Parallel? How do you set the VTA?

I agree with John(McGrogan)and Stringreen. The most important thing is setting by ear, not by looks. Parallelability is only a stating point. Try raising or lowering the arm at the rear(pivot)in small bits at a time. After each movement, listen to the sound until you hear the best sense of clarity, detail, air and overall balance. In other words, there's a point at which you will detect a sense of rightness or that everything has fallen into place. Once you've arrived there, try in some way to make a mark or measurement(as to where the tonearm sits on its post)enabling you to return to that "magical" point without difficulty in case things go awry. I assume you already realize if you're using a new cartridge, that after the its suspension has become more flexible and settled in after hours of use, you will probably need to readjust the tonearm to its best position. Good luck!

I agree with Stringreen. The eyeball method can be quite misleading and unreliable, even if the tonearm is not tapered like the Classic wand. What prompted this post was the discovery that as I kept changing the VTA, the index card seemed to show hardly any change. I found it rather confusing, and wondered whether there was a more reliable method to ensure the tonearm is parallel as a base from which to make adjustments. I suppose a tiny bubble level could be a way to go, but affixing anything to the tonearm will then affect the VTA so it needs to be taken into consideration.

I eyeball it and sometimes I will use a ruler but that is only a start, listening is how I ultimately decide. My suggestion do not get hung up on methodology and trust your ears.

Thanks Stringreen. I forgot to mention the deck of playing cards does not work very well on a tapered arm. On a non-tapered arm it gets you very close and you can adjust by ear after that. I think parallel is a good place to start.

Well I actually do own a small bubble level that is designed for photography. However, I don't use it much anymore, as it helped me realize that my eyeballing is good enough for VTA. That must be one plus from all of the mechanical work I've done over the last few decades. I still use a digital scale, but my blinded touch usually puts me within 0.2-0.3 grams of the target VTF. Once I was as close as 0.04 grams just by touch. Certainly not good enough to rely on to set VTF, but it does impress the ladies. LOL!