There is no precise measurement for VTA/pivot height - it's done by ear. You lower the arm at the pivot in steps of 1 mm (approx) and listen to some music - full orchestral is good but I've also done it with Dire Straits. Keep going until you lose all the brightness and it sounds kind of horrible and mushy with indistinct bass. You know then that you've gone too far.
The trick then is to take the pivot up in small steps until the "soundstage snaps into focus." It's like focusing the lens of a camera or binoculars - you get the high frequencies back on violins, cymbals, vocals and you get the best imaging/placement in the soundstage. Go any higher and it gets over-bright, losing bass definition and lacks body!
Some purists would advocate that you re-set VTA for every LP you play. I'm usually happy with an optimized setting.
Anti-skate being off won't account for the lack of body. Not having anti-skate isn't the end of the world either - you might find that you can't cue a cut at the end of an album side and you might have to adjust the balance to compensate for one channel being louder than the other but if the spindle to pivot and overhang are spot-on you will be unlucky if you hear mistracking at the end of sides.
The usual advice is to set the anti-skate to half the VTF. I've experimented with mine on my Expressimo and it doesn't make a huge difference playing music, however I can reduce the distortion on the inner cut of HFS75.
The DL-103, with a conical stylus, will never be a great end of side tracker, however because the stylus is symmetrical it's much more tolerant of offset angle errors than an elyptical design.
Good luck I hope tweaking VTF gets you the sound you want.
The trick then is to take the pivot up in small steps until the "soundstage snaps into focus." It's like focusing the lens of a camera or binoculars - you get the high frequencies back on violins, cymbals, vocals and you get the best imaging/placement in the soundstage. Go any higher and it gets over-bright, losing bass definition and lacks body!
Some purists would advocate that you re-set VTA for every LP you play. I'm usually happy with an optimized setting.
Anti-skate being off won't account for the lack of body. Not having anti-skate isn't the end of the world either - you might find that you can't cue a cut at the end of an album side and you might have to adjust the balance to compensate for one channel being louder than the other but if the spindle to pivot and overhang are spot-on you will be unlucky if you hear mistracking at the end of sides.
The usual advice is to set the anti-skate to half the VTF. I've experimented with mine on my Expressimo and it doesn't make a huge difference playing music, however I can reduce the distortion on the inner cut of HFS75.
The DL-103, with a conical stylus, will never be a great end of side tracker, however because the stylus is symmetrical it's much more tolerant of offset angle errors than an elyptical design.
Good luck I hope tweaking VTF gets you the sound you want.