SL1210mk2 - a set up expert required! (or someone who has good ears)

[Gmanuk101]

Hi All

I was "fiddling" with the VTA, the counter weight last night and got everything all screwed up for the sound, and I think I've messed around too much.. sorry I am like that.. as are most of us here? (wild stab in the dark there).

Deck has standard technics platter and mat (yes I know it's a dog)...
Sumiko Head Shell and a nice nearly new Nagaoka MP100.

On a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, I wasn't getting a nice clean bass, sounded a touch (tiny amount) distorted to me and so did the upper crash cymbals, so it appears higher and lower frequencies have a touch of distortion. Before I started messing there wasn't as much.. the tiny amount I could here started my insane idiotic messing about.

Does anyone have the correct settings at all?
The record was not 180g vinyl, standard.

I've used the protractor to ensure the stylus and cart are aligned, which they are... the stylus is fine, the arm is fine.

Any ideas? I mean it's not a massive amount but to me annoying.

HELP!!! (overly dramatic shout)

cheers guys
G

[synsei]

This is why I hate setting up my own carts. I am a perfectionist when it comes to doing jobs for myself and it is never good enough in my eyes, if someone else does it however I am more than happy to leave it be. You have my sympathies but perhaps I am not the right person to help you here, sorry... :eyebrows:

[Qwin]

If your deck sounded OK before you fiddled with the counter weight and VTA adjustment, do not look elsewhere for the problem, it is one of these that is out.

1).Set the stylus presure for your cartridge first (counter weight) there are YouTube clips specific to your deck/arm on how to do this if you are not sure.
The user manual also tells you how to do this (Google it) or try Vinylengine.com

2). set the VTA. As a starting point set the arm to be parrallel with the platter. Place the stylus on a stationary record and hold a peice of ruled paper/card behind the arm and standing flat on to the record. Adjust the VTA until the arm is parallel with the ruled lines. Make a note of the VTA height on your read out around the base of the arm. This is a good starting point and a referance to come back to if required. Many cartridges work better with either a nose down or tail down angle. You can experiment either way to see what works best for your cartridge and come back to the horizontal reading for comparison.

The small amount of distortion you were hearing originaly - was it only on the last tracks? The standard Technics arm seems prone to Inner Groove Distortion (IGD). Aligning the arm with the wrong protractor can magnify this trait but there can be other causes as well. Incorrect anti skate or worn/baddly adjusted bearings can also cause this.

I would check your bearings for play, you should not feel any rattle in them when wiggled gentely by hand, then do the bearing swing test to be found on YouTube. If all is fine move on to a full set up from scratch with the arm set to Horizontal. Evaluate the sound from there and make notes of any further adjustments you make, so if they make things worse you can go back to where you were. :D

[Gmanuk101]

If your deck sounded OK before you fiddled with the counter weight and VTA adjustment, do not look elsewhere for the problem, it is one of these that is out.

1).Set the stylus presure for your cartridge first (counter weight) there are YouTube clips specific to your deck/arm on how to do this if you are not sure.
The user manual also tells you how to do this (Google it) or try Vinylengine.com

2). set the VTA. As a starting point set the arm to be parrallel with the platter. Place the stylus on a stationary record and hold a peice of ruled paper/card behind the arm and standing flat on to the record. Adjust the VTA until the arm is parallel with the ruled lines. Make a note of the VTA height on your read out around the base of the arm. This is a good starting point and a referance to come back to if required. Many cartridges work better with either a nose down or tail down angle. You can experiment either way to see what works best for your cartridge and come back to the horizontal reading for comparison.

The small amount of distortion you were hearing originaly - was it only on the last tracks? The standard Technics arm seems prone to Inner Groove Distortion (IGD). Aligning the arm with the wrong protractor can magnify this trait but there can be other causes as well. Incorrect anti skate or worn/baddly adjusted bearings can also cause this.

I would check your bearings for play, you should not feel any rattle in them when wiggled gentely by hand, then do the bearing swing test to be found on YouTube. If all is fine move on to a full set up from scratch with the arm set to Horizontal. Evaluate the sound from there and make notes of any further adjustments you make, so if they make things worse you can go back to where you were. :D

that's perfect, thank you heaps for this reply... may save me a world of ear pain.

G

[Qwin]

I don't know which protractor you used when setting up your cartridge but I found the standard arm does not work well with Baerwald. I tried three different Baerwald protractors and had severe IGD with these. A Stevenson protractor worked much better as its geometry is almost the same as the quoted spec for the Technics. I now use a Technics specific protractor which I drew up myself to exactly match the values required for overhang and offset angle etc. You can find it using the following link:

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Technics%20Alignment%20Protractor.pdf

I also produced instructions on how to use this protractor here:

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Instructions%20for%20Technics%20Protractor.pdf

Hope this helps ;)

[Gmanuk101]

I don't know which protractor you used when setting up your cartridge but I found the standard arm does not work well with Baerwald. I tried three different Baerwald protractors and had severe IGD with these. A Stevenson protractor worked much better as its geometry is almost the same as the quoted spec for the Technics. I now use a Technics specific protractor which I drew up myself to exactly match the values required for overhang and offset angle etc. You can find it using the following link:

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Technics%20Alignment%20Protractor.pdf

I also produced instructions on how to use this protractor here:

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Instructions%20for%20Technics%20Protractor.pdf

Hope this helps ;)

I as using the Baerwaldl,k I will experiment with those.

you have been really helpful, thank you again!

[Gmanuk101]

just to say that protractor worked perfectly,,slight cart adjust, vta and tracking settings taken from a techy manual I found online, better than the original one.

sounding miles better now cheers.

G:cool::cool::cool:

[Qwin]

:thumbsup:
Great that it helped you.

[RochaCullen]

I don't know which protractor you used when setting up your cartridge but I found the standard arm does not work well with Baerwald. I tried three different Baerwald protractors and had severe IGD with these. A Stevenson protractor worked much better as its geometry is almost the same as the quoted spec for the Technics. I now use a Technics specific protractor which I drew up myself to exactly match the values required for overhang and offset angle etc. You can find it using the following link:

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Technics%20Alignment%20Protractor.pdf

I also produced instructions on how to use this protractor here:

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Instructions%20for%20Technics%20Protractor.pdf

Hope this helps ;)

I tried printing these out, but i couldnt get the output to match up with the stated lengths. Have you any tips on how to get the output to match up, e.g., tips on what to do within "Page Setup" in order to get it to output correctly?

[Qwin]

Set Page Scaling to "None" in the print window lower box for Page Handling.
It should then print at 1:1 ;)

[Frankyc2003]

:)

Great stuff, Ken.
The protractor works a treat and is a breeze to use!

Thanks a lot for that!

:cool:

[RochaCullen]

Thanks I'll try that tomorrow. Set up my new 1210 this evening with the help of some YouTube vids. Loving it so far.