What LPs do you use for VTA adjustment

Thanks, Rushton. I'm glad to hear that, since I already have the 45. And I totally agree with your assessment.

Hi Samir,

You're correct that arm height and VTF are interrelated. If you have a sufficiently accurate scale you can easily measure changes in VTF as you raise or lower your arm.

I'd suggest letting that nice new arm settle in a bit before fretting too much about fine tuning VTA. You need to get used to the sound, no doubt much improved, before attempting any subtle fine tuning.

For an interim/average setting, I'd suggest the method explained in the thead linked below. With a line contact stylus like most VdH's it should be fairly easy to do:

Jon Risch's "VTA once and for all!"

If/when you want to get more into it, setting by ear is the only way of course. There are two levels of differences one can hear. Largish VTA changes alter the tonal balance. Dropping the arm emphasizes bass and attenuates highs. Raising the arm does the opposite. This is true on any record, just find the middle ground.

When you approach the sweet spot very small VTA changes will have little impact on tonal balance. The thing to listen for at this stage is image focus. On any given record there will be a tiny range of VTA (SRA) settings that will "snap" images into sharp focus. Now you won't just hear a piano, you'll hear individual strings and hammers. On my Shelter 901 changing arm height by .04mm or less makes the difference between being in this sweet spot or not. A line contact stylus is likely to be even more particular.

What you're seeking is the precise spot where the contact lines of your stylus *exactly* match the angle of the cutting stylus. When you hit it your stylus can trace the highest freq's on the record while keeping both channels exactly in phase. Perfect reproduction of phase relationships between the two channels is what re-creates clear sonic images.

There is no "best" record for this level of fine tuning. At this level each record (or at least each label) will need its own setting. This may be the path to the best possible sound, but of course it's also the path to obsessive madness! Beware.

Rushton,
Thanks for posting that page by Lloyd Walker. I read it a year or two ago and then totally forgot he'd put it on his site. Mr. Walker explains it all more clearly than I could, which will surprise nobody of course.

Who conducts that 'Firebird' you referenced? I have a mono Mercury of Dorati conducting 'Petrouchka' and it's one of the half dozen best records I own, if a little noisy.

Hi JT,
We are indeed shackled to analog! We set VTA for each record, or at least each change in record label and/or thickness. Even with a clutzy Rega style arm it only takes about 30 seconds. Fine tuning can usually be done with our VTF-on-the-fly mod.

There's even more to it than record thickness. For much of the LP era, different labels cut their lacquers using different cutting stylus angles. There was no standard. Even records of identical thickness may need different playback angles.

We're building a list of labels, eras and LP weights (as a proxy for thickness) along with our optimal VTA setting for each. It's become second nature to look up a setting and dial it in before cueing the arm.

Slavishly,
Doug

Audiofankj,
I'd be perfectly willing to share my list of course, though it might be of marginal utility. All I've recorded for the VTA data point is the relative position of the mark on my Expressimo VTA collar, e. g., 7:30 or 9:45 or whatever. Unless you have the same VTA collar it would be nearly meaningless. I suppose it would give some sense of relative arm heights for different records.

Yesterday we hit a new low ;-) while playing a record on the Tudor label. (Anybody ever hear of them? This is the only one I've ever seen.) The record wasn't outrageously thin or light, about 120g IIRC, but the optimal arm height was .25mm lower than any other record I've played. This is a HUGE adjustment. It took me 5 or 6 tries to find the right spot, I couldn't believe how low I was having to go. Tudor must have cut their lacquers at a much lower angle than most labels.

There may be a standard cutting angle today, but there certainly wasn't back in the LP's glory days from 1955-70. Optimal arm height on same-thickness records from that era varies with the record label and date. It's clear to me that Decca/London, RCA and DGG/Archiv, to name just three, used different cutting angles. It may even have varied from one plant to another within the same company.

Obviously each of us can take this as far as we wish, and one could certainly "set and forget" if one chose. I suspect this might be more satisfactory with rock or other "processed" music than with classical. Large scale works with acoustic instruments are especially revealing of tiny setup changes, even more so if a chorus and soloists are involved. Getting it just right really brings them all to life.

Warning: just a week or so ago '4yanx' expressed some surprise that I was adjusting for each record. Now he's doing it himself! Once you hear that sweet spot you'll want to find it on every record. Ever try just a little cocaine? ;-)

Raul,
Samir asked for ideas about VTA/VTF. I provided mine and you agreed with me (on 5/17). All was well.

Then you suggested choosing 3 or 4 predetermined arm height settings in order to relax and enjoy the music. I agreed that would be acceptable for many. No problem.

Then you said, "The industry standard for cutting head VTA is 20 degrees". This was a factual-sounding, all-encompassing statement that is demonstrably untrue. On that other thread, you stated that high gain stages are always and necessarily superior to transformers. This also was an overstatement, as I pointed out there and as '4yanx' has just pointed out again, using much the same arguments.

From my POV what needs to happen is that you need to temper your inclination to make absolute statements that purport to encompass the entire body of knowledge about a subject. Strange as it seems, neither you nor I know everything. ;) I try hard not to give the impression that anything I post is the whole and only truth. If you'll try to stop making such absolute statements, I'll try to stop correcting them.

And I love broadening my horizons, as many of my A'gon friends know. I still wish you'd post your system(s). That would give us all a better perspective on your experience.

Samir,
Once again, I find myself apologizing to a thread starter for responding to Rauliruegas' somewhat personal style of discourse. Hopefully we can do better at staying on topic.

Regards to all,
Doug

Raul,
I will not hijack Samir's thread to discuss what you think of me. Other than you and me, who would possibly care?

Feel free to email me if you wish to discuss this further.

Sincerely,
Doug