Benz help

Here's the way I measure horizontal... I take a lined index card (3X5) and fold it in half so that I can lay it on the turntable like a teepee with the lines going horizontal. The lines are parallel and I eyeball my resting tonearm on a record with the folded card right next to and on the other side of the arm - closer to the spindle than the arm. I get way down making sure my eye is on the same plane as the tonearm and view how the arm lines up with the lines on the card.

Marty,
Donnie pi*sed me off when he left the family. I dumped him, The Archies, 1910 Fruitgum Company, and The Cowsills at the same time.

As I said my tip was only meant to be a starting point. The listener must find the optimal setting which undoubtedly varies with every tonearm/cartridge combination.

Now Donnie and Marie were cool. She was a little bit country, he was a little bit rock n' roll.

Very little.

Eyeballing parallel is difficult even for the keenest observer.

Here is an easy method to ensure you start there. You'll need 2 items.
1. A very small (1") bubble level. Home Depot or your local hardware store for about $1.
2. A useless record album. I find Madonna, Donnie Osmond, or Barry Manilow work very well.

Now, drill a very small hole anyplace in the first 1/3 of the record album. Actually it can be drilled anywhere on the record but I find it more convenient with the hole close to the front. The hole must be large enough for the stylus to fit in so when the tonearm is lowered, the weight is born by the cartridge's body.

After you've lowered the tonearm into the hole and the cartridge body is supporting VTF, gently place your bubble level on the headshell. Assuming the cartridge is perpendicular to the headshell, you have a fairly accurate starting point.

As a safeguard it's a good idea to disable the anti-skating mechanism so there is no later force in play.

Good luck.

Thanks Stringreen, I'm going to raise it some today and see how it works out. I'm probably pretty close to 3mm down from horizontal myself. I will also take some better measurements today as well.

Thanks Pied as well. I keep reading it's b/w 1.8 and 2.2. I'll toy around with these today as well

I don't think you'll find many large stylii.

Even fewer are black.

You never know.

My Ebony rides low to the record as well, but never scrapes the back end of the cartridge...the styus is very small and black and is very hard to see. After careful listening, I was amazed to find that the cartridge'a best performance (huge soundspace, midrange clarity, solid low, great depth) was with nearly no lowering of the back end of the arm. I would say the arm is about 3 mm down from perfect horizontal. I'm guessing that your cartridge is fine, but needs to be raised.

Oh shoot...Sorry about that, thought I put it in...It's the Pro-ject stock arm for the MMF-5 (2.1 I believe).

The recommended VTF is 1.8. That'll help a little.

I have the tracking at 2.0...it is a used cart and i was worried about that...but he offered my money back if it doesnt work...if you dont mind sending me a private message so I could send pics that would be great....for what its worth...it sounds absolutely stunning, and that is with my tonearm wire still just touching the terminal as I have to resolder it...but coming from the goldring I was expecting a big difference

I'll try taking a couple pics so y'all can see what I'm looking at if you want me to send to your email, since I don't think we can post here can we?

I lowered the VTA slightly this morning. It's pretty parallel at the tonearm and the cart. I'll try droping just a touch lower and see what comes of it...

Tvad, yeah I checked it before I bought it because it was a concern of mine...it's at about 9.9-10.2 in res frequency, so it seems it should work.

Viridian, it never bottoms out...I'm using the shure for tracking force (i know not the most reliable). The distance is probably 3/16 to 1/4 (at work now)...It doesn't ride nearly as low as the Goldring it replaced. But, the Goldring didn't have such a drastic change in angle.

Viridian asks good questions...also what Tracking force did you use?

Was this a used cart?

I have not noticed a big difference in deflection. Its times like these I wish we could see photos included in the threads.

Sorry guys, should have been more clear. My left/right angle isn't to bad, just slightly off. Actually rides in the middle without the anti-skate.

What I meant was the verticle angle, being viewed perpendicularly to the cart. It seems to be riding pretty low compared to when there is no contact with the record. I didn't know if the MC's compressed more than the MM's.

I have a Benz Ebony and the stylus tracks right in the middle. I have a VPI Signature arm - am using their anti-skate gizmo with the o rings in the middle of the arm which kind of agrees with Headsnappin's advice above.

Hello Pablo, I've run across this frequently. I'm getting more and more convinced most anti-skate settings should be about half of the tracking force. If the cantilever is skewed it will sound better with it plays in the groove straight. I've taken the time to listen and compare, no doubt. Who'd a thought? :)