Depends what you mean. In the example below, increasing capacitance will cause the "resonant peak" go lower in frequency and cut of the highest frequencies, but a the same time also lift 3-10 kHz. One thing is for sure though is that increasing the resistance will mean a brighter sound.
Pretty good bet the issue is from previous play and nothing will change it. An amazing number, like almost all, previously played records have this sort of issue to one degree or another. Now, it could be in the recording, but probably not. I've even set up a custom alignment that factors in more groove at the center. I still have the issue on some previously played records. The great thing about classical is that more often than any other genre you find clean records that have not been played very much.
I do find the songs from this album to be quite bright and hot, and thus hard to track. I have an OG Scandinavian pressing of Ocean Rain and it’s quite hard even for an advanced stylus to track. On top of that I think the former owner shaved / wore down the record. I think for best playback of these Korova discs fishing a very clean copy, and playing with the best stylus you can is key.
Because you're using a very low cap cable my guess is that using the 147pf setting still gets you just under the 200pf total recommended by AT. Maybe this is why the difference you percieve is not that big. With a 147pf I am over 200 total so 47 setting sounds best to me.
During the last days, I listened to lots of different records with the VM540ML + the MyGroov Micromega pre amp - sounds fantastic
There's definitely a crescendo at the end of the symphony, here's a close up you can see how dynamic it gets for the last few rotations: I think as you say I'm pushing the cart/arm to the limit with this. It was cut at EBS, not by anyone notable as far as I am aware. I'm not getting issues with any records which don't finish this close to the label and have realigned multiple times with no improvement. I think given I can track band 3 of the hifi news disk with no issues I'm going to assume it's as good as it gets. Still very happy with the VM540ML, and as you say may be more down to my mid-range Rega.
Those torture tracks are not good for setting anti-skate, BTW. I'd set it using the inner grooves of this record and see how it sounds overall.
I've settled on 47pf, from what I've read, lower is better. Add on the cable and it takes it up to round about 100pf.
It's ideal. All the extra cap does is make a frequency response spike at the top end. Probably higher than your hearing if all is well, but it degrades the sound, ultimately. Lower reduces this spike. No cap would be ideal, probably.
Good choice. I use a Mofi Studiophono with 100uF input capacitance with a 0.5m BJC from my 1200GR. I wouldn't want any more capacitance than this.
I don't know if you guys have covered this. But as seen in the image below you can draw the conclusion that UNI-DIN is the best alignment calculation CLOSEST TO THE LABEL if you listen to classical music that usually has a crescendo. But in total playing area from lead in to the start of the lead out the Lofgren B has the less angle error of them all. (So there is no reason for anyone to use Lofgren A or the Stevenson!) So in other words UNI-DIN alignment will help a little bit against your crescendo issues at the end of the record (more precise between 60 to 67 mm)
Thank you this is useful information, the grooves I'm having issue with are between 53 and 55mm from the center of the spindle as you can see in this image, so I think the chart you have shared reaffirms that distortion is expected this close to the center with any alignment:
That is a very long play.. It is outside of the specifications: Innermost radius (mm) of music groove for a: LP 30cm(12inch) 57.5 DIN(1981)/57.6 JIS(1966)/60.325 RIAA(1963) So the specification is from 57.5 to 60.325mm which we are referring to. I think that we should not make adjustments to this extreme disc that is outside of specifications. As seen at the slopes in the diagram they're very steep at those radius and a couple of mm there is giving a big jump. So there is a logical reasoning to put the specifications where they're. Composers need to learn how many minutes a side of a LP is.
The distortion goes up so rapidly past spec that nothing can track it so every stylus does damage. You see why people go for longer arms or linear tracking arms.
Is the Technics arm long enough to do Loefgren B? If so, I'd guess the cartridge would be mounted near the end of the adjustment range with slight inward azimuth.
Have you tried playing that with any other cart, in the same alignment, with a conical stylus? You could try the ATN-103 stylus, a .6 conical, which will fit the 540.
Whilst everyone is correct about this LP being a very extreme case, against the y-axis - Stephenson only gives around 0.9% tracking distortion even at 53mm. This remains the most appropriate alignment for @djhurley92 even if not perfect. The Planar 3 is a fine turntable but the arm itself will also have limitations.
Anyone listened to Louder Than Words on Pink Floyd's Endless River with the 540ml, how's the sibilance?
I am playing with the idea of getting this cartridge as a spare to switch out to play my tougher to track records. Is it compatible with most turntables? I have a We’ll Tempered Lab Amadeus MkII, can I just place this cart on there (and obviously make all the required VTA, VTF, and Azimuth adjustments)? Like I said, I will probably use my other cart most of the time but break this guy out when I need to track something difficult.
What is the effective mass of your tonearm? The VM500 series is ideally meant for tonearm on the lighter side, like 10g effective mass or less. Not suitable for heavier tonearm, e.g. 16-20g EM. Do you have a spare wand or something for that WT? Changing cartridges often on something like that would seem like a hassle.
I believe the effective mass of the tonearm is 10 grams. And the hassle is something I would need to consider. I will do some further digging to wrap my head around if this is a good idea or not..... thanks for your input!
