with 2.2 grams recommended. I followed that recommendation, but I noticed that there was a low frequency resonance when I played classical music and the cellos and basses came on line, probably somewhere between 50 and 100 Hz.

I turned off my sub woofer, but still the resonance; the sub rolls off at 40 Hz. I fiddled around with VTA which resulted in a very slight improvement, but the low frequency resonance was still there. I then rechecked alignment -- no problem there. Azimuth was ok too.

So, I turned back to VTF. I increased weight. Yuck - even worse and the top-end took a vacation. I tried damping fluid. Worse still. I then lowered VTF to 2 grams and got rid of the damping fluid. The resonance disappeared and the top-end came back from vacation. Tomorrow, I may try reducing VTF by another .1 or .2 grams and see what gives.

Ok, so it was fun when I started, but now I'm getting bored. I just want to enjoy my music and stop listening to my equipment.

I share this tale because my experience shows just how much tweaking this arm requires. Hopefully, there WILL be an end-point, and then I can get back to the music. Also, I agree 100% with [the] comment 'that the ears will always be the final criterion in most matters concerning vinyl playback.' FWIW"

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BTW, Mike and I are trading e mails about this issue. Mike said that the Classic JMW arm, if set up properly, should be a good match-up with the Maestro. Hopefully, I'll hear back from Mike tomorrow about how to best set the arm up. I'll report back with his suggestions.

Cheers

If any of the contributor to this thread see this post, I have a follow up question. In connection with setting up and adjusting the Maestro Wood on the JMW tone arm, did anyone check playback quality with the mat on and off, or with the rubber washer on and off?

Maybe it's just "wishful hearing" on my part, but I think the low frequency resonance that I discussed above may be a little better with the mat and washer off. It also seems that the playback is tighter and more alive. However, as stated, it could just be "wishful hearing."

Thanks