Stylus tracking weight question...

Your cartridge manufacturer states that 1.7gm is the optimum for your purchase:you make sure the arm floats free,counterbalance set to "0": then dial in 1.7:job done.
But,like me,you have assumed that it is 1.7 gm,and have never used a digital scale to confirm it . I f you find an error,and then set the cartridge to its claimed optimum,how would you deal with the anti skate issue,and set that to the actual requirement?

 

I always matched the bias to tracking weight as a starting point - nearly always stayed there. I also always used the manufacturers highest recommended tracking force. Fine tuned from there, but more often than not, this worked great.

 

That is what I do...but if the scale reveals the dialled in force via the counterweight is wrong....there may be the same error with regard to anti-skate...Guess the answer is to read the setting on the counterweight scale and apply same to anti skate regardless of force indicated.

 

Go for it and see if it sounds better on the inner tracks. Out of interest, how far out was the arm readings to the scales?

 

I have not tried it..out to buy some this morning....I have only just thought that the countless hours I have spent over the years getting my table to sound at its best may have been in vain if the indicated tracking force is not what it is indicated to be.

 

If you haven't bought them, why not just do it by ear? Go to the highest recommended setting, match bias, and tweak a little either side.

 

That is what I have always relied on...but it would be nice to know if "1.7" actually was "1.7"

 

Biasing is s crude system.
Its purpose is to counteract the natural tendency to the attraction of the arm to pull towards the centre (right channel) of the turntable.
This is due to the offset in the arm. The idea in its simplest terms is to provide a means of providing equal pressure on both channels.
Setting bias to correspond to 1.7 is loosely correct.
If say, you hear mistracking on right channel you would increase bias to pull arm out and towards right channel.
Here is the best advice i can give, based on what I have learned over the years.
This is a science to quote someone else. Therefore we need instruments to measure and make necessary adjustments.
First, going fron min to max reccomended tracking force, listen ( set bias accordingly) and listen.
Too light and sound is thin and can tend to sound sibilant. Bass can be lacking.
Too heavy and bass can be one note and ponderous. Treble can sound shut in.
Its best to buy the Shure tracking balance to ensure correct vtf( vertical tracking force) the method you use is hit or miss.
Now , the best method of setting bias is to use Hi/fi news test record.
Using this takes all the guess work out.
If you can clear the first 2 bands then all is well. The other 2 are over ambitious, but some cartridges clear them!(Najoakas, shures)
I usually find Less bias than indicated is common.
Please do not start to up vtf and bias to clear test 3.
Set vtf by ear( Fleetwood mac Miles Davis etc) and bias by test record. Record settings . You can always restore them if arm is readjusted etc.
Level the arm( ruler against headshell at 2 points. You can vary this slightly if you wish. Lowering rear of arm will tame a bright treble and increase bass Good luck!

 

If the tracking weight on the arm doesn't match the weight displayed on the digi scale, then wouldn't you adjust the anti-skate to whatever the digi scale is reading? For a starting point, anyway?

 

Easy way to put your mind at rest- get a basic gauge, like the Shure. I've found, at least with low output MC, that the nominal tracking force is usually within a range, and that you adjust, just as with other parameters, to achieve optimum results- tracking as well as sonics. I periodically check my settings. I find the digital gauges I've used to be a little maddening b/c you get slightly different readings based on the precise point where you rest the stylus tip - so I check with a couple gauges in a few locations on the arm sweep- one of my gauges is an antique- a strain gauge electronic one from the early '70s that Panasonic/Technics offered at the time it introduced the original SP-10. It still works, and is accurate. There's almost a mindset to doing these adjustments- you can't be tired or rushed. And usually, once you've got it 'nailed,' you'll know it by how the thing performs.

 

I think I worry over little...all sounds well...I was just curious as to how "accurate" my 1.7 gms was,and felt after 40 years I should check it out! Some things just cannot be hurried

 

A little tangential....but do you think I should also change my mains plug,that has also been connected to my turntable for forty years?

 

You can get the gauge and confirm 1.7 is whatever, but every example of a cartridge / stylus, has slight tolerances, so I'm really not sure what this achieves.

The only time that I used a test record, I set it up as suggested, and got horrible sound on most records.

The only time that I have used a tracking gauge, was to get a rough idea of how an arm worked, that nobody in the shop had seen before, I still fine tuned it by ear.

In all the years and hundreds of cartridges that were fitted in that time, I don't know how often the gauge needed to be used, but it wasn't many.

More importantly, a number of folks will track the cartridge at the lighter end of the manufacturers range, rather than highest, this is more likely to damage records than a cartridge, tracking more securely at a higher weight.

If you want the reassurance of a tracking gauge, then go for it. I have never used one on my own cartridges.

 

Use a gauge. Those notches on the counterbalance weight might be right. Or wrong. And you would have no way to tell. The Shure is cheap.

 

Cut the cable back, remake the connections, pull out and re-insert the fuse a few times, and put the plug in the socket (switched off!) and insert / re-insert a few times. Repeat the plug cleaning a couple of times a year.

Alternatively, take a chill pill, and enjoy some music!

 

Records rarely off the turntable

 

I think in most applications setting the antiskate to same force as the VTF ends up being too much. A well known retipper stated that in the carts that they examine and retip that they can visibly see that the VTA on most carts have been set too high and more wear is visible on the outside of stylus. That is plenty of evidence for me.

I start at half of the VTF and use test record and my ears to fine tune it. I don't use the old guideline to set same as VTF anymore.

 

The point of using ,say, the Shure gauge is thst its almost an industry standard!
It does not have to be accurate to the .9th degree. Its close enough!
Its consistent.
Using said gauge if 1.7 gives the best sound reproduction based on listening tests.
Using test record assuming your. Using 1.7 start at say 1gram bias,
If the right channel wobbles dial in 1.1, 1.2, etc till you achieve proper tracking.
Hearing it on a test record is proof that the job is done!
Years ago , reading hi fi choice during 1978 onwards the number of arms with poor vtf/ bias calibration was large. Hopefully today things have improved!
But unless you can hear one channel mistrack you have no idea really of the accuracy of your set up till stylus shows uneven wear caused by over/under biasing. Unless you measure using test record( there are several),

 

Ye

yes , as a starting point that seems sensible.no great harm will occur.ie 1.7(actual indicated on stylus balance gauge ) and appropriate bias.if left at this setting .settings are technically correct.
ACTUAL true settings can only be set by a test record.
There are other methods, without using a test disc.
One can lower vta for test purposes. To encourage mistracking, then alter bias to suit, and then restore vtf. This is quite accurate , but with a test disc is so much quicker, and you can hear the results, and needs less handling of arm . I always think too much handling during set up can result in damage to stylus

 

Brasso or similiar on plug, fuses, and interconnects is a regular thing , for me. You can hear the difference !

 

Error on last reply. Should read lower vtf to encourage mistracking,