I'm scratching my records

John,

You've actually asked two questions, one about cueing a record, the other about Vertical Tracking Force. A perfect VTF setting will not prevent what happened to Norah. :( The ideal setup is optimized to let your stylus accurately trace a groove it's already in. Decelerating a stylus on a sideways-sloping glaze of ungrooved vinyl would require a very different, and horrible sounding, setup. Let's address these two questions seperately.

SETTING VTF
I don't know the JMW or Helikon, but most top cartridges work best in the upper half of their recommended range. It is a popular misconception that lighter VTF is good for your records. Precisely the opposite is true. It's hard to think of anything worse for a plastic groove than sending a diamond spike bouncing back and forth between the walls due to inadequate controlling pressure. Optimal VTF will control the stylus just enough to let it trace both groove walls accurately without over-damping.

The way to set VTF is by listening to music with a lot of dynamic, HF content. If VTF is too low, HF's will sound shrill or broken up. If VTF is too high, HF's start to disappear altogether.

CUEING RECORDS
The problem is the stupid record manufacturers, who invented raised edges to seperate records from each other in a stack on a changer. Anyone who stacks records on a changer should get the scratches they deserve. Why make the rest of us suffer? (Many 200g audiophile pressings have a nice flat lead-in area and lots of lead-in grooves, not just one or two.)

That little downslope is a terrible risk. ALWAYS look for that. If the record has one then you've already discovered the solution. Place the stylus as near to the bottom of that slope as possible, erring toward the music side if necessary. Better to miss the first few bars than destroy them forever. If the record seems dodgy for cueing accurately I'll control the stylus drop speed myself, not just trust the damping. This is especially important if the record is warped.

Damn, this analog is fun!

John,little noise is acceptable when the stylus hit the lead-in groove,not damaging sound.

Try 1.5 gram and see what's going to happend !

Analog isn't easy to set up,but you'll have smile on your face when it's set properly.

CD isn't easy for the ears !!!

It sounds to me like you may also need to adjust the antiskating force. If it is set too high, or too low, it will cause the tonearm to swing rapidly toward (or away) from the spindle when the stylus makes contact with the record.

There are test LP's that are helpful in setting the antiskate force, but if you don't have one, you can also try using an LP that has a blank section with no grooves. Set the stylus down on the blank area, and then adjust the antiskate until the tonearm remains stationary (neither moving toward nor away from the spindle).

John,

The last individual had it right: the problem is your antiskating force. Since the VPI tonearm doesn't have this feature, you must twist the tonearm wires in the direction opposite to the skating direction, clockwise if you're facing the front of the 'table, and then connect them. If one twist isn't enough, then try two. Also, don't be afraid to increase the stylus force pressure, as too little does more to damage records than too much. Do this before you twist the wires, as the skating force is tied to the pressure. Head toward the upper end of the recommended range.