Any of you experiment with optimal VTA for Benz Micro Cartridges
Good to have that confirmed, Jim. BTW, what is the point of a manufacturer making such a low output cartridge? It seems to me in theory come with the liabilities of higher noise in the system, not to mention needing a phono stage with enough gain. I seem to remember once reading that low output MC cartridges had at least in theory some advantage for sound quality, but I'm not sure what it is. |
@prof regarding why low output vs higher in a MC? Well one advantage of a lower output rather than higher is that getting more output entails more coil turns and hence more mass to move. There's lots of discussion on this point in threads such as this http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/high-output-mc-cartridges-vs-low-output-any-difference-in-soun... The phono stage you've selected looks as if it should work well. Have you also invested in a suitable set of mounting tools and templates? My recommendation would be to go with a setup like this (which is a simplified version of the Acoustical Systems alignment tool I own) https://www.musicdirect.com/analog-accessories/pro-ject-align-it-cartridge-alignment-gauge |
Thanks for the link folkfreak. I'm trying not to be sucked into too much tweakery as far as turntables go, though of course I want to have good performance. I intend to have someone from a local high end store set up the turntable to ensure I'm off on the right foot. (It was purportedly already set up by the dealer of the person I bought it from, though I have no idea if anything might have drifted due to the turntable being transported in my car). But...if there are in fact tools that make some DIY adjustments easy enough I may grab one, such as the project align-it tool. |
Irregardless of whether you have a dealer set up your table for you you really need to know how to align a cartridge yourself. Cartridges age and suspensions sag so VTF and VTA will need to be adjusted as the cartridge ages. In addition if you ever change the cart you will need to align the new one and so on A minimal set of tools I would recommend anyone owning a table of your budget and potential should have would include
While this may seem like "tweakery" it is actually the minimum necessary for you to realize what your LP system is capable of As you get more into it then you can explore turntable isolation systems, mono specific cartridges and the like but for the time being the stuff I've outlined above will get you going |
