Mint lp best tractor for VPI Classic

wlutke

My S2P distance was off by 2 mm max resulting in unresolvable sibilance. Whether 1 mm makes an audible difference? Possibly but probably not the problem you are having ...

A 1mm error in phono cartridge alignment is a huge error - I'd expect audible distortion as a result.

Azimuth and VTA "should" be near parallel with the platter.

You clearly don't understand VTA, which typically should be around 15 degrees, although opinions vary about the best overall compromise.

thanks for the thoughts on the prior posts

a few comments back:

- folkfreak/cleeds - we are talking about 1 mm delta on S2P distance.... it is obvious that if the actual cart alignment is off by 1 mm then that is a huge delta... but no one here is so naive to be saying that is the case

- wlutke - thx for your further advice... yes i am wise to the record/platter/platter mat thickness issue and how it may affect actual vtf ... also trying various different anti skate levels (obviously this is also controversial as pertaining to vpi classics - i have gotten the full speech from peter l at soundsmith wanting AS, contrary to harry w’s ’meh’ on the whole subject)

- stringgreen - on the subject of azimuth, it seems to me that the dual pivot thingy that harry w has come up with may be a nice solution to keeping that aspect locked in once set well - the unipivot wobble has always made me queasy despite the great music these arms make

it has also occurred to be, given my basic understanding to manufacturing and hand building artisanal precision (or lack thereof) that stylus mounting variances may be significant, and this may well affect how the fine line/microridge styli track in the groove given any ’perfect’ alignment using the various tools we have

i am going to realign using the mint, double check cant alignment at the checkpts, then if all else fails to solve inner groove distortion/sibilance maybe it is time to shell out for a feickert LOL

cleeds wrote "You clearly don't understand VTA, which typically should be around 15 degrees, although opinions vary about the best overall compromise."
cleeds, are you talking about the cantilever instead of the cart body?
Different carts obviously have different VTF ranges and VTA specs but I see the vast majority of carts near level, not tilted 15 degrees, with the cantilever closer to 15 - 20 degrees.  Assuming the manufacturers strive for proper VTF and VTA with the cart level, a parallel cart is as good a reference starting point as you're going to get, unless you subscribe to the must-be-92-degrees viewpoint, in which case there is no tune-by-ear option.  Personally, I'll trust my ears first.  

@jjss49 my comment related to P2S. Being off by 1mm you are basically guaranteeing you will never get the alignment the tonearm manufacturer intended. There is no excuse for such a large mounting error especially as there should be adjustability in any tonearm mounting to get it just right and the manufacturer should provide a jig that demands this level of accuracy (such as a pre drilled metal jig)

having correctly mounted the tonearm there is then the secondary problem with some multipurpose alignment tools such as the AS Uni that demands you measure P2S in using the tool. AS specify .05mm accuracy for this measurement in their current version of this tool https://www.arche-headshell.de/alignment-tools/smartractor/

net net net there is no substitute for being as precise as possible, sorry

@wlutke cleeds is referring to the cantilever (roughly) The definition of VTA is actually the angle between a line drawn between the stylus tip and suspension point and a horizontal line of the record

See here for a nice discussion of this and a very worthwhile tool for setting this parameter.
https://www.arche-headshell.de/app/download/22879136/SMARTstylus_DIN_A7_aktuell.pdf

Most manufacturers design their carts to subtend the correct VTA when parallel to the record but it is worth measuring

i used to be in the 92 degrees SRA camp but frankly measuring this is too prone to error and a direct view on VTA using a tool like the SmartStylus is much more practical