Finding the Sweetspot.

[Clive197]

A funny title I know. Having just purchased a new AT-OC9XSH cartridge and spending some time setting it up as precisely as nearly 50yrs experience gives, I found that I hit the sweetspot, something I don’t think I’ve done before. The cartridge sounds sublime, beating the Ortofon Cadenza Black I previously used.

I don’t think a cartridge that is less than a third of the price of the Ortofon could best it but hay, it does. This leads me to wonder how many of us truly gets set-up right every time. The sweetspot is not necessarily textbook, there is a variable.

This time I seem to have lucked out. Nothing to do with experience.

[RobbieGong]

Great thread Clive and I'm glad you've raised the question 'how many of us truly gets set-up right every time?' because it's a very very good and important one.

In my experience and in the context you've posted there is absolutely a sweet-spot and it sounds like you've experienced hitting it, as in bullseye, hence your joy.

Without going into it all, I've found this critically so with the better / more sophisticated stylus profiles I've used ie: Ortofon 2M Black, Quintet Black, Cadenza Black and Cadenza Black re-tipped with the Fritz Gyger S stylus which is similar to the Ortofon Replicant stylus.

With all of these, the difference between when they weren't dialled in and then were was/is simply night and day.

You go from 'sound' ie: nothing special to rightness, balance, separation and superb portrayal of the individual parts, voices, instruments and excellent info retrieval in terms of the recorded music. You realise the quality of your diamond tipped transducer and get what all the fuss about it is.

Basically the music comes through where you just know you've nailed set up and brings a huge smile, when you REALLY hear your system and most importantly the music in all it's glory.

It's why I cant be without on the fly vta and have actually gone back to an arm with the superb Technics on the fly vta adjust system

The 'sweetspot' you've discovered and refer to is indeed very very real, as you've fortunately found out......

[antonio]

It also goes to show AT cartridges are still a 'bit of a bargain'. Pleased you're enjoying Clive.

[hifi_dave]

Not just a 'bit of a bargain' - many other manufacturers rip us off. Audio Technica are manufacturers whereas many others have to buy in the parts to make their cartridges.

[rigger67]

I've got an AT-F7 that I bought new a year ago and it gets better and better every time I play it.
It only cost me £200 - proper bargain.

[Audio Al]

Sweet spot

OH hold on not that sweet spot sorry

[Barry]

Sweet spot

OH hold on not that sweet spot sorry

You're thinking of the 'G-spot'.

[Audio Al]

You're thinking of the 'G-spot'.

Am I , been a Loooooong while ago now

[Logan]

A few years back I acquired a Michell Gyro SE turntable and a new tonearm which allowed vertical adjustment on the fly.

A friend who was audio-literate announced that he was a VTA obessive, and offered his services to set the optimal arm height by ear. So, while he listened I stood by the turntable and twiddled the screw-ring adjuster. I marked the spot where he proclaimed that the sweet spot had been attained with an erasable marker pen. I was puzzled by all of this, because I heard absolutely no change as I twirled the ring. We went through the procedure again to check his first estimate, and again he detected a sweet spot that completely eluded me.

Only it was totally different from the first one. Not wishing to offend him I said the it was exactly the same as in the first trial and I locked the adjuster in place. He proclaimed that the difference was as clear as day and night, as expected. After he eventually left I had a closer look at the setup. and found that the threads on the adjustment ring had not engaged with the threading on the tonearm pedestal during the dealer installation, meaning that all my twiddling had not altered the height of the arm by even a millimetre. I remedied the arm installation, detected an easily reproducible sweet spot for height, and have left it alone ever since.

So much for audio "experts" and their sweet spots. I learned two things from this. One was that my discriminatory hearing was not as bad as I thought - I had unwittingly changed nothing during the exercise and had heard no differences. Secondly I learned never to trust anyone who proclaimed expertise in a subjective area. I never told my friend what happened, but I never again acted on any of his future advice.

[RobbieGong]

Adjustment is one aspect of the equation and not the only aspect in isolation.
Hence it's been said a thousand plus times here, 'trust your ears' -
Adjusting without listening is like driving with your eyes shut,
And not knowing what your listening for is like driving without knowing where you want to go