Best tonearm position for VTA?

If you're asking how do you initially get in the VTA or SRA ballbark so you can do the final evaluation with your ears, I think that's a great question. The sites I listed below are the best ones I've found so far, and if other people know some more, please post them.

As for the ballpark....... To start with, it would be wonderful if all cartridge manufacturers constructed their cartridges with 1.) dead-on azimuth so that if the cartridge was level viewed from the front, the stylus was perfectly vertical, and 2.) so when the the top of the cartridge was perfectly parallel to the record surface (when viewed from the side, and at the specified tracking force,) the stylus was also perfectly vertical (perpendicular to the record) -- but many do not.

The best way to check your cartridge is with a first surface mirror out of an SLR camera (I got 5 of them for $20 from a camera repair shop) and a 30x pocket microscope (Tasco makes a good one with a light). The camera mirrors are just about the thickness of a record, so turn off the anti-skate, tape the platter to the deck so it doesn't turn! and GENTLY set the stylus on the mirror. You will have to experiment with illuminating the stylus (I use a mini Mag-Lite or a Littlelite) but it is quite easy to see the stylus and it's reflection in the mirror, and determine if the two images are symmetrical on the vertical axis (this works for both azimuth and SRA) and to adjust your tonearm accordingly. No, you're not in the ballpark yet (and you've just spent five hours getting to this point, right!)

I suggest doing the next part another day. It really is fun and you don't want to be exhausted! First get a millimeter ruler and measure the horizontal distance in mm from the pivot point of your tonearm to the tip of the stylus (eyeball is OK, or consult a drawing of your tonearm if you have one). Write it down and multiply it by 2. This is the DIAMETER (in millimeters) of a circle the stylus would make, if when you lifted the tonearm from the record, it magically just kept going up up and around behind the turntable and up through the base and back on the record surface. The length of the imaginary CIRCUMFERENCE just made by the stylus can be determined by multiplying Pi (3.1416) times the DIAMETER you already calculated. We're almost done.

Divide the CIRCUMFERENCE (which is still in millimeters) by 360 (degrees in a full circle.) The result tells you how many millimeters of CIRCUMFERENCE are in each degree. (It should come out approximately 3mm/degree +/-)

What this all means, is that if you started with your stylus perfectly vertical (viewed from the side) and you now raise the back of your tonearm 3mm (measured at the pivot point) Your stylus has now got a positive rake angle (SRA) of ONE DEGREE. I understand that most cutters use a cutting angle of TWO DEGREES, but I wouldn't start there, you might miss the magic spot which you can only determine by listening. So now you're in the ballpark.

VTA (which is a different measurement) and SRA are somewhat interdependent, which is why you can't just go with an SRA of TWO DEGREES and be done with it. The following websites explore these issues in more detail:

http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/vta_e.html

http://www.walkeraudio.com/fine_tuning_your_turntable.htm

http://www.deadwaxcafe.com/vzone/cartalign.asp#vta

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/1240.html

Good responses from all the above. As Twl suggested, VTA (and SRA) is not a tonearm adjustment. It is an adjustment to the relationship between vinyl, stylus and cantilever that on most rigs happens to be effected by raising or lowering the tonearm. The angle the arm ends up at is nothing but a coincidence.

IOW, don't worry about the angle of your arm tube. If you need a starting point, ask other users of your cartridge how that cartridge rides on the record. Nose down? Nose up? Level?

Even bettter, check out the links provided by Nsgarch. The Walker Audio one is especially helpful.

I've been doing this for more years than I want to admit. I've always had to lower the back end slightly. I now use a Benz Ebony - lower the back of the tonearm (weight side) down slightly.

Stefanl, hese guys know alot more about this than I do, but since I'm learning this stuff too, we may as well learn together. I hope something in my post here will help.

I just the last two days going throught this very exercise. I've become bored with life, so I decided to switch back to my Benz Glider. Partly to compare the performance to my 103r, partly 'cuz I thought I might be having tracking issues with the 103r on my Vector arm, partly 'cuz I have sado-masochistic tendencies. But mostly 'cus I need the practice listening for the changes.

Your very question has been on my mind. The answer came quickly for the Glider as Benz is kind enought to put the recommended angle on the little piece of paper that came with it. It says 20 degrees, so I was betting that would mean "tail up". After going throught the method spelled out on the Walker Audio page DougDeacon referenced, that is just how my Vector has ended up. Way, way "tail up". I have devised a method using small blocks of hardwoods and and old deck of playing cards so that I can record which block of wood and how many playing cards it took to get the Vector at its current position. ( You guys who do "on-the-fly" VTA have to be rolling on the floor at this! :) )

So now I want to go back and do the same for the 103r. But where to start? Denon doesn't provide a recommended angle. I've read where some users of this cartridge have ended up a bit tail up and some prefer abit tail down. I guess I'll start with the head level while the stylus is resting on a regular weight lp. It's as good a place as any to start. Then follow the "Walker method" until I get that range where the soundstage opens and I begin to here the spatial effects.

Fortunately, the Vector comes with a mirror guage so setting the overhang and azimuth are not much of an issue. I could use a better eye piece to see with.

Hey guys I got you all beat, because don't have to make a long post, LOL.

I remenber from a old thread this link to Walker Audio that is really good for setting vta good luck!!

http://www.walkeraudio.com/fine_tuning_your_turntable.htm

peace Ron