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HFNRR Test Record anti-skating tracks

I just bought a slightly used Benz Ruby 2 cartridge from a reliable source and installed it in my linear-tracking Eminent Technology ET-2 tonearm and SOTA Star Sapphire turntable.  A classic analog front end.  I set up the arm/cartridge very carefully, and this is my second go round with doing so with this 'table. 

After leveling the turntable so the cartridge remains stationery in the blank area between tracks, in the middle of the HFNRR Test Record, I played Band 6, which contains a mono 300 Hz tone.  The instructions say to listen for any difference between the channels to show whether the anti-skating is correctly set.  Of course, with a linear-tracking turntable the only anti-skating adjustment consists of having the turntable perfectly level, which I also check with a bubble level.

On this band of the test LP, both channels sounded the same, but there was similar distortion on each side.  The instructions for this band go on to say "If there is any hint of instability (distorted or buzzing sound) on one channel or the other then adjust the bias compensation accordingly."  (Apparently "bias" is the British term for
"anti-skating.").  So if there is distortion in both channels, what does that mean?  I'm confident the anti-skating/turntable level is correctly set.  On my old Shure Era III test record, the cartridge didn't do great on the trackability tests, but the only cartridge of mine that ever did was the Shure V-15 Type III (imagine that).  The Ruby 2 could only pass the first two test levels before there would be some slight mistracking.

On conventional records the cartridge generally sounds fine, very similar to the Monster Cable Alpha Genesis 1000 that preceded it.  Both cartridges seemed to mistrack one crescendo in "Meditation 2" from the Larajii Day of Radiance Ambient 3 LP, which sounds OK on an old Nakamichi cassette recording I made from this Japanese-pressed LP.  Having made the cassette dub, I rarely played the LP. (FWIW, a different pressing of this unusual recording is on the TAS Super Disc list.)

I explained the HFNRR record results with the seller, who collects cartridges, and he suggested increasing the tracking force.  I have it on 2 gm now; 2.2 gm is the upper limit for "recommended tracking force."

Would you agree to increase the VTF, or should I just ignore the test record result? I am inclined to try it, at least to see if the Ambient 3 track will play better.  But it is laborious to adjust the VTF with the ET-2 arm.

128x128drmuso

Showing 4 responses by drmuso

drmuso's avatar
drmuso OP
131 posts
 

Thank you both for your prompt responses.

@lewm Your (1)--isn’t that cartridge overhang? I did check that with the cartridge alignment tool provided with the ET-2.

(2) You are correct about the type of level I used, so I just rechecked it with an 8" linear level, and it looks good in both planes.

(3) The ET-2 has a horizontal mass of 30 g, vertical mass of 7 g. I guess as the arm traverses the platter there would be some slight effect, but the benefit of the vacuum hold-down of the platter (and benefits of the turntable suspension) is probably more audible and worthwhile, in my estimation. Most mildly warped records (talk about "relative motion between the stylus and the platter"!) can be completely flattened, and such warps probably have more of an effect than the turntable suspension. The hold-down also reduces resonances from the vinyl. Physics is not my strongest subject, so I’ll admit to some handicap in evaluating such things. Generally, playback of music has always sounded great, and I haven’t noticed a systematic decrease in audio quality at certain points of most records, which I imagine would be the issue if there were serious effects from the interaction of the linear arm and the SOTA suspension.  Also, the HFNRR Test Record has the same tracking tests at disparate points on the record, and I can check that the distortion is the same with all of them.

@stringreen Thanks for your offer, but I’m quite far from AZ. But also curious what a Fozgometer is/does.

 

drmuso's avatar
drmuso OP
131 posts
 

@benjie   I've searched for the YouTube videos you mention and can't find them.  Could you provide a link, please?  I am inclined to agree with lewm, though, that antiskating with the ET-2 is covered by having the turntable perfectly level.

FWIW, I did increase the VTF of my Ruby 2 to the max. recommended VTF of 2.2. I didn't hear any significant difference in going from 2 g to 2.2 g. 

When I've got nothing better to do, I may pull out my old Thorens with its Grace F9E cartridge and see how it tracks the Larajii LP.  I made the cassette dub of this with the Talisman Alchemist IIb cartridge that the dealer originally installed on the ET-2 when I bought the turntable; the distortion isn't present on that recording, and my Nak cassette deck made very faithful recordings that would have shown such distortion if it were present. 

The only things different in my setup now (other than the cartridge change) is that I added a very thin felt mat to my SOTA and a damping trough to the ET-2.  The latter was an addition recommended and made by Eminent Technology (Bruce Thigpen); it is filled with a silicon fluid provided with the trough. The manual claimed it had reduced flutter on one turntable down to .007%, and that their tests showed that wow and flutter is a product of the tonearm, not just the turntable.  It says linear-tracking tonearms have lower wow and flutter than pivoted arms--one more reason to go with LT arms!

drmuso's avatar
drmuso OP
131 posts
 

@lewm 

Regarding your point (3) above, as you may have read in this thread about tonearms for the SOTA, a former SOTA rep said that the ET-2 was used in their reference system, and they had no problem with the combination.

 

drmuso's avatar
drmuso OP
131 posts
 

@dover 

Thanks for the reminders about the manual's setup instructions.  I reviewed them and just checked the tonearm's behavior on a small mirror, and it was motionless.   I also noticed the azimuth was a hair off.  After correcting the azimuth, the cartridge finally saled through the lowest-level anti-skating torture test on the HFNRR LP without distortion, although there was distortion on the hotter-recorded examples of the same 300 Hz test tone.  As before, the distortion was even on both channels.  After correcting the azimuth, the cartridge could also track a level higher on the tracking tests of the Shure audio obstacle course era III  test LP.  This suggests that slight mistracking on these test records doesn't necessarily ruin their grooves permanently.  (I used LAST LP preservative on these LPs.)

I compared the LP of Pat Metheny's Still Life (talking) with the CD, using my Cambridge Audio CXU as a transport and the Denafrips Ares II DAC.  I could distinguish no differences between the two, using my Sennheiser 650 headphones and Li'l Headroom Plus headphone amp.  The last time I tried this test, probably with my Monster Cable Alpha Genesis 1000 cartridge and the Cambridge CXU, I thought the LP had more articulate bass on "Last Train Home."  The CXU's DAC is brighter and louder than the other two sources.

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