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Catch 22 in turntable setup

Hey everyone,

I am just getting into vinyl - I have been given a Marantz 2270 receiver and I purchased a Technics 1210 mk2 table. The plan is to use this for casual home listening. I just received my new Grado black cartridge as well and I am having some issues with initial setup.

The information I have gathered from several places seem to contradict themselves. I used the Technics printable protractor from Vinylengine.com to mount the cartridge to the headshell. The technics manual says that the VTA should be set according to the cartridge height (Grado black = 17.5mm I believe), which puts the arm at a 2.5mm VTA. The instructions with the Grado say to make sure of a 90 degree angle between the cart and the record. When using the settings mentioned, I cannot seem to achieve this angle - the cart is aimed slightly upward.

Can anyone offer some input on where I may have gone wrong?

Any and all help is appreciated.

Thanks.
d40winker

Showing 1 response by nrchy

nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
All of the instructions are general. Actual setup will vary based on the vacissitudes of construction. Once you are close you will have to adjust by ear.

Just because the arm is parallel to the top of the platter doesn't mean that the engine of the cartridge is perfectly square to the platter. That's why there are hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of set up tools and jigs.

Some tables and arms make it impossible to obtain the proper set up, but I don't think that is the case for the Grado/Technics...
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