Just When You Thought It Was Safe.....

[Victor]

So....you think you've got correct VTA adjustment.....read on....

It happened when I placed a warped disc on the turntable....
One of those "fast" warps that takes the cartridge by surprise. Just as the stylus landed in the run-in groove I heard a heavy thud. The realisation dawned that the LP had impacted the underside of the cart. Once the cart had cleared the edge it was ok but, since this had never ever happened before it left me puzzled and in a mild panic? (Later I will be digesting a generously proportioned slice of humble pie on the subject of VTA)

Up to this point, I'd set up the arm to be as parallel to the platter as was humanly possible. In theory this should have enough to guarantee acceptable results during the cartridge's early weeks of use...
In a perverse way this accident turned out to be a stroke of good fortune as it caused me to examine the cart more closely - specifically the front face - which was lagging well behind what I would have considered optimum VTA.
The VTA was quickly raised by 3mm to compensate and although VTA was still (as far as the cart was concerned) a fraction low, there appeared absolutely no danger of collision now.
What really surprised me was the change in the sound. Initially too splashy and sibilant, downforce was increased to compensate. Based on popular propaganda I expected little but suddenly instruments were far more solid, 3-D and focussed than before.......MLs are great at imaging beyond the speakers, filling the corners of the room terrifically well, but now those same instruments, "out in the wings", whether bongos or cellos had a palpable solidity and realism which defied belief. It wasn't just them of course but central vocals and backing were now of realistic height, weight and presence with just the perfect amount of sibilance to make them "real".

Here's the rub : The adjustment I made to VTA was strictly manual elevation of the arm pillar and this was the only variable to receive adjustment apart from +0.03g downforce to rebalance (on the previous setting a mere +0.01g increase was enough to destroy the image!)....but the staggering thing is that this adjust amounted to significantly less than one degree !!

Now for the generous slice of humble pie : In George's "Anti-Skating" Thread I think I jokingly quoted Roy Gandy's remark that VTA was "not an adjustment but a neurosis". Well I confess I pandered to the "Mob Mindset" which currently discredits the importance of VTA but in the light of this experience I think the Lynch Mob owes an apology to the likes of Roy Gregory (former editor of Hifi+ who spent a lot of time demonstrating the effects both here and in the US) because my guess is that it's not the elaborate VTA-on-the-fly tonearms that are at fault, but that these arms are highlighting a genuine phenomenon and that those Users are fully vindicated.
It's possible that my particular cartridge was sensitive to this factor, but does it really matter ????
Hope this is ultimately helpful, or encouraging, to someone.

Kind regards and happy listening....................Victor.

 

[RichTeer]

It's possible that my particular cartridge was sensitive to this factor, but does it really matter ????
Hope this is ultimately helpful, or encouraging, to someone.

Kind regards and happy listening....................Victor.

Very interesting read. I've been in the "VTA matters camp" almost for ever (though I would be surprised to find that some cartridges are more sensitive than others to correct VTA). The earliest very telling experience I had was years ago, when I was auditioning a Forsell turntable (a later model of which I now own).

I was in my living room listening to the music with the dealer behind me. I said that something didn't sound quite right, and he said "I bet I know what it is", and proceded to adjust something while the music was playing. All of a sudden, the sound quality snapped into place. I turned around with an amazed "what did you do?!", so you can imagine my surprise when he demonstrated changing the VTA, and how it affected the sound.

 

[risabet]

Yeah, VTA matters but not to the point of neurosis for me. I find a nice compromise between different thicknesses of vinyl and I leave it alone. I had a buddy who would adjust for every different album, I couldn't be bothered with that. I'd rather listen to music.

 

[kach22i]

apart from +0.03g downforce to rebalance (on the previous setting a mere +0.01g increase was enough to destroy the image!)....

Interesting read, what tools were you using which gave you such accurate readings?

How much is invested in such tools?

 

[Victor]

Very interesting read. I've been in the "VTA matters camp" almost for ever (though I would be surprised to find that some cartridges are more sensitive than others to correct VTA). The earliest very telling experience I had was years ago, when I was auditioning a Forsell turntable (a later model of which I now own).

I was in my living room listening to the music with the dealer behind me. I said that something didn't sound quite right, and he said "I bet I know what it is", and proceded to adjust something while the music was playing. All of a sudden, the sound quality snapped into place. I turned around with an amazed "what did you do?!", so you can imagine my surprise when he demonstrated changing the VTA, and how it affected the sound.

Thanks Rich. Your living room must be a very nice place to settle down in when the kids are out !
(As long as that was the only thing the Dealer snapped )
It's probably a good thing that I don't have VTA-on-the-fly capability as I'd balk at changing things while the hardware/software was running. Expendable duplicate copies of LPs could be quite useful though!

The VTA dependency BTW is just a Reviewers/Market perception of the cartridge rather than a personal view.
All the best...........................Victor.

 

[Victor]

....what tools were you using which gave you such accurate readings?

How much is invested in such tools?

Hi George,
Good question
The accuracy is attributable to fairly decent calibration on the tonearm (Linn Ittok). Checking the calibration with a digital gauge, which was accurate to 0.001g, I found that the arm's basic calibration is repeatably (minus) 25-26 milligrams in error - which is almost as good as the likes of the Shure gauge at +/-20mg. Consequently I found that it was ok to accept the arm's own reading then do some simple math to estimate "absolute" downforce to check that I haven't exceeded the manufacturers limit. (Whether it's wise to go over the manufacturer's limit is possibly VTA & wear related and the subject of another Thread.... )

Other factors : I'd observed that the low flying aspect of the cartridge on the previous setting caused accumulations of dust & fluff near the cartridge's generator. This had 2 effects :
1. Mechanical interference with the generator itself.
2. Electrical interference in the form of static discharge
(Using the debris as a path...)
Both conspired to affect the noise floor. Noise is more noticeably absent at the new VTA setting than before, so the much higher VTA has been a success in every regard.
The next step is to get that final bit of fine tuning....

 

[tonepub]

and this is why I love my Naim 555 so much....

 

[Bernard]

and this is why I love my Naim 555 so much....

Ditto for my PrimaLuna.....until I spin a few LPs.