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VTA on the fly

Of the four tonearms I own, they all have VTA on the fly.  Several months ago I had a small club meeting at my house for Classical music with LP's. 

Now this is really interesting, one of the attendees claims to have a 30,000 LP record collection.  This gentleman in his mid 70's is very familiar with the Boston Symphony Hall and orchestra.  When I played a Boston Symphony record that he brought, he claimed there should be more bass.  While the record was playing I turned the micrometer one half turn clockwise, and there was according to him the right amount of bass.  He then asked me what I did, because he seemed startled, and had no idea.

Think of it, an audiophile that loves and has been playing LP's for over fifty years, but had no idea of the advantages of VTA on the fly.  
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best-groove's avatar
best-groove
833 posts
 
So if the back of the tonearm goes up there are more bass, if the back of the tonearm goes down there are less bass or is it the other way around?
If I'm not mistaken, the high frequencies should also increase or decrease ... is this correct?
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,575 posts
 
Tail up is brighter.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Right. Only its not so much brighter as the initial attack of transients are emphasized over the body of the fundamental tone. When its low its the other way around and you get the tone but not as much attack. So if its high the cymbals are like tssss, when its right on its tinggg and when its low its sort of dinggg. Crude exaggeration but that's the gist of it.
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,869 posts
 
Ralph - agree - the Triplaner is a low resonance tour de force. No mucking about required.
oranda
12 posts
 
I primarily enjoy vintage tables, and none of the ones I have owned have VTA on the fly. Its one of the features that I wish every table had.  You can get by with padding under the record or shims between the cartridge and headshell, but then every time you change VTA at the cartridge, you need to realign.  What a pain.
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