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Is tonearm bias a compromise, maybe a myth?

I recently decided to check my tonearm/cartridge setup: alignment protractor, tracking force gauge, checked VTA, bias weight, etc. as over my many years with turntables and tonearms I have been surprised to discover that "shift happens". I have a very low mass arm with a very high compliance MM tracking at 1.25 gms. There was just a minor shift this time in tracking force. But afterwards I was really surprised at how much more depth there was to the soundstage and greater subtle details. I was then gobsmacked by the discovery that I had forgotten to re-attach the bias weight thread! Applying Lateral Bias seems to compromise performance elsewhere, true?
elunkenheimer

Showing 2 responses by moonglum

moonglum
619 posts
 
Tony, interesting post. Regarding pre-loading and non-pivoted arms : does this mean that the cantilever will be permananently skewed when a cart is fitted on linear tracking arms?
moonglum
619 posts
 
Tony...as a fellow left-hander, I sympathise :)

You must have nerves of steel m8! ("DJ scratching" - in the "safe" direction - on your protractor :) :)
I'm usually a quivering wreck just making routine adjustments :)

It reminds me of NSGArch's repeated appeals that platters be secured during cart alignment to avoid any accidental cantilever reversals. Sadly, few of us - including myself - take this simple precaution (I will next time, I promise!) :)
On my turntable, I've noticed that after deceleration the platter comes to rest with a final small oscillation (backwards-forwards, about 1mm or so, for a split second). Perhaps wrongly, I attribute this to the rubber belt stretching alternately either side as it grapples with the heavy platter's inertia...
It doesn't encourage the idea of not being present during a power failure while a record is spinning! :)
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