What is your cartridge and tracking force used

Dynavector DV20X H - 2g

Dear Sonofjim/Thomasheisig: I would like that you can share your experiences on your beloved cartridges, example:

Sonofjim, what changes in quality cartridge performance do you hear in your LP with a 1.93 and 1.95 grs against 1.94 grs ? do you check the VTA/SRA/overhang set-up with either VTF change?

Thomasheisig, could you tell us about in your Shelter 90X?: 1.89-1.91grs against 1.90grs.

Thank you in advance.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Raul,
I haven't experimented with all those tiny increments in VTF. I use a digital scale that reads to the hundredth of a gram so I report what the readout says but I'm not sure how important hundredths of a gram are. I do have the other parameters you mention dialed in to the best of my ability. I try to get VTF into a pre-determined range(for the LP I wanted between 1.9 and 2 gms)as I'm setting everything else. Once it's sounding good I tend not to mess with it.

ZYX universe 1.7; i have ventured lower but mistracking can be an issue. Followed DougDeacon technique for universe and believe it sounds better on my system at this vtf and optimized vta.

ZYX UNIverse on TriPlanar VII
Recommended: 1.70-2.20g
Useable range: currently 1.45-1.60g (subject to change, see below)
Sweet zone: varies with weather and is always very narrow, just .01g wide or so, we fine tune daily and sometimes per each LP, by listening
Antiskating: is now virtually zero, no weight on the dogleg at all

A bit of explanation: our current acceptable VTF falls somewhere between 1.45-1.60g, but that does NOT mean we can play anywhere in that range and get decent results. All that range means is this:
- on the hottest/most humid summer days we play as low as 1.45g
- on the coldest/driest winter days we play as high as 1.60g
On any given day the sweet spot will fall somewhere between those limits, but no matter where it falls the sweet zone itself is always extremely narrow. Move more than .01g away from today's sweet spot and performance deteriorates.

Raul heard this during his visit a couple years ago. The cartridge sounded great during a long afternoon of play. Then we took a two hour dinner break and it cooled down (winter day, very cold and dry). When we started playing again in the evening the bass had gone lightweight and dynamics were weak, a sign of inadequate VTF. I added .015g and BANG!, we were back in the sweet zone.

As Oilmanmojo found, tracking a UNI at lower than recommended VTF's is not automatically possible. Mine didn't track at 1.50g when new and there was no need. Performance was ideal at 1.90g or so. It's only after many hours (1,000+) that tracking below 1.70, 1.60 and even 1.50 became possible and sounded best.

It's been the same with anti-skate. When the UNI was new we needed 6-8 little O-rings on the dogleg. Then we needed 4-5, then 2-3, etc. Now we don't need any, the weight of the empty dogleg is sufficient.

Clearly the suspension is relaxing with advancing hours. This has required adjustment to below the recommended range but there's a positive side effect: the tracking of really difficult passages (not a new UNIverse's strongest point) is much better than it used to be. There are one or two torturous spots in a handful of LP's I could never play cleanly. Now I can, and at much lower VTF's than we used a year or two ago. Practice makes perfect? :-)