Ortofon OM20 lousy tracking

[Svend N]

If it's now happening at the end I would hazard a guess that the cartridge has not been aligned correctly, do you have access to an alignment protractor?

What you have now is IGD (inner groove distortion). Can be caused by above.

I believe your tonearm is not the issue, i.e. The RB 300 is good enough.

Only my opinions though

Alex, you can download and print your own alignment protractor here: https://www.vinylengine.com/cartridg...tractors.shtml
Scroll down to find the ones for Rega arms. I have used the Rega Baerwald for the RB300 with good success. You will need to register an account with Vinyl Engine in order to download. If you don't want to bother with that then send me a PM with your email address and I will forward the file to you.

And I would agree with the above, that the arm is not the issue - this is the same arm that worked well with the DL-103, no? No reason why it shouldn't be fine with this cartridge.

Cheers,
Svend

PS -- I just checked the compliance spec for the OM20, and it's rather high at 30...you're not using any sort of headshell weight any more, are you? Also, have you done a visual check of anti-skate on an LP with a wide runout groove. How does it behave?

[magiccarpetride]

Alex, you can download and print your own alignment protractor here: https://www.vinylengine.com/cartridg...tractors.shtml
Scroll down to find the ones for Rega arms. I have used the Rega Baerwald for the RB300 with good success. You will need to register an account with Vinyl Engine in order to download. If you don't want to bother with that then send me a PM with your email address and I will forward the file to you.

And I would agree with the above, that the arm is not the issue - this is the same arm that worked well with the DL-103, no? No reason why it shouldn't be fine with this cartridge.

Cheers,
Svend

PS -- I just checked the compliance spec for the OM20, and it's rather high at 30...you're not using any sort of headshell weight any more, are you? Also, have you done a visual check of anti-skate on an LP with a wide runout groove. How does it behave?

Thanks Svend. I followed your previous advice and downloaded protractor from the vinylengine site, but when I printed it, the scale was incorrect. Which renders it useless, I'd venture to guess.

How does one print that file to scale?

And yes, I'm not using any headshell weight with OM20.

[Haselsh1]

For what it is worth, I use an Ortofon OM40 in an Origin Live Onyx and it tracks superbly. Other than alignment I cannot imagine what your problem could be. My OM40 is tracking at 1.65 grams.

[magiccarpetride]

For what it is worth, I use an Ortofon OM40 in an Origin Live Onyx and it tracks superbly. Other than alignment I cannot imagine what your problem could be. My OM40 is tracking at 1.65 grams.

Have you compared OM40 to OM20? Is it a worthwhile upgrade?

[Stryder5]

Another note

When aligning the cartridge, you may find that the cartridge is not square in the headshell, the front of the cartridge should be central in the headshell but then you are governed by the alignment protractor.

[walpurgis]

How does one print that file to scale?

For such things, I use an image processing utility. My choice is FastStone Image Viewer, which is a free download and works well. It allows enlargement or reduction of images by small increments (along with a host of other useful facilites).

Available here if interested: http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

[Haselsh1]

Have you compared OM40 to OM20? Is it a worthwhile upgrade?

Alex, prior to the OM40 I had an OM30 and it was a very worth while upgrade to my ears and my system. Much more refined with bags more midband detail.

[karma67]

Thanks Svend. I followed your previous advice and downloaded protractor from the vinylengine site, but when I printed it, the scale was incorrect. Which renders it useless, I'd venture to guess.

How does one print that file to scale?

And yes, I'm not using any headshell weight with OM20.

You go into your printer settings and change it by small amounts until it’s right

[Mike Reed]

Just something which occurred to me whilst reading the o.p.'s mention of the snag now happening on the inner grooves since lowering the VTF. Why? I suggest because the cart. body is now clearing the record, but not enough for the inner grooves.

A throwaway thought, but visually check the clearance of the body at different points on the record. Bit bloody obvious, so apologies for grandma sucking eggs, as they say.

[Stryder5]

Obvious is always good, we've all probably missed the obvious, but wouldn't lowering the VTF make the cartridge run higher?

Just something which occurred to me whilst reading the o.p.'s mention of the snag now happening on the inner grooves since lowering the VTF. Why? I suggest because the cart. body is now clearing the record, but not enough for the inner grooves.

A throwaway thought, but visually check the clearance of the body at different points on the record. Bit bloody obvious, so apologies for grandma sucking eggs, as they say.