your opinion on my VTA

Looks good to me to start with, I set about like that since 180-200 gram are thicker and will bring it closer to level, so it's a trade off. But final adjustment for me is by ear.

 

I fully agree about the S shaped tonearm making it really difficult to register what counts as level. I've looked at it several different ways and never felt very confident about what I was or wasn't seeing. Referencing the cartridge is much more straightforward, and I'm glad that's what everyone that's responded agrees upon.

 

Respect!
Not many would recognize it.
I surely wouldn't; of course I can hear every little nuance and difference every component brings! Of course!

 

Speaking from the perspective of someone with two tables that have set VTA, I say get it close and don't fuss, especially if you can't hear a noticable difference. It'll change every time you spin a floppy late 70's Columbia and then jump to a 180g pressing anyway. It's probably better I can't obsess over it, because I would.

 

shim. Got to have TT stuff perfect around here

 

Just for the fun of it, I cut a piece of wood at 23 degrees to see how closely it might, or might not, match the angle of the cantilever- which is supposed to be set up at 23 degrees. It's not even close! Ha! Does that mean I've bent the cantilever or that I'm measuring the wrong 23 degree angle? It's hard to imagine the cantilever at the same angle as the 23 degree cut of wood shown here.

 

The 23 degree VTA is from the record surface to the line from the stylus tip to the cantilever pivot point ... see VTA below ...

 

I got one of those vta blocks a while back. I feel like it started taking me way too long to swap out a cartridge, and wasn’t producing any difference in sound. I went back to just eyeballing it.

 

In your photo above, the included angle to the right is probably closer to 67 degrees (= 90 - 23).

 

I went over to have another look, rotated my 23 degree cut of wood, and voila! Apparently I was referencing the wrong axis on my cut as this looks pretty legit.

 

Probably not worth the hassle for someone swapping carts all the time. Small differences in VTA aren't going to produce a noticeably different sound.

One more thing though. You only have to use the block once, if you record where the setting is on the VTA adjuster for that cart + headshell. Once you have everything written down somewhere, you can simply revert to those VTA settings on the adjustment ring when using a specific cartridge.

 

I eyeballed mine, but it turned out to be still more than 1° off when I checked with a VTA block.



I may go back to a bigger angle, though. I have to use a second mat and an additional record sandwiched between the mats to get it as flat as this. The record is sitting very high on the spindle now (which is the reason I don't bother adding even more records or mats). Apparently the turntable manufacturer (Rotel) didn't worry about VTA at all. I only started worrying about it, because Audio Technica recommends using a conical stylus for record players without VTA adjustment.

 

I'm of the opinion do it right or play CD's

 

Yes, that first picture didn’t look like there was any way that cut was close to 23 degrees. This looks more like it.

It’s hard to say for sure from this photo, but I really think you probably have your VTA pretty close to right on the nuts, unless things don’t sound great. As others have said, you’ll have some variation from record to record, anyway, and this looks like you’re right in the range you want it.

 

I'm now totally satisfied with the VTA situation as it is. My goal for this thread was to gauge others opinions as to whether they felt a level tonearm or a level top of cartridge was more important. Reassuringly, pretty much everyone that responded agreed that getting the top of the cartridge parallel with the LP surface is the goal for setting "proper" VTA. The whole 23 degree cut comparison was out of curiosity and for fun.
Happy Friday, cheers!