SL-1500C tonearm shape defective?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by woodpigeon, Feb 27, 2021.

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  1. woodpigeon

    woodpigeon Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Pulled the trigger on the damper, will let you know how it goes.

    I’m running the VM95SH at 4.5mm, with the 3mm mat. The cartridge is slightly tail down and sounds good. I still think the arm is sloping down a bit whilst the headshell slopes up.

    Technics support have been in touch and don’t think there’s anything wrong with the tonearm, perhaps I’m misjudging it somehow. Sounds fine.
     
  2. Sterling1

    Sterling1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Maybe the headshell is just bent upward from its shaft.
     
  3. woodpigeon

    woodpigeon Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Zealand
    That’s the impression I have. It’s the same with several different headshells I have and it points to the collar joint being slightly crooked.
     
  4. aunitedlemon

    aunitedlemon Unity is in the pith.

    Location:
    Oregon
    I hope you love it. I still feel like it took my vinyl playback to a new level. A tip on damper install, if I may? When you're filling the trough with the silicone, it takes a moment for the thick silicone to level-off in the trough, causing a pause while you wait to judge if the trough is the recommended 1/2 full. In process I quickly realized that after adding some silicone in the trough, drawing the plunger (ever so slightly) back out of the syringe (w/o dipping the tip of the syringe into the trough) made for a clean break of the thick fluid, eliminating a string of it draping over the side of the trough. Does that make sense? Looking forward to your review of the damper.
    That last bit of your post is what really matters most.
     
    woodpigeon likes this.
  5. woodpigeon

    woodpigeon Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Thank you for the tip! Good to avoid a mess. Looking forward to trying it out.
     
  6. aunitedlemon

    aunitedlemon Unity is in the pith.

    Location:
    Oregon
    I managed to keep my install pretty tidy. I laid a paper towel under the trough "just in case" and also pulled my mat off the platter. It went really smoothly. What very little silicone that did wind up draped over the trough cleaned up w/o much fuss just using isopropyl and a paper towel.
     
    woodpigeon likes this.
  7. Electric Warrior

    Electric Warrior Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    I'm having the exact same problem with an AT-LP140XP. The headshell is tilted upwards. When the cartridge is parallel with the platter, the tonearm sloping down. It really limits the use of the VTA dial, as I have to max it out to get the cartridge parallel, so I do consider this to be an issue. I've contacted their customer support about it.
     
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  8. Sterling1

    Sterling1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    I can not help but wonder if there's some headshell stamping plant out there that has not inspected the squareness of stampings? Yet, as stated in an earlier post the thread starter said the out of square condition is present from several headshells, which could mean too much tension on locking collar's set screw/s, although the result of too much tension would be the reverse of the issue here.
     
    woodpigeon likes this.
  9. Electric Warrior

    Electric Warrior Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    I'm not sure yet if it's the headshell or the tonearm that's causing the problem. I just ordered a second headshell to check.
     
    Sterling1 likes this.
  10. Gibsonian

    Gibsonian Forum Resident

    Location:
    Iowa, USA
    I purchased a tonearm and upon receipt had a similar issue as you are seeing. The armtube was rotated incorrectly where it mounts into the arm "socket" or pivot. On this particular arm (Lustre GST801), there are some screws at the collar juncture that I could loosen, rotate arm to correct position, and the retighten. Could this be your issue? Based on all your pics, seems like it could be.
     
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  11. Claude M

    Claude M Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Here's another small tip for installing the damper (did this a week ago on my TT). Take the short end of the hex key they include in the kit and put it to a wire brush wheel and then a polishing wheel if you have one. I had to do this to my key as it was tough to get it into the screw and even a bigger pain to get it out (very tight fit).
     
    woodpigeon likes this.
  12. @woodpigeon If you're showing any record other than the edge, the angle you're taking the photo from is wrong - you shouldn't be seeing the record as you do in this photo you posted

    [​IMG]
     
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  13. Brucedgoose

    Brucedgoose Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hawaii
    Pay most attention to the stylus/cantilever and its relationship to the groove, *not* the tonearm’s angle or even the cartridge body. This makes it even harder, but the *position of the stylus in the groove* is what you are trying to align. The cartridge body, especially in the case of less expensive cartridges, cannot be used as a reference plane because then “engine” is inserted into the cartridge body in a less-than-precise fashion. Using the cartridge body as a reference will get you into the ballpark, but once there, you need to focus on the actual stylus/cantilever and ensure that its relationship to the groove is correct. You’ll need a good magnifier and plenty of light to do this, as well as *a lot* of patience.

    Almost certainly, there is nothing wrong with the tonearm.

    Total Pain-in-the-Butt!
     
    woodpigeon likes this.
  14. woodpigeon

    woodpigeon Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Good call, I’ll try sighting it from lower down and see what difference that makes. Cheers.
     
    SeeDeeFirth likes this.
  15. :tiphat:
     
  16. woodpigeon

    woodpigeon Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Zealand
    I’ve found getting it in the ballpark and then tweaking by ear achieves a decent sound too, it was surprising how much difference it made with both the Concorde Century and VM95SH. Playing Industrial Disease over and over (with apologies to my wife) and listening for the bass line and the little air valve ‘pssshh’ sounds.

    The main issue is with the Quintet Black — there’s simply no room to adjust VTA, it must be set to the maximum just for the back of the cartridge to clear the surface of the record, and even then it is still tail down.
     
  17. woodpigeon

    woodpigeon Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Are they the tiny screws on the bottom of the tonearm? I’ve been afraid to touch those, to date.
     
  18. plimpington2

    plimpington2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland
    If this is the issue, I would expect the top of the head shell to fail to be parallel to the record (ie., azimuth would be off). Same if the tube is twisted at the pivot.
     
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  19. woodpigeon

    woodpigeon Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Azimuth is fine. Sometimes requires a little twist in either direction after mounting the headshell but that just seems like play in the collar.
     
  20. plimpington2

    plimpington2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland
    See now, that’s concerning. The interface between the head shell and the shaft (via that collar) should not be so loosey goosey that you can appreciate play in the collar. That interface does not inspire confidence.
     
  21. woodpigeon

    woodpigeon Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Zealand
    I hadn’t really been too worried about it as I’d heard other folks on here mentioning taking advantage of the headshell play on a Technics arm to set azimuth, so assumed it was a normal attribute of the design.
     
    Oelewapper likes this.
  22. Gibsonian

    Gibsonian Forum Resident

    Location:
    Iowa, USA
    Depends. If the headshell has adjustable azimuth then this situation could easily exist.
     
    Ripblade likes this.
  23. Ripblade

    Ripblade Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Six
    Sounds to me like the pipe is rotated clockwise when viewed from the front. When you view the stylus from the front, lined up with the pivot like gun sights, does the pipe look like it is drooping?
     
  24. Electric Warrior

    Electric Warrior Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    The new headshell arrived. Same issue. I guess I have a tonearm issue. :/
     
    Sterling1 likes this.
  25. Sterling1

    Sterling1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    This pretty much means the tonearm is indeed bent, headshell tail up with the tonearm level would mean the tonearm is bent down in its middle. Headshell tail down with the tonearm level would mean the tonearm is bent upward in its middle.
     
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