Any of you experiment with optimal VTA for Benz Micro Cartridges

@artemus_5

Terrific tip!  Thank you very much!

With all the cartridges out there it's been tough to find much on that particular Benz.  So your input is quite valuable.

@prof

Atmasphere gave an informative post in another thread concerning cartridge loading. I always thought loading was necessitated by the cartridge design. But this is not the case according to atmasphere. It is the stability of the phono preamp which determines the necessity. Here’s his post from that thread

@atmasphere

I’m just curious as to why you said loading does not make a difference with the 4D, and with low ouput MC cartridges with low internal impedance in general.

The reason why has nothing to do with the cartridge directly. It has to do with the stability of the preamp.

The inductance of the winding of the cartridge is in parallel with the capacitance of the tone arm cable. This forms a Radio Frequency tuned circuit (also known as a tank circuit). The tank circuit is set into oscillation by the energy produced by the cartridge. It resonates in this case at several MHz and thus produces RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). Some preamps don’t like that and don’t sound right as a result.

The loading resistor detunes the tank circuit enough that it will no longer resonate. Then the preamp sounds fine.

If however, the preamp is properly designed and is stable with RFI, then the loading resistor will be found to have no effect.

IOW, if you need the loading resistor to make your cartridge sound right, it points to a stability problem in the preamp.

You can find this topic discussed elsewhere on this site and others. Jonathan Carr of Lyra and Jim Hagerman have discussed it at length as well as myself. Jim has a good article online:
http://www.hagtech.com/loading.html

-which goes into the math of it.

We did not use any loading on our ZYX- our preamps are stable so there is no need.

One additional point- when loading the cartridge, you are making it do work. This stiffens up the cantilever, changing its tracking characteristic- it will be less compliant; that’s not a good thing. You are better off with a stable phono preamp.

Notice the last paragraph. I suspect the open and airy sound I have heard on the Ebony L and now the Zyx are a result of the better tracking of the stylus (needle)

BTW, the Ebony L is indeed hard to find any info on. I suspect that only a few were sold in the US with the majority sold in Europe & Asia. I’ve only heard of one other poster who has/had one When you get it set up I believe you will be very satisfied.

Also, I believe I had my arm parallel to the record for VTA. I always start there and try moving the base (pivot end) down slightly to see if I hear any difference. But parallel usually works for me. Play with it a bit. But don’t become overly obsessive

@artemus_5

I just noticed your additional post.  Thanks again for that info!

@atmasphere  is totally correct.  I decided to try my Benz Woos SL wide open (@47k) about a week ago.  To my surprise, I love it.  The Sutherland 20/20 phono pre is stable enough with the highs just as smooth as they were when the Benz was loaded @ 1k.  The difference is a little faster cartridge with more air and a wider/deeper soundstage.  Bass could be a little lower now but I won't call that one as I'm not positive.  For reference, I've put over 1k hours on the Wood SL, so I am very familiar with it's traits for this comparison.

audiom......its all taste.....there is no hard and fast rule