EMT 948 w/ 929 tonearm.

How new or old is the cartridge.  Have you inspected the stylus?

Brand new. Less then 12 hrs on it.

Speak to Benjamin at Dusch Studiotechnik- he’s very helpful- also there’s an EMT page called ‘EMT turntables’ (original I know). Also have you a full set of 948 instructions? If my 950 instructions are anything to go by I bet they are comprehensive 

For what cartridge are you setting VTF at 2.5g?

Have you checked that there is nothing to prevent the tonearm from making a full, unimpeded sweep across the surface of an LP?  Very often, the tonearm wiring can be an impediment.  Also check to see that the arm wand is not scraping against the surface of the cuing device.

I have EMT 948 with 929 tonearm.

At first you need to check tonearm lift pad. It shouldn’t interfere to tonearm to go down and to the cartridge needle to reach record surface.

The second is a dynamic VTF setup. You need remove antiskating and set VTF spring scale to zero, then to setup counterweight to hold tonearm in zero balance. Tonearm should to balance like a mechanical scales and the needle should be on the level of record surface. When it is done you can setup VTF by set spring scale to 2.5g. Then double check VTF with electronic or mechanical scale. If VTF is not correct you need to adjust by VTF spring. VTF spring scale can be very inaccurate and I use it only for relative indication.

After VTF is done you can add antiskating.

Regards,

Alex