Nice and cheap tonearm and cart VTA tool

[killie99]

This looks pretty decent for the money, just ordered one so will let you know if it's any good when it arrives. Should make checking the arm is level a bit easier!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221996362618?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[JimC]

Thanks for the link, I've bought one too !!

Jim.

[Qwin]

It's the stylus/cantilever you need to check against the record/platter.

Checking the arm/headshell or cartridge body presumes the cantilever is exactly true and they quite often aren't.

I doubt the accuracy would be any greater than a spirit bubble placed on the headshell and you could make one by laser printing on to acetate for Pence.

And, unlike the ebay pictures, you have to have the stylus on a record, for it to work.

It's just another thing to store in a drawer :D

[killie99]

It'll get me in the right ball park much quicker than my usual faffing around and then I can adjust by ear to what I think sounds best.

[Qwin]

Yes, final adjustment by ear as none of these things will get you exactly right.

[Cycleallday]

It's the stylus/cantilever you need to check against the record/platter.


I doubt the accuracy would be any greater than a spirit bubble placed on the headshell.............

:D

I can never understand why people do this - bearing in mind the tracking weight is likely to be only around 1.5 - 2.0 arms why put a heavy weight on the headshell to cause the cantilever to sag like heck and probably cause damage to the cart. Surely its best to keep anything off the cart while setting up and use external gauges ?

[Barry]

Agreed - though I imagine the idea is to adjust the counterweight so as to conterbalance the weight of the bubble-level, whilst maintaining the chosen tracking force for the cartridge. All a bit of a phaff really. I just use the alignment protractor turned on its side.

[Qwin]

I can never understand why people do this - bearing in mind the tracking weight is likely to be only around 1.5 - 2.0 arms why put a heavy weight on the headshell to cause the cantilever to sag like heck and probably cause damage to the cart. Surely its best to keep anything off the cart while setting up and use external gauges ?


Wrong assumption, the spirit bubble I use weighs 0.23g I usually use the mid point tracking weight so its additional weight usually falls well within the cartridges useable range. I can't see any change in ride height when I use it, record thickness variations would be greater. No way is it going to cause damage, give people the benefit of having common sense, I'm not talking about using a 30mm diameter puck, which would act as you suggest. :)

I've considered glueing it to my headshell, making it a permanent visual aid.

[Cycleallday]

Bonded to the head shell I would agree with you as the balance weight would be taken into account in setting the tracking weight. Unfortunately many bubbles on eBay weigh closer to 2.5 to 5 grams or even more and photos shown of these in use on this forum sitting on the arm and head shell do not give a good insight to setting vta or horizontal orientation unless it is mentioned the balance weight needs to be accounted for.

Personally, bearing in mind cartridge costs I prefer gauges which do not touch the arm at all.

That said we all have different views and its good to air the pros and cons of them all from our own personal perspective.

Mel

[karma67]

Cheapest solution for me was to glue some graph paper to some cardboard and eye it through to get the cartridge bottom level,interestingly the tonearm after this was done was tilting back which is how most 2m black owners end up with.

[Clive197]

I also use my Avid protractor on it side to check vta, but this does look like an interesting product.

[alphaGT]

I enjoy making my own alignment protractors and such, people spend huge money for fancy alignment jigs, and the ones I've made from card stock are accurate to within the width of a razor blade's edge. But the price on this tool is cheap enough! And as mentioned, can get you in the ball park so you can adjust by ear. Always the best result is by ear.

For azimuth I use a wooden stick, like a long wooden cotton swab stick, that appears to be straight, and lay it across the headshell. Then I can see how far each end of the stick is off the record, even measure it with a small cardstock rule. The other angle, squaring the bottom of the cart with the record for VTA, is only a starting point. What we really want in this lengthwise adjustment is the angle the diamond is standing in the groove. For that, I use a strong loupe, or magnifying glass. I've seen people on line, Like the guys at Stereophile, use one of those USB microscopes to examine the angle of the needle in the groove. The paperwork in my Shumiko states it should be at 92 degrees, leaning forward. So once there, I adjust the VTA on the fly to get the best sound. And it usually is right at that angle.

The truth is that even on expensive cartridges the diamond may not be perfectly in line with the cantilever, they glued it on the end as best they could, but examination with a USB microscope shows they can be a little crooked, to a lot crooked. That's why it's important to look at the tip of the needle and not the bottom of the cartridge. Plus, as a cartridge ages, the suspension on the cantilever weakens, and one needs to lower the tracking force to get the angle back. That's why makers give us a range of tracking forces, not just one ideal weight.


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