@viridian -- thanks for following up! After you and cleeds got into it, I decided to bow out and let tempers cool; sounds like the two of managed to find some common ground.
Soooo... it's been an interesting jaunt; I ordered the 440MLB, despite your (legitimate) concerns about VTA, since it's been discontinued and they may not be around much longer. I also ordered a Pfanstiehl 4822-DEE-P stylus for my Stanton cartridge, assuming that would be the backup for my 440 on chewed-up records.
I mounted the 440 last weekend, and have been fiddling with it ever since. It sounds good, but not great; I probably still don't have the ideal geometry, but it's pretty close, and the sound is not quite there. Mids are very nice, but the cymbals don't quite come alive, and the bass is a tad weak. I've tried different VTFs, from 1.25 to 2.0, and played with the VTA (currently it's slightly "positive", as Galen would say (head lower than tail)*, but it varies from neutral to positive with different record thicknesses). I've positioned the cartridge in the head with a mirrored alignment gauge, and listened to different records to be sure it's not just bad vinyl. I've tried different anti-skate settings, from zero to the VTF settings, but I suspect the anti-skating dial is pretty inaccurate. What I've concluded, over the past week, is that I'm wasting my time trying to get the cartridge to sound good on this TT; it's old, noisy, and the arm is probably not that good, even if I have the cartridge perfectly adjusted. I'm not ready to buy a new TT (or even a good used one), so I will live with my Stanton/Pfanstiehl combo until I can get a TT that's worth a better cartridge.
Thanks for your interest and for all the good advice; I did learn something from the interchange on VTA definitions, so the whole thing was a pretty positive experience for me.
Happy listening!
Casey
* cleeds, please don't react; I know that's not the real meaning of the VTA, but it's a convenient metaphor, and besides, I don't have accurate enough equipment to measure the real VTA, or the SRA, for that matter).
Soooo... it's been an interesting jaunt; I ordered the 440MLB, despite your (legitimate) concerns about VTA, since it's been discontinued and they may not be around much longer. I also ordered a Pfanstiehl 4822-DEE-P stylus for my Stanton cartridge, assuming that would be the backup for my 440 on chewed-up records.
I mounted the 440 last weekend, and have been fiddling with it ever since. It sounds good, but not great; I probably still don't have the ideal geometry, but it's pretty close, and the sound is not quite there. Mids are very nice, but the cymbals don't quite come alive, and the bass is a tad weak. I've tried different VTFs, from 1.25 to 2.0, and played with the VTA (currently it's slightly "positive", as Galen would say (head lower than tail)*, but it varies from neutral to positive with different record thicknesses). I've positioned the cartridge in the head with a mirrored alignment gauge, and listened to different records to be sure it's not just bad vinyl. I've tried different anti-skate settings, from zero to the VTF settings, but I suspect the anti-skating dial is pretty inaccurate. What I've concluded, over the past week, is that I'm wasting my time trying to get the cartridge to sound good on this TT; it's old, noisy, and the arm is probably not that good, even if I have the cartridge perfectly adjusted. I'm not ready to buy a new TT (or even a good used one), so I will live with my Stanton/Pfanstiehl combo until I can get a TT that's worth a better cartridge.
Thanks for your interest and for all the good advice; I did learn something from the interchange on VTA definitions, so the whole thing was a pretty positive experience for me.
Happy listening!
Casey
* cleeds, please don't react; I know that's not the real meaning of the VTA, but it's a convenient metaphor, and besides, I don't have accurate enough equipment to measure the real VTA, or the SRA, for that matter).