VTF measurments with a unipivot

Dear Actusreus : Cartridge set up always is important and critical to have a good quality performance level from the cartridge.

Now, IMHO it's almost useless to ask for the penultimate VTF set up in a cartridge/tonearm set up due that that " perfect " VTF set up never works ( not only because there are different thickness in the LPs. ) because each single LP is not perfectly flat so almost at each " groove " VTF changes " like it or not ".

Good that you are interested in " perfect " VTF but this does not works during playback and that's why cartridge manufacturers give us a VTF cartridge range. Normally I made my cartridge VTF set up at the middle of that range or a little over it.

regards and enjoy the music,
R.

Thank you for your input, Raul. I think the "perfect" VTF in that sense is simply a VTF that optimizes the performance of the cartridge over the wide(st) range of recordings, similarly to the VTA. Jon Carr determined that for some of his cartridges, this is achieved with a VTF of 1.75 grams, and I trust his expertise. I find that the way I perceive sound varies from day to day depending on many factors so the by-ear method does not always work for me. I'm also more of a set-it-and-forget-it kind of guy. I'm not a "tweaker"; I want to spend my time listening to music, not analyzing the sound of every record.

Also, it seems to me that by your logic, you could never find a "perfect" (or perhaps "correct" would be a better word) VTF for a cartridge unless you'd be willing to adjust for every record, which is surely not true. There must be a VTF setting where any given cartridge performs best, whether it's a range or a pint point value, all else being equal. Again, if a designer of Jon Carr's caliber tells me it's 1.75 g, I listen. It may not be the way many audiophiles do it, but it has worked for me and my Delos so far.

Dear Actusreus: Normaly the cartridge manufacturer/designer as J.Carr makes the advise on VTF where the cartridge coils are centered and is a good trend try to be there. As I posted I try to make the set up at the middle of the cartridge VTF range after the other cartridge set up parameters.

As you said we can't stay changing the VTF every single LP and not only because " boring " but everytime we change VTF we have to adjust VTA/SRA and sometimes azymuth too.

We have to find out an average cartridge set up, IMHO these are the kind of trade-offs that we have to accept with an imperfect medium as analog.

regards and enjoy the music,
R.

I agree, Raul. Perhaps worthy of noting is the fact that the new Lyra cartridges have a much narrower VTF range then most cartridges on the market. Most cartridge manufacturers seem to suggest a range of 0.4 grams and up, whereas Lyra range is 0.1 gram, at least four times smaller. So not much to experiment with, and the middle of the range, as you suggest, is 1.75 g.

Hi Actus,
Realising that I'm possibly highlighting my lack of advanced mechanical knowledge, could you try the following experiment?

Assuming the bearing is as frictionless as possible :

- Balance the arm
- Tilt the arm upwards by a couple of degrees and release.

Does the arm fall, as if due to additional VTF, then gradually normalise in the horizontal position, or does it remain where you stationed it?

- Tilt the arm downwards a couple of degrees.

Does the arm rise as if due to a deficiency in VTF or remain stationary?
Alternatively, if you don't wish to upset your current settings, can you recall how it behaved when you last set up the cartridge?

Please note every arm I've owned has followed the former damped oscillation pattern but I don't preclude design ingenuity! :) :)

To my inexperienced mind this should give a clue as to it's "loaded" behaviour but I'm probably mistaken. :)
Kind regards....