SME V arm: dynamic VTF or straight weight

Dear friends: I wonder why Daniel, I and some other people ( there are posts elsewhere on Dyna and SME owners where they state that hear differences. ) can hear differences and some of you did not.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear Peter: IMHO and due to my V and IV experiences the cartridge that you mount in the V performs better if the V is working in full static way where the " springs " are totally by-passed ( it does not make sense to " split ". ), in the static balanced way the spring can't resonate/vibrate and can't affect the cartridge quality performance.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear Peter: Maybe the today SME dinamicaly balanced design already fix ( through damping ) that string vibration/self-resonance and this can be one of the reasons why some SME owners can't hear any differences even than the counterweight in the static way is close to the pivot and that in very tiny way that improves a better moving mass control and very tiny too change in the tonearm effective mass.

About the theory of dynamic against static way ( letting out the string resonance subject ) there are some interesting things: if the record is totally flat the cartridge performance is almost the same and certainly extremely difficult to say which is one, but the perfect world does not exist so in real conditions both tonearm designs suffer of almost the same " problem ": changes in VTF due to the gravity force, that's why between other things is so important/critical the bearing quality design in any tonearm.

It is almost imposible to make a bis a bis ( same tonearm/cartridge combination and same everything but the dynamic/static subject design. ) shoot-out in our own systems to find out what we like it ( that at the end is a subjective an unique opinion ) and even if we can/could do it there will be several different opinions.

This whole dynamic/static tonearm design subject is something like the one " geometry tracking distortions that we all analize through other hreads " that when some ask about the threshold where the tracking distortions could be hear/heard and we can't had an absolute and precise answer.
If we make the distortion measures ( in a scientific way ) and kind of it and where happen and translate those measures to what we hear this could be great but IMHO even if we can do it it will be extremely dificult to co-relate those single distortions with what we heard because it is almost impossible to have over control all the factors that are involve in the record playing exercise.

I think that in the tonearm case a critical factor is the quality execution ( between others. ) of the tonearm design it is here in the quality excecution where there are more important differences between different tonearms than in the dynamic/static subject. IMHO both approaches/designs could and can work with exeptional precision and great results even with its each differences/trade-offs.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear Daniel: Like I posted: different persons/systems different opinions.

I made the same with the Micro Seiki ( with out damping ), FR, Ikeda, Dynavector, SME and Lustre tonearms and with several cartridges ( one cartridge at the time ) and I prefer the static way, but like your opinion mine is not an absolute one only an additional one. All tests in different times but with the same recording tracks.

What I find, overall, were a more natural and balanced tone with less " spark " over the high frequencies and less/lower distortion " feeling ". In the Micro Seiki the differences were at minimum along the Lustre. Different tonearms different level/range results.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear Peter: Good. The interesting point is that you already try it in a " serious " way and you learn ( like any one of us. ) on the subject.

I think that it will be a good thing to you that you can give at either set-up way a little more time with your reference records. This could help you to understand in a more precise manner what/where is happening to confirm your thoughts about.

Other recomendation that could help to be more precise is to use your V with out damping.

Obviously I asume that the whole cartridge/tonearm set-up is right on target including load impedance.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear Axel: +++++ " Look what your stylus is doing when being lowered into the start groove ---- pop - and wiggle, sometimes jumping quite nastily into the first music groove, ever had that? " +++++

+++++ " The higher the compliance the more wiggle and jump... " +++++

well, there are other factors than compliance ( btw, my experiences with high compliance cartridges are different from what you posted. ) to that " wiggle&jump " cartridge event: the angle deviation from flat of that outer LP rim, a cartridge/tonearm mis-match ( resonance frequency ), how much " space " are between those un-modulate " grooves " on that rim, how much AS we are apply to, VTF, VTA/SRA, etc, etc..

so IMHO that " event " is not ( only ) because of compliance.
Usually when the cartridge does not " wiggle&jump " that cartridge/tonearm set-up performs extremely well.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear Peter: Now that you already try both VTF " ways " you have the opportunity ( on both ) to make a very fine tunning with the VTF set-up you like it more and through tiny VTA changes try to be near on the other sound characteristics that you like in the other VTF set-up, as a fact you can do it in both VTF ways.

Almost always exist a threshold ( very tiny but exist. ) where ( in some frequency range ) tiny VTA changes does not alter the main sound characteristics and through these VTA very tiny changes you can achieve an important improvement.

Btw, I don't own the PC-1 but I already have it in my system ( from a friend ) and I loaded at 100 Ohms with very good results.
In two other systems where I heard the PC-1 were loaded at 100-150 ohms ( no SUT, active gain. ). I understand that your Pass is an active gaing design, right?. Do you already try to eun your PC-1 at 100-150 ohms? and with no AS or only 0.5? . These are interesting alternatives and person/system dependents on its result levels.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear Peter: That threshold that I'm speaking is : through our each one ear/brain perception.

Raul.