re: Audiophile/Vinyl Thread - Post Pics, Advice, Questions, Setups, etc.

And now...



Chicago Transit Authority--Self Titled Debut...1968. Remastered and pressed by RTI on (2) 180g LPs...2011.

Mrs. Esquandolas is out of town, so I have it at concert levels tonight.

You in N.O.? Come on by...

saw calexico play at the fillmore in san francisco several years back. was really there to watch the black heart procession (they were opening). i'd always been aware of calexico by name but had never really listened to their music. the night was a great show, i believe that tour was in support of Garden Ruin.

anyway, for their last song calexico brought out black heart and they all played "All Systems Red." it was a powerful experience to say the least. one of my favorite shows i've been to. i've been a fan of theirs ever since.

A little heavier now...




Clutch--Jam Room on orange/black splattered vinyl.

Marcos - can you give me some examples of cartridges in the $400-500 range that would be a huge step up in performance from sub $400 carts? It would have to be compatible with Pioneer PL-560.

How often do you guys recalibrate your turntable? I just moved and I'm thinking it's time to recalibrate everything

TheOcean,

I usually do a few things when first setting up a table.

1-Make sure the plinth is level on both x and y axis. Usually a pair of small (3 inch) levels will do.

2-set proper VTF (vertical tracking force)...that means adjusting the counterweight on the back of the tonearm to the proper downforce for your cart. The cart manufacturer should have the recommended VTF with the info that came with the cart, if not, go to their website and look it up. Moving Coil cartridges usually track a little bit lighter than Moving Magnet cartridges. If you don't know the manufacturers suggested tracking force, a good rule of thumb is around 1.75 grams for MC and 2.0 grams for MM. I would strongly suggest buying a digital tracking force scale, as the number hash marks on the dial of the counterweights are usually not very accurate--even on $5000 tonearms they are usually off a bit. The scales don't lie.

This is a pretty important setting, because if there is too much downforce on the cartridge, the cantilever (the tiny rod that the diamond tip is impregnated into) will be bogged down (overdamped), and will not vibrate properly. If it is too light, the cantilever will vibrate too much and result in a tinny sound with low frequency sound loss.

The cantilever is sort of like a shock absorber suspension between the surface of the record and the magnet motor assembly in the body of the cartridge. You need to have the perfect balance of pressure for the best results.

Depending on the level ($$$) of your table, you may have a few more settings at your disposal. These are:

3-VTA (vertical tracking angle)--this allows you to adjust the height of the tonearm where the tonearm connects to the base of the turntable, thus altering the angle of the tonearm with respect to the flat surface of the platter. It is usually +/- 10 millimeters or so of adjustment that may be needed. Not all turntables/tonearms however allow for this adjustment. Usually one will raise the pivot point of the tonearm a couple of millimeters or so to gain a little more low-end or lower it a couple of millimeters if the sound has too much bass.

4-VRA (vertical rake angle)(attack angle)-- this is the angle that the actual diamond needle tip hits the vinyl groove. The tip of the diamond needle should not be exactly perpendicular (90°) to the surface of the LP, but closer to 92°-93°. This is one you probably do not have to worry about as it takes some precise instrumentation to set this (and it is a real pain in the arse).

5-Azimuth...when the needle sits in the groove, this measurement refers to the degree that the needle leans to the right or to the left while riding in the record groove. It should be at 0°. If the azimuth is off, one channel will sound a little more stout than the other channel. Again, depending on the level of your tonearm, some tonearms near their bases, will have a dial that allows you very minutely lean the tonearm to the left or to the right.



Now to answer your question...I usually don't mess with any of the settings once I get it initially set. Since my tonearm is a uni-pivot, when you start messing with one setting, you will probably knock another setting off. That is why it usually takes me about three hours to get mine set properly. When I set one setting, I have to go back and check the other one; and when I checked the other one, sometimes I have thrown off the initial one. It's kind of like trying to balance or a giant ball.

Since I don't move my table much, I will usually check the vertical tracking force about every six months. I use a small digital VTF scale that I bought from Music Direct. They cost about $80-100 or so.

There are 2 common types of tonearms--gimballed (account for about 90% of tonearms), and Uni-pivot (about 5%). A gimballed tonearm has an X/Y axis gyro ball pivot that allows for up/down and left/right simultaneous movements. A uni-pivot arm consists of a base with a sharp pin sticking up while the tonearm wand has a "cup" that sits on top of the pin and delicately balances. There are, of course, pros and cons to both types. I will try to post pics of the 2 types of arms in a minute.

Hope I didn't confuse you with all the info...

PhillipMarlowe,

Nice Dual table! Glad to see you are digging the LPs. Keep on posting the pics!

For all those interested in the Ortofon 2M line of cartridges, I found this in depth review done by a British fellow....

The Ortofon 2M Red, Blue, Bronze, and Black comparisons

Now back to the music...all this vinyl talks got me switching to CD...




LivePhish...Summer 2015...3 CD from 8/9/15 at Alpine Valley Music Theater, East Troy, Wisconsin