What temperature is your cartridge?????

I learned this "secret" from Steve and Ray at Pro Musica in Urbana Illinois in the mid 70's. They used a small hi-intensity lite and placed it about 8" from the cartridge while at rest. (Some old-timers may remember the "Pro Musica Phono Unit" which these guys produced, a remarkably musical device based on the Shure V15/3G cartridge.) It is equally important not to overdo it and "cook" the cartridge, however. I keep a small thermometer on the armboard near the stylus. Interestingly, 72 degrees or a little more works well with the Shure also. A related "tweak" is running a small vaporizer in the vicinity of the turntable, especially on cold, low-humidity winter days. Happy listening....

Readymix, thanks for mentioning humidity. As I read the above posts I thought " and what about humidity " and there you were. I sometimes use a vaporiser in the vicinity of the turntable, which is outside of the listening area and also a small spotlight. In my long audiophile years I've heard differences, which I related to both temp. and humidity in all mc's I ever owned

That's cool, Albert. I thought you used that light just so you could see what you were doing :) I should have known there was some sonic motivation involved

Ohlala, Right! It is dual purpose, thank goodness the sonics did not require the fitting of a fluorescent bulb, as the light from them is not near as pretty. ( Not to mention the noise they radiate ).

Years ago I knew a guy who heated up his EMT cartridge with a hair dryer before listening. And that's here in Florida where we are doing well to get the temperature under 82 degrees!