Clearaudio Concept - Setup help

Hi all! I'm new to the forum and would appreciate some help for setting up a Ortofon 2m Bronze cartridge on my Clearaudio Concept.

After the Concept MM stylus got broken, I started to install the cartridge above and the stylus didn't touch the record. I tried to adjust the VTA and it only worked when the tonearm was almost all flush to the plinth. Even this way, I need to keep the tracking force around 2.3g-2.5g in order to make it track properly when the recommendation is 1.5g-1.75g.

The cueing mechanism also stopped working at this height and I couldn't figure out the proper way and tool to adjust it.

Any help to make it work properly will be welcome. Thanks!

 

I am a Clearaudio owner. I hear CA’s customer service is excellent. I would contact them directly.

 

I have a Concept MC. I noticed when I was setting it up that the VTF is very sensitive to the height of the stylus on the measuring scale. This is due to the magnetic bearing, I believe. So what you have to do is position the height of the top of the measuring scales at exactly the height that a record would be on the platter. I did this by placing CD cases adjacent to the platter such that the height of the measuring scales were exactly the height that a record on the platter would be. Hope this makes sense

 

Call Musical Surroundings (the U.S. Clearaudio distributor). Their customer support is second to none. Mike Fajen will get you going.

 

Thank you for your replies. As I don't have a local CA retailer, I've been trying to make the adjustments myself. I checked again the VTA and now the cueing mechanism is working properly, but vocals still have some distortion. I think a test record should help.

Bingo! I measured with the scale over the platter and over the record with the platter and the difference was around 0.3g. What was the reading of your scale over the platter? Thanks.

 

Happy to help! Hope you are enjoying the Concept now

 

I've installed seven or eight cartridges on my Concept and never had this problem, except that time I left the cartridge wires hanging down awkwardly and they were preventing the arm from fully lowering. That wasn't the turntable's fault, though.

 

@Concept_BR did you ever get this sorted?

I’ve got a Concept I’m trying to setup having very similar troubles as you describe.

 

@str3ss

I've been a Concept owner for about 6 years. I have the stock table with the magnetic bearing tonearm, and I'm using a Dynavector 10x5 cartridge.

As many have already said. It is absolutely critical to measure the VTF at the same height that the cartridge sits on a record. I would also suggest setting the tracking force to the upper end of the cartridge specifications. For example, the 10x5 has a range of 1.8 - 2.2g. I have mine at 2.2g.

The arm can also be very touchy when it comes to footfalls (wood floors) and heavy bass. My subwoofer would literally make the arm fly across the record. Most issues were corrected when I put the table on a wall shelf, but some touchiness continued. I actually have the table in the basement now and it has never sounded better. My basement has carpet over a concrete floor. I can really crank up the volume now.