VTA for dummys

[colinB]

Sorry guys im going over old ground here but this is new to me.
If you are using a different arm from the technics, how do you adjust the VTA?
The ortofon 2m has a 20 deg angle pictured in the booklet but how do you measure that?
Or is it just a case of doing it by eye and forgetting about it?

[Marco]

Hi Colin,

What arm are you using?

Just a tip, but listing your complete system in your signature can be very helpful to others

Marco.

[colinB]

Hi Marco, ive actually bought a jelco 250st second hand from a reputable dealer
and i was hoping to buy an armboard at the show tomorrow and tackle a project ive bee putting of since christmas!
It all looks a bit complicated but im pretty excited about it.
I was encouraged to buy the deck after reading Dave Prices articles on how you can transform it with a little TLC

[Marco]

Hi Colin,

Nice choice of arm. The Jelco has a small Allen bolt on the base of the pillar, which loosens to allow the tonearm to be lifted up and down. You're aiming for it to be completely level (parallel to the record surface) in order to establish optimal VTA.

However, speak to Dave C tomorrow at the show and he will gladly advise

Marco.

[Gavin F]

A little tip I learned somewhere to check VTA was to position the tonearm (with cart obviously) onto a stationary record and then place a credit card behind the arm. The straight horizontal lines of the magnetic strip act as a handy visual guide to line up the arm to ensure it's level.

[Marco]

That's an old (but good) tip, Gavin... Try doing that with an S-shaped arm, like my Jelco 750, though!

Marco.

[Gavin F]

Ha, I'd love to!

[colinB]

Good tip! Im in two minds wether to buy a mat of dave.
after reading Dave Price i bought a sds and plopped a archomat 3mm on top.Then i read about the lip, so i bought one of the new 285mm sds mats( they kindly gave me a 20% discount) but it still doesnt look right.
Im sure im not the first to find these things out the hard way, and i cant complain the deck sounds sweet and im so glad i took the plunge.
And to think in my youth i did unspeakable things to 1200s!

[Marco]

Hi Colin,

If you can afford to do so, I'd urge you to try one of Dave's mats (you could always sell either it or the Archomat later for not much less than you paid), as in my experience it gives the most solid, dynamic and sonically neutral sound of any of the mats I've used on the SL-1200/1210.

In comparison, I found the Achromat contributed a rather hard edge to the sound and made music somewhat mechanical sounding and 2-dimensional in comparison with Dave's mat. You won't pick up on this though until you try it, upon which it should become obvious.

The Achromat is very good in its own right, but in terms of synergy, I don't feel that its best home is on the Technics....

YMMV, but I think one of Dave's mats is definitely worth a punt!

Marco.

[DSJR]

I'm sure Guru Cawley would be delighted to help you.....

Don't get too hung up on VTA, as every cartridge will be slightly different and altering the playing weight gives a similar effect to moving the pillar up and down a mm or two each way, depending on the cartridge.......

When adjusting the arm-height, use the short end of the Allen key as the lever. The number of grawnched Ittok pillars permanently scarred by over-enthusiastic Linn dealers like me back then is considerable..