TAS Article on Cartridge Set Up

[jazdoc]

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/setting-up-a-phono-cartridge/

Featuring WBF member Andre Jennings:

 

[Bill Hart]

Nice overview article, Doc. I'd be interested in the take from people that do a lot of set up and fooling around with different arms and cartridges. I did my share back in the early 70's -probably hundreds, because I sold hi-fi for a while as a kid (a totally different era, and although you didn't want to break a stylus, they weren't the price they are today). Wondered about his recommendation to attach tonearm leads after you mount the cartridge, that seems to add to the difficulty, but maybe i'm tripping here. Also, what about the Fozgometer, or whatever it's called to adjust azimuth? Is there any shortcoming to that? And finally, after that long thread here about setting SRA by digital microscope, wasn't there a conclusion that this was not the end-all/be-all?
I admit to getting help on turntable set up even after all these years. (I learned the hard way, I'd take the motorcycle apart and then call the mechanic).

 

[mep]

I had the pleasure of meeting Andre and sitting next to him at the WBF dinner. It would be awesome if I could convince Andre to make the trek from Cincinnati to Indiana and have my cartridge set up by his expert hands. Andre, if you are reading this, the dinner of your choice will be awaiting you along with your favorite beverage!

 

[Peter Breuninger]

The trick is to have a good scope and the ability to measure the stylus's orientation in the cantilever. Given all that... my final set up is by ear. My main "tool" is the background ambiance in a recording. I want this (air) to spread evenly left and right behind the speakers (for azimuth). VTA and VTF set the high to low frequency balance and tracking, kinda all together. This is the "art" part of it. I assume Andre does this in his sleep when instrumentation is not available. I do one thing different... I ATTACHED the WIRES to the CARTRIDGE FIRST. Notice the bold? It's so the cart. has a safety net in case you fumble and drop it. The wires will save the day!

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Peter - I agree with you completely. I'm not confident enough to attempt this free-style so to speak.

 

[MylesBAstor]

The trick is to have a good scope and the ability to measure the stylus's orientation in the cantilever. Given all that... my final set up is by ear. My main "tool" is the background ambiance in a recording. I want this (air) to spread evenly left and right behind the speakers (for azimuth). VTA and VTF set the high to low frequency balance and tracking, kinda all together. This is the "art" part of it. I assume Andre does this in his sleep when instrumentation is not available. I do one thing different... I ATTACHED the WIRES to the CARTRIDGE FIRST. Notice the bold? It's so the cart. has a safety net in case you fumble and drop it. The wires will save the day!

Plus it's lot easier that way to attach the wires.

 

[mep]

Never in my life have I ever attached the wires to the cartridge before it was mounted to the headshell!! I would have never dreamed of doing such a thing. When I push the wires onto the cartridge pins, I want something to push against that isn’t going to give. Having the cartridge flapping in the breeze as I’m pushing the wire clips onto the cartridge pins isn’t my idea of a good time. This to me seems more dangerous than installing the cartridge to the headshell and then hooking up the wires.

 

[Peter Breuninger]

mep, you are a better man than I am. I fear breaking the clips when trying to get them into the pins when the darn thing (the cart.) is fixed in place. They are never the right size. Also, on some (perhaps many) carts the pins are not clearly marked; red, blue, green, white. Koetsu comes to mind here.

ps. I've soldered too many clips in my day to do this the other way around. Perhaps it's a reviewer thang. And I'm good with my fingers... I am a fly tyer.

 

[Bill Hart]

Plus it's lot easier that way to attach the wires.

That was the point of my question.

 

[MylesBAstor]

That was the point of my question.

Where one runs into an issue is having to attach the leads when a cartridge might be pushed back in the headshell and leaves little room between the rear of the cartridge and the tonearm eg. VPI arm.

 

[mep]

I have never had any issues and it just never dawned on me to install the wires before the cartridge was installed into the headshell/arm. It just seems way more dangerous to me the way you guys describe hooking it up. I just see it fraught with peril. I have never (knock on wood) damaged a cantilever. I'm not sure I would be able to say the same thing if I did the flying wire install process.

 

[audioarcher]

That's a good overview of the cart install process. I would add one more step though at the end. I would reset the alignment again as a last step. Either that or set SRA first then overhang. The reason for this is changing VTA and or VTF will change overhang as well. It doesn't change it much but enough to knock alignment off a bit. Also after the cart has broken in the cantilever may settle and need the SRA readjusted and likely the VTF can be lightened a bit. Then once again the overhang should be reset as a last step. This may sound like overkill but it pays dividends.

I would really like to try the Feickert Adjust+ for azimuth. Seems like the most precise way. To bad it's fairly expensive. I will have to break down and get it one of these days.

 

[Dre_J]

It never really dawned on me that the subject of most of the replies would be the proper time to attach wires to the cartridge clips.

When the process is done doesn’t really matter except when you are dealing with some arms that have extremely thin and delicate clip wires. Some that come to mind quickly are some of the Brinkmann, Walker and (if I remember correctly) the Spiral Groove tonearms.

My experience dealing with small gauge wires (not just in audio) has always lead me to put as little stress on them as possible.

As long as you have access to the cartridge clips when the cartridge is mounted and you perceive the approach to add the least amount of stress, then you can mount the cartridge first. If for some reason you prefer the other approach, go for it. The bottom line is getting the thing mounted and attached.

Dre

 

[audioarcher]

Hi Dre, Do you find that getting azimuth prefect with the Adjust+ helps the cartridge track better? Logically I would think that if the stylus sitting in the groove ideally it would be harder for it to overshoot the groove.

Sean

 

[sombunya]

I found that article very interesting. Even before I read it I never would have considered installing a decent cartridge on a decent TT myself, if for no other reason than my own clumsiness.

I have a Rega P3-24, RB301, & Elys 2 turntable, tonearm, & phono cartridge, bought brand new from what I'd consider to be a reputable retailer in West Los Angeles. The Elys 2 cartridge is unique in that most any other cartridge mounted to this arm would require a change in VTA, not a simple task with this arm. It is an inexpensive TT compared to what many here own, but I like it pretty much.

The previous is my understanding based on my limited research. If I am incorrect I would appreciate someone setting me straight.

Because all components here are from Rega, presumably engineered to work together, I would hope that things as proper as they can be.

My question for the experts here is, what are the chances that any of the settings described in the article can be improved on with this setup?

 

[jazdoc]

sombunya,

I'd be willing to be you a nice bottle of Scotch that a) your set up could be improved and b) you'd be amazed at how much better your system would sound.

I've worn glasses since the 2nd grade, have inflammatory arthritis in my hands and lack any hand-eye coordination. If I can do a cartridge set up, anyone else on this forum can do it . Now I wouldn't claim to do things quite as well as Andre, but learning the basics is really worth it.

Find a buddy to mentor you, it only will cost you a little time and I expect you will be glad you invested the effort.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

sombunya,

I'd be willing to be you a nice bottle of Scotch that a) your set up could be improved and b) you'd be amazed at how much better your system would sound.

I've worn glasses since the 2nd grade, have inflammatory arthritis in my hands and lack any hand-eye coordination. If I can do a cartridge set up, anyone else on this forum can do it . Now I wouldn't claim to do things quite as well as Andre, but learning the basics is really worth it.

Find a buddy to mentor you, it only will cost you a little time and I expect you will be glad you invested the effort.

Or ask your dealer if you can sit in and watch him as he installs a cartridge....that's how I first learned.

 

[jazdoc]

Scott Sheaffer of Found Music is also excellent at analog set up. He can be reached through his website...http://found-music.com/

Here is a summary of some of his thoughts...http://found-music.com/analogandsetup.html

 

[A.wayne]

I did not see any info regarding Dr Friekert's software , availability and cost ..

Edit: Found it ...

 

[sombunya]

sombunya,

I'd be willing to be you a nice bottle of Scotch that a) your set up could be improved and b) you'd be amazed at how much better your system would sound.

You may be right. Again, at the risk of sounding a bit naive, I'd like to think that an "all Rega" system would be set up optimally, bringing out the most that the individual components are capable of.

I think that it wouldn't be practical to invest in a high quality usb microscope, although it looks like a dandy toy. Rather, search Los Angeles area for someone who does this sort of work.

Great article.