Phantom Supreme to 4Point-14?

I don’t really understand being satisfied with incorrect VTA. We go to all the trouble of precisely aligning cartridges with uber-precise tools, getting cantilevers just right, and dialing in VTF to two decimal places. Some use devices to nail azimuth and eliminate crosstalk. Why? Because it makes an audible difference. Some even set SRA at precisely 92% with digital microscopes. Why? Because it makes an audible difference. If we concede that precisely 92% SRA is what the physics demand, and what our ears can and do hear, then how can we be satisfied when we change that 92% by plopping on an LP that changes the angle and the sound? I mean, when I go from a 120g to a 180g and forget to adjust VTA, I hear it and get up and change it. And I’m not saying I’m some sort of golden ears.

I know we all do this hobby in different ways, and I certainly I don't mean to disparage other approaches. But here I am in mine, for better or worse, and so far it has required easy VTA adjustment.

FWIW. the Holy Grail for SRA is 92 degrees (an angle), not 92%. This was an estimate of the angle made by the cutter head and based on the notion that one wants SRA to exactly replicate the angle of the cutter head when playing an LP. Some gurus have disputed the notion that all studios used 92 degrees at all times. Others have suggested that the optimal SRA would also be slightly different for different stylus shapes. I DO require easy VTA adjustment, but I don’t get caught up in the 92 degree angle worship. I don’t adjust VTA for each LP. And yet, I think I am a good person nevertheless. There’s too many reasons why 92 degrees might not actually be optimal, and some LPs just don’t sound as good as other LPs no matter what you do.  "Physics" doesn't demand bupkis because it does not give a darn about our fetishes.

Of course I meant degrees, not percentage, but I appreciate the correction.

Whether 92 degrees is correct or not is actually beside my point, which is that some angle IS correct on any LP, in that it replicates the cutting angle. The physics that care nothing for our fetishes do care about that angle and whether the stylus is in position to extract the info as it was cut. And yes, FWIW, I believe you to be a good person, too. :)

But once one admits that 92 degrees is not necessarily optimal, then it becomes a matter of adjusting SRA to please yourself.  The fussiness of doing that would detract from my listening pleasure much more than does the possibility that each LP is not sounding its absolute best at my chosen fixed VTA.  I usually choose an LP of average thickness, adjust for that LP, and then forgeddaboudit.  If there was something "off" about SQ on a particular LP, I suppose I would play with VTA among other parameters in order to cure a perceived problem.

Right, in the end it’s largely guess work, probabilities, and subjectivity. And our approaches are not so dissimilar. I know my VTA dial settings for 180 gram and 140g LPs; I split the difference for 160, subtract that split from 140 for 120g, add it to 180 for 200. It’s a momentary mental exercise. I can approximate the weight of the LP by its flexibility via a quick shake when I take it out of the sleeve. It takes all of three seconds to set VTA with most of my arms, and I do so before I play the LP. None of this is rigorous scientific practice, but its close enough. Then I sit and enjoy the music. Like you, I’ll tweak it if it sounds off, but I usually do not need to. If I want I can check my work on my 2 Grahams because they have bubble levels. Most of my carts like the arm level--or I’ve conditioned my ears to believe that. There’s actually very little fuss in my process, and it lets me relax into the sound. As I mentioned, though, if I forget to change, I usually notice.