VTA Cartridge

Front face= VTA. Sides=azimuth. 

Visually level, front face perpendicular, is an okay starting point. VTA however can only really be set by ear.

Soundsmith has a great video, Lederman explains VTA better than anyone. Yes even better than Fremer. The trick is to just play some records, listen close, tweak VTA up, listen again, tweak VTA down, listen again. Through the combination of watching the video to understand what's going on, and listening, you will be able to fairly quickly figure it out, know which way to go, and hear for yourself when it is really dialed in.

When listening for VTA, notice with every note whether plucking a guitar string or whatever, there is the attack or beginning, then the full tone or body, finally the decay. When VTA is off one or the other of these will stand out. This sounds goofy at first but when you do it you will see. Raising the arm changes the sound one way, lowering another, and once you know which way to go you'll be able to raise (or lower) a tiny amount each time and as long as it keeps getting better you keep going. Eventually you will hear it change for the worse, then you go back the other way a bit. At that point either you are done, or you are hooked and become one of those guys who loves to do this with every record.

Or you just set it level and forget it. Your system, your time, your ears... your call.

Audiosens, If the front face is perpendicular to the mounting surface then yes, you can use it as a reference. VTA is not all that critical. All you have to do is get in the ballpark (contrary to mythological opinion.) Azimuth is way more important. The stylus has to be perfectly perpendicular to the groove as seen head on.  

The stylus angle, azimuth and SRA, determines tracking, not azimuth.

Azimuth is the relationship of the generator to the record grooves. The stylus can be perfectly aligned but if the cantilever is twisted, or the coils, or magnets, then azimuth will be off. Which you have no way of knowing because these are all hidden deep inside the cartridge.

You know this is all true. Its just that nobody has ever bothered to explain it before. Or you just never bothered to think about it.

So think about it. Please.

Because you need to realize, you cannot go by the stylus. You cannot go by the cantilever. You cannot even go by the cartridge body. Azimuth can only be set by ear, or by instrument, but not by eye. Absolutely cannot be done.

But hey, don’t take my word for it. Go to Soundsmith website or YouTube channel, watch Lederman explain in detail exactly what I just said.

Please.

Oh and btw, factually heard is neither mythological nor opinion.

Yes, looking from the side, if the front surface is perpendicular to the record surface (easy to tell from the reflection of the cartridge on the record surface), you are in the ballpark.  Depending on manufacturing tolerances and the tracking force you are working with, perfectly perpendicular may not necessarily get you the ideal VTA/SRA.  But, from that reference point, it is a matter of slightly raising and lowering the arm pivot point to find what sounds best.  Particularly with line contact type styli, small changes in VTA  can be quite audible.  Generally speaking, with the nose of the cartridge pointing down (raised pivot point), the sound will be brighter and more sibilant.  I set my VTA for normal thickness records.

Just because the sound is getting better going in one particular direction, does not mean that going in the other direction is not worth trying.  Sometimes, changes do not have consistent results, so it does take experimenting with movement in both directions around your perpendicular reference point.  Extreme movement up and down will also affect other aspects of alignment, including tracking force, so that must be taken into account.  

Dear @audiosens : What are you trying to achieve? where or why do you have some doubts on your today cartridge/tonearm overall set-up?  I read that you have 40 years in audio that means you have more than enough experiences about but for your OP that's not exactly rigth.

"""   that it is a way to have a good VTA ? """, certainly not because depends of the stylus shape and thickness of each LP and other factors and that's why I'm asking you those questions.

R.