2. analog
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what is the problem with too much tracking force?

I have a Lyra Delos on a Michell Tecnodec.  The dealer set it up for me.  2 years later, I would like to learn to do this myself.  I bought the MOFI Geo Disc alignment tool, a digital stylus scale, a powerful magnifier, and an ultrasonic stylus cleaner.  I am ready to up my game with my vinyl hobby.  I was on the sidelines too long!

The first thing I did was to weigh the VTF with the scale with my table set up as it has been for a couple of years.  It came in at 1.95g.  The Lyra documentation suggests 1.75, so clearly I am tracking too heavy.  Before I correct this, what is the issue?  Is there something I should look for when I change it to 1.75?

Any advice before I do this adjustment would be much appreciated!
marktomaras
ebm
9,311 posts
 
Tracking to heavy will get you a closed in sound with no air.
lewm
12,558 posts
 
Mark Tomaras, The fact that you now read VTF at 1.95g does not necessarily mean that your dealer originally set it at 1.95g; did he confirm that value?  VTF can drift over time for various reasons, so it is wise to check it once in a while.  Why don't you set it to any value within Lyra's recommended range, narrow or not, and listen?  If you hear signs of mistracking, it's never too late to increase VTF.  This is not such a big deal, and there is no one single exact correct VTF.  (Witness the fact that cartridge makers always give you a range of values.) Finally, you say nothing about what gauge you are using to check VTF.  There's good ones and not so good ones; it is crucially important that the stylus tip should be at about the height of the thickness of an LP, when VTF is measured, because VTF will change with height of the stylus tip.  So, if you have a good scale that puts the weigh pan down low at about the height of an LP, and if you made your determination with no LP under the scale, flat down on the mat, then you probably did get a fairly accurate measurement.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
With modern elliptical diamonds that can respond to high frequencies, it is imperative that the diamond can follow the groove into the tightest cut. To do this properly you need an USB microscope as in Fremer's guide.

I always track as lightly as possible as the top end is better.
inna
7,150 posts
 
Too much tracking force can cause skipping too, by the way.
I would set it at exactly 1.7 to begin with and listen. If Lyra gives such a tight range, they must have a reason and want you to be quite precise, you are tracking too high - if your gauge is correct.
If 1.7 doesn't sound quite right, I would then set it at 1.8.
As others pointed out, analog set-up is a complex system, one small change will affect other elements to various degree.
I was impressed how my Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm with Goldring 1042 MM set-up reacts to small changes in anti-skate, more than changes of VTF but less than changes in VTA.
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

What does ''optimal VTF'' mean? Certainly not ''recommended

VTF''. We often see something like : 1,5 -2, 5 g. But this make

no sense. Look at J. Allaerts specifications. Those ''allow'' an

deviation of 0,2 g from the recommended VTF. This imply that

Allaerts uses exact and reliable suspension material . The story is

that he somehow got a block of 100 years old natural rubber.

From this block he cuts the ''rubber rings'' for his carts. His own

story is that he will stop to produce carts when this block is used

up. The ''optimal position'' of the cantilever in relation to the

magnets is probably a better description of the problem. Alas we

can't see this position in our carts. This parameter is , so to

speak, of ''optical nature'' rather than ''weight nature''. Aka the

first should be translated in the later.

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