VTA=Vertical Tracking Angle. The correct vertical angle is established by the angle of the cutting head on the original master disc. You want to match the angle of your stylus exactly to this angle. Now all you have to do is figure out what the angle of the cutting head was, what the angle of your stylus is, calculate the thickness of the record you are going to play, and you will know how to set the VTA properly. Yeh I know, its a bitch but nobody said vinyl was easy. These problems are some of the reasons people and manufacturers don't pay much attention to VTA, but is IS important. Its best handled by ear on each record with a tonearm that allows you to adjust VTA on the fly.
VTA Adjustment
Thanks for all the EXCELLENT answers to my last thread. Now another question....what is VTA? Vertical tracking adjustment? Second question, does a Nottingham space deck (with space arm) have a VTA adjustment? The documentation mentions only "playing weight", is this the same thing? The documentation that comes with the deck is absolutely horrible, two confusing paragraphs and a hand drawn diagram. The assembly instructions that came with my 2 years olds bicycle manufactured in china were much better.