Notice how in my image the front inbd (In Board) edge of the tonearm is parallel with the line between 22 and 24 that's what I was shooting for. When my tonearm is level and placed on my setup record that is what the setting works came out to be. In your top picture the top he front inbd (In Board) edge of the tonearm is parallel with the number 20. Hopefully the attached image makes things a bit clearer. The back of your tonearm "appears " to be wayy to high. But the final verdict is based on how it sounds to you,. IHMO if it sounds good, it is good. My tonearm has VTA on the fly adjustment so changing it is no big deal, other than a quick recheck of the VTF and Azimuth in some cases. M~
With my Thorens TD145, I always liked my tone arm a bit tail down with the 440mla. I found it made the top end smoother, and the bottom end more full
On the 540 it appears (in my system) that you get more bottom end, at the expense of the upper frequencies. I've gone up and down and level seems to be the spot for me. I know that I'm kind of wishy washy, but I'm still getting used the to sound of my system. . I went the smart route and made wholesale changes all at once. M~
Thanks for the clarification! I haven't looked at the angels of the head shell or the tone arm. And just tried to get the SRA to ~92° for the diamond against the record when the record is played. Exactly like Peter L is advising on his YouTube videos. That I felt were the most important thing. I will try to clarify why I think so below: When it is a narrow line contact on the left and right side of the grove. That the ML has. And the ML diamond shape from AT is their way to replicate the same shape as the record cutting machine has. By physical and practical reasons the SRA angle need to be over 90° on the "cutting machine". To form a string of material that can be sucked up and removed from the laquer that are being cut. Otherwise less then 92° will just like a plow trow laquer pieces to the sides and mess everything up. During the cutting process the heat on the cutting edge tip that are generated by the friction. That heat also make the soft laquer material that form a string to soften (glue/stick together) and getting its form. This is what I think I have understood from various places. So we have AT that make ML that they say replicate the cutting head. And we know it is used at ~92°. "The MicroLine™ stylus almost exactly duplicates the shape of the cutting stylus used to produce the original master disc from which records are made." "The result is extremely accurate tracking of high-frequency passages and ruler-flat frequency response within the audible range." Source: Can You Explain the Different Types of Styli? | Audio Solutions I guess that when looking in the groove sides the smallest "wiggles" is the high frequency information. As AT state in the link above. So my conclusion is that the micro line need to go parallel to those wiggles (@~92°). To get all or to say the most of what the width of the ML are able to track. So when the ML is parallel to the wiggles in the groove we have the most HIGH frequency information that the ML can track/retrieve from the grove. So actually the conclusion should be when setting SRA we should listen at the high frequencies. But I was following a guide that told me to listen on a record (HDS 701) on a stand up bass in a specific track.. that I bought for adjusting SRA.. Determining VTA - A Foolproof Method - [English] But that should be rather wrong to listen on a stand up bass. When it is higher frequencies that would be more appropriate to listen after/on when dialing in ~92° by ear!? Also when we get parallel to the HF wiggles then we are spot on. In a mechanical sense. We are tracking optimally. If we then deviate from parallel and let the contact line be off with X° then we will overlap more/several "wiggles" at the same time (the micro line act as it is broader than it is). So we should lose HF information. Acting as that we autuniteing little bit of HF. Or we can see that also as we are getting more bass when we actually got less HF. In other words we are deviating from optimal tracking (tracking as fine wiggles that are possible with that stylus shape) and that seams to be the wrong way to get a desired amount/relationship of bass and HF. The only way is to move on to a other cartridge that has the desired amount/relationship of bass and HF when we are mechanical parallel to the wiggles at ~92°. I don't know if this made any sense to anyone when I think out loud. And I hope it can inspire somebody out there.
Off topic: just to pair it with my Audio Technica VM540ML, got this and it's gonna be a busy weekend for sure... With a bonus:
So are you saying this method is what brought you to be that far tail-up? IMO, if it sounds right, it’s right, that just appears to be a pretty severe angle looking at the headshell. My starting point is to have the headshell level, then adjust by ear (it just so happens my current ML stylus sounds right at that spot). I could see it being possible, though, that variance among individual styli, as well as different headshells and tonearms, could maybe create weird angles like that.
I didn’t think I expressed any strong opinions there... as far as I can tell by his first photo, he has about a 3 mm difference from the front of the headshell to the back, which seems like a lot.
I'm very close now I think, in ordering this cart, and a new Technics SL1200Mk7. Would it be best order a preattached shell and the VM540ML already put together (assume it comes this way). Audio-Technica VM540ML/H Cartridge & Headshell Combo
Yes! Definitely yes. The installation for me was a big PITA! If I had to do it all over again, i would willingly pay extra for a preinstalled cart. The picture above shows the screw nuts below which is impossible if you do it yourself. The screw length is a tad short or the nut doesn’t fit. You would’ve to install it above the headshell.
OK, very good, this is kind of what I was hoping to hear. I'm a bit of a noob myself when it comes to installing carts. Anything that makes it easier and better sounding seems like a win to me. Then what I might do is get another headshell and maybe a MC cart, and try to do it myself, and have this ready as a second option in the future.
You are correct. I know exactly what you mean. I have a couple of sets of those nuts and they are difficult for me to "tighten," I can get them snug, but in order to tighten them I have wedge a jewelers screw driver in the slot, which then presses against the cartridge body. M~
Boy, you guys are really nudging me toward sticking with my VM95ML and its very convenient threaded body. Does the pre-mounted VM540ML come set to the right overhang for a Technics arm? Or am I wrong in thinking it has holes rather than slots?
The premounted VM540ML shell has slots. I don't know if it comes adjusted for Technics, but it's easy to make that adjustment without removing the cart or screws.
I have my VM740ML set up, as shown in the above picture, on a Technics headshell. I was only able to do this because I bought the AT headshell for my other cartridge. Those nuts only come with the headshell. They fit in the body slots but are a major pain to get tightened. For the life of me, I can't understand ATs lack of common sense here.
The "method" is nothing else than trying to get the same angle on the in this case of the nude square shank as the cutting head when the laquer was cut. As I said I didn't put any effort and I did not care about what happened wit the angle of the head shell or tone arm. They're not having any contact with the record and the angle of the diamond in relationship to the record surface. That really matters if we want it to track the smallest wiggles that that width of the line can be able to follow. (See my pictures earlier in the thread of the angle of the nude diamond square shank.)
We get that. But the complaint is that AT could have made the installation a great deal more convenient for the user. It's not like they haven't done it before. M~
I bought the same AT headshell pictured above thinking that it'll enable me to mount it that way. Alas, the nut that came with it will not fit the slot. Prior to that, I emailed AT about this and they were nice enough to send me a pair of screw/nuts for the assembly. The freakin' nut just won't fit on the VM540ML! It fits my 440MLa and 440ML/OCC. Tried different combinations and just gave up. Mounted the damn thing upside down. Screw head into the slot and the nut above the headshell. At one point I was able to fit the 440ML/OCC nut into the slot (it's smaller and thinner), but for some reason, the included screw was too long that it bumps up against the stylus top/body. So you couldn't tighten it correctly. It'll push the stylus a tad bit off the cart It was the most frustrating experience I ever had installing a cart!
Damn, I forgot about that. You need to put the plastic washers under the nuts (which I did). What a pain. But fortunately it was worth it. M~
Right, I understand and agree the stylus’ SRA is what’s really being calibrated, and the resulting headshell/tonearm orientation is not what is being adjusted. It’s just kind of crazy to see that a 92 degree SRA, as dialed in by listening, would have the cartridge body tipped that much. No doubt you have it right, just surprised to see it end up that far tail-up.
I have discovered that when you play a record that has the same colour that the stylus has. Then it is magical.. It is the magic of red: "Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure." Source: Color Wheel Pro: Color Meaning Now we can add that red is the colour of hi-fi?
Pro tip - use a Sharpie to color your cart/stylus shell black. It makes the music sound better. (It was on the Steve Hoffman Forums, so it must be true!) On a somewhat related note, I had been bouncing back and forth between a recently acquired Shure M91ED and the VM540, comparing how they sound on different genres of music, and at one point the AT started sounding... bad. Like one took some digital clipping, rolled that off above 2-3 kHz, and overlaid the remaining noise on the music. After checking a few things, I pulled the stylus off to find a small piece of reddish fuzz (lint? stylus shell shavings? cosmic debris?) had attached itself to one of the poles on the coils in the cart proper - once that was (delicately) removed, the noise cleared right up. Anyone else had anything work up between the stylus and cart on one of these?
