Van Den Hull Frequently asked questions

[Mixc]

Hi all, I found this an interesting read and thought i would share.
It contains some info on the dos and dont's regarding cartridges and setup for the novice and the expert.

http://www.vandenhul.com/download/CAwdEAwUUkNHVkY=

Hope you enjoy.
Mick

[Mixc]

Any comments?
One thing that i noticed was that VDH suggests that the rear of the arm should he higher than the front,
I thought common opinion was to have the arm level or slightly lower at the back.

[Ammonite Audio]

Thanks for that - interesting reading. His observations about tonearm level mirror perfectly my own experience - 'tail up' is almost always better.

[Svend N]

I've read much of this long document with great interest, being in the midst of some turntable and arm refurbishing myself. In particular, I was quite surprised to read nos. 37 and 147 in which he discusses tonearm rewiring. He recommends to those doing a DIY job, that the tonearm wires can just as easily be wrapped externally around the outside of the arm, rather than bothering with taking the arm apart and pulling the wires internally, thereby avoiding all the potential pitfalls that come with that (buggered bearings, exploding headshell connectors....you know the ones...). Probably looks like hell, but who cares? As long as it sounds good. Need to think on this a bit... The idea seems to have potential though. In my case in particular, I have an old Rega R200 arm that needs a rewire but to have it done by a tech costs more than I paid for the whole turntable that the arm came on. This seems an inelegant but practical solution.

Regards,
Svend

PS -- thanks for posting, Mick. Very helpful!

[farflungstar]

I've read much of this long document with great interest, being in the midst of some turntable and arm refurbishing myself. In particular, I was quite surprised to read nos. 37 and 147 in which he discusses tonearm rewiring. He recommends to those doing a DIY job, that the tonearm wires can just as easily be wrapped externally around the outside of the arm, rather than bothering with taking the arm apart and pulling the wires internally, thereby avoiding all the potential pitfalls that come with that (buggered bearings, exploding headshell connectors....you know the ones...). Probably looks like hell, but who cares? As long as it sounds good. Need to think on this a bit... The idea seems to have potential though. In my case in particular, I have an old Rega R200 arm that needs a rewire but to have it done by a tech costs more than I paid for the whole turntable that the arm came on. This seems an inelegant but practical solution.

Regards,
Svend

PS -- thanks for posting, Mick. Very helpful!You could very easily run them underside using superglue in a straight line.

[walpurgis]

You could very easily run them underside using superglue in a straight line.

Unlikely to work long term. Superglue does not bond well to most wire insulation, if at all and the superglue would be difficult to clean from from the arm tube, should the need arise.

[Svend N]

Adrian - running them along the underside is actually a good idea, as it gets the wires out of sight. I have a cheapo Technics DD turntable upon whose arm I rolled a few small rubber o-rings to dampen any resonance. These could be used on the R200 as well, just that the o-rings would hold the wire in place...no glue needed.

I may try this just for experimental purposes. Whether I would ever let something like this stay as a permanent fixture I'm not sure. But it would certainly be an easy way to assess whether a new wires actually improve things, before taking the plunge on a full internal rewire job.

Best,
Svend

[Mixc]

Hi Svend, I'm glad you enjoyed. It covers so many topics and each one deserves a discussion. Have you noticed the humor in the document?
Ive got a rewire planned and have purchased some 9n silver. Definitely will be an internal rewire.
Do you have any groove-less vynle? I find this is good to check for arm wire tension after a rebuild. Set the bias to 0, Spin the record, place the stylus on the record and gently blow or nudge the head-shell you will soon see if there is a problem the arm will return to one position.

Hope it goes well.

[Audio Al]

I have always set tail up cart down for many years

[Mixc]

I have always set tail up cart down for many years

I tried earlier this week and didn't get on with the sound, I believe the best angle is unique to each deck being a combination of the cartridge / stylus angle / suspension design (+age) and weight applied E.T.C. ...
Adjusting one parameter effects another. But when you get it right....

I use a set of feeler-blades when adjusting my SME 3009 to achieve repeatable results.
I am always tweaking things and am planning to try "Tail up"again.

[Svend N]

Hi Svend, I'm glad you enjoyed. It covers so many topics and each one deserves a discussion. Have you noticed the humor in the document?
Ive got a rewire planned and have purchased some 9n silver. Definitely will be an internal rewire.
Do you have any groove-less vynle? I find this is good to check for arm wire tension after a rebuild. Set the bias to 0, Spin the record, place the stylus on the record and gently blow or nudge the head-shell you will soon see if there is a problem the arm will return to one position.

Hope it goes well.


Hi Mick - yes I did pick up on the humour. I chuckled at the line "I am American and love to modify everything.". Pretty sure that particular quirk has crept north to become part of our national character too :-)

I don’t have any grooveless vinyl, but really should buy a test record of some kind. Good tip on the test - I'll definitely do that once I get around to this job.

Thanks,
Svend