Advice/feedback needed on Morch UP4 setup


I am trying to set up a new Morch UP4 arm on a new Amazon Model One table. I have no experience or exposure to this set up or any experience with setting up arms and carts since the early eighties. The question I have is concerning the lack of stability of the assembly at the pivot point. Should it be loose? I have put the weights on and installed the wand and it is still very unstable at the pivot point. I realize this assembly is riding on a bearing and that it is really the only point of contact but I can't beleive it is not supported laterally somehow. For instance, if I have the arm in it's base along with the prescribed weights on and the wand installed and I pick it up by the head shell with one finger it rotates, or spins, if you will. I hope this question makes sense, if anyone out there has set up a Morch UP4 hopefully you have seen the same. An advice/ experience/ feedback is greatly appreciated.
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Showing 3 responses by wdt

Thanks 76doublebass,
I got a lot done last night. Learned a lot. I can't imagine doing what I did without a vtf scale, I bought a good digital one in preparation for this and can't imagine last night without it. Every time I was making an azimuth adjustment( and still need to fiddle further) I would change the weighting on the cart unknowingly. It's a dog chasing it's tail story for sure with all this. I have a blue precision arm and used all three weights. The sound is proving to be well worth it though, music sounds real again!

thx again,wd
I bought a Micro-Tech scale through Musicdirect for $160. It measures to 1/10th of a gram and it's platform for the stylus to rest on is low at platter height. Too expensive though, somebody somewhere is buying these things for ten bucks i bet. Anyway, you have to remember that I was setting up for the first time so all my azimuth guessing with the weights was first time, but I was amazed at the weight change by simply trying to rotate the smallest weight to correct azimuth, maybe .1-.2g change. I am still not comfortable with the azimuth or the vta. I ordered yesterday a bubble level tht is small enough to rest on the head shell, I hope this gets me comfortable with both values.

One thing that concerns me on azimuth is how the arm reacts "sometimes" when the lift is used. Often times the cart sways when you lift it off the album, sometimes not. This could be a function of the lift and it's pad on the lift arm being less than perfectly level.

I checked speed last night with the KAB strobo and it was running a little fast, but Amazon said to run at least 10 hours before adjusting. I am going to put the cart alignment piece I have on the platter tonight and check alignment at the two null points and also maybe put the test lp album I bought through it's test. I don't think I am anywhere close yet. Oddly enough the system did not sound as good last night. ugh!