TT setup woes


I am having some difficulties in setting up a new (for me) analogue front end (Nottingham Hyperspace TT, OL Illustrious arm, Shelter 90X cart.). Intially I set the VTF to 1.9g; dialed in the overhang with DB protractor; and set the anti-skating bias at what the mft. of the arm said was a good starting point. The VTA looked and sounded a little off; but since the arm was as low as I could set it and it would be a week before I could get the collett machined so I could set the arm lower, I went ahead and tried it. It sounded wonderful. I listened to records all weekend. It tracked everything I played. Floated images out in space like I had never heard. Here's the problem. The next week I had another 0.100" machined off the outside of the collett. In my hurry to set the arm back up, I didn't notice that the wire cradle that holds the anti-skating bias bob weight had moved. The result was too much compensation. This was made apparent by the bad break-up, misstracking in the left channel on the inner tracks of one of my favorite albums. The anti-skating problem was corrected, but the buzzing on the albums played while it was off is still there. Records not played when there was a problem, seem to do OK. Also, the damaged (?) LPs seem to play OK on my old rig (MMF7, Clearaudio Vert. Wood). Both cart. have elliptical stylis. The sound now seems to be less satisfying. Female vocals have a slightly glazed or metalic sound to them and the imaging is not quite what I remember from my first sessions. How much of this is psychological due to my hearing it break-up; are the LPs in question damaged or is it still having problems with the TT setup; I don't know. Any help or suggetions will be appreciated. -JT
john_tracy

Showing 2 responses by dougdeacon

Not much to add to what the others have said, except to suggest re-cleaning the affected LP's. Perhaps the excessive sidewall pressure ground some dirt into one sidewall. Certainly couldn't hurt to try.

Regarding VTA, I haven't heard the 90X but unlike Patrick we find our 901 to be VERY sensitive. Arm height changes of .04mm or so are clearly audible on the large majority of records. I am building a list and we're re-setting arm height with every change of label or record thickness. Boy that's fun :( Worth it when you find the magic spot though.
John,
The 901 likes to be very slightly down at the back. It sounds a trifle shrill set up the way you describe. Again, I don't know about the 90X but it's a fair assumption that it might prefer a similar orientation. At the very least you should have the ability to try it. I'd find a way to get the arm a bit lower.

Just my $.001.