Cartridge adjustment for 180g/200g records.

[asindc]

This is a somewhat related question to the ongoing mono record/stereo cartridge discussion. If I recall correctly, Fremer wrote that he sets his cartridges for 180g since the majority of the best-sounding LPs are pressed at that weight. Since I've only recently started looking at 180g/200g reissues, I didn't think much about it when having my cartridge set up. Now that I have a few of the heavier pressings and have played them, I haven't noticed any difference so far. In particular my 200g AP reissue of Phoebe Snow-ST shows no ill effect of being played on a cartridge that is not "optimized" for 200g LPs, quite the opposite in fact. It definitely sounds better than my original pressing of the same album, which is outstanding in its own right. I have also played these two versions on a friend's system that is more resolving and has a Dynavector XV-1s on a Classic 3.

Question: Is Fremer being obsessive in setting his cart for 180g, or is it a good idea if you want to maximize performance? In other words, if you had multiple tonearms and/or TTs so that you have multiple carts set up or ready to be easily swapped out, would it be worthwhile to set one cart at 120g, one at 180g, and one at 200g, if you have that option?

 

[Steve]

Yes! Or least have an arm with a VTA lifter to be able to dial... My table has neither. That is what I don't like about the MT10.

 

[mep]

I personally don't believe in changing the VTA for every different record thickness. I leave that to the anal retentive who enjoy driving themselves crazy.

 

[astrotoy]

I personally don't believe in changing the VTA for every different record thickness. I leave that to the anal retentive who enjoy driving themselves crazy.

I wouldn't quite put it that way, but I agree.

Larry

 

[Myles B. Astor]

I wouldn't quite put it that way, but I agree.

Larry

I go between the two extremes. I will add, the better the system, the more easily the differences in thickness are heard. Maybe not as dramatic between 180/200 but many play other records that are thinner. One plus of proper VTA that people tend to also forget is that the LP sounds quieter.

Don't forget that VTA wasn't really standardized until recently so early stereo albums are all over the place.

 

[BruceLet]

I spend the necessary time to carefully set up my analog, but once it is set up, I am determined not to obsess about it. I set the VTA for a 120 gram album and don't think about it again. My vinyl sounds great.

 

[mep]

I normally set my cartridges up with a 180 gram LP on the platter and I'm happy with how every other thickness sounds.

 

[Garth]

I normally set my cartridges up with a 180 gram LP on the platter and I'm happy with how every other thickness sounds.

I also use a 180 gram LP and leave it alone after that. I remember reading I think it was Jim Smiths book that he put a label on the back of each album jacket with the VTA and the volume setting where he thought each record sounded best.

I will never be this organized but it likely works for some. These days I do wash each record and demag each one so I am half way to going too far.

 

[astrotoy]

The vast majority of my albums are originals from the '50's to 80's. I do have a fair number of 180 g pressings (like the Speakers Corner and Classic reissues), but particularly in the four plus years of my ripping project it has been old records. Even with those, I find there are definite variations in thickness, from fairly thick to fairly thin, without any particular rhyme or reason that i can discern. I have set the VTA to what I think sounds reasonable for those and have not touched it. I think I would go crazy resetting the VTA for each record, particularly by ear. I would guess it might take 10 or 15 minutes of listening and experimenting for each record, maybe more. My concession to preparation is to use my record cleaner (one of the fancy ultrasonic models) to clean every record before ripping it.

I recently read Valin's TAS article about cartridge set up from a few months ago. Getting a really expensive microscope to set the stylus rake angle was beyond me. I was looking at the various dealers and didn't find any that offered a high quality microscope to do that kind of set up. I don't know whether the great TT/cartridge dealers (like Brooks Berdan, now his son?) use this kind of care if you buy a cartridge from them. Definitely you would need to at least send them your tonearm, if not bring in your TT. I have a Feickert protractor rig, but that is about it.

Larry

 

[Steve]

I normally set my cartridges up with a 180 gram LP on the platter and I'm happy with how every other thickness sounds.

+1. I'm set at 180g. It's fine with 200g too. Some of the 70's pizza cutters are a bit noisy, but I don't play much 120g stuff. So I live with not worrying too much that the MT10 does not have dialable VTA.