Discuss The Viv Lab Rigid Arm

Yes, I did (this was last year) and it took a couple of weeks.

I just put my MP-500 on my Viv Labs arm (speaking of the thread topic) and it sounds way better than on the SME 3012R I've had it on before. Usually the two are pretty comparable, but maybe the lightness of the Viv is an advantage with this cart--even tho it's compliance is a low 8.5, according to the VE database.

I’ve “discovered” that alignment is important, using the supplied template. I aligned for the first cartridge I auditioned on the Viv (Ortofon MC7500). Since then I’ve simply been swapping out different cartridges each mounted in a different CF headshell without bothering to re-check alignment. Recently I noticed that SQ with my Dynavector 17D3 was not up to snuff compared to a previous audition of the same cartridge. I had remounted the DV in a different headshell and the cartridge by chance was at the extreme end of the slots in the headshell. Thus alignment was off by about a centimeter too close to the spindle. This would place the null point in the runout grooves or even on the label. Correction of this error resulted in a huge improvement in SQ, 17D3 now sounding better than ever in any other tonearm.

On the MP500, I think the spec is for 100 Hz. You have to convert that to 10Hz by multiplying by a factor between 1.7 and 2.0.  So that would put the compliance at 10Hz at ~14 to 17cu, which makes more sense.  The VE database more often than not should not be trusted.  Or "trust but verify".

Interesting tidbit, I learned yesterday that Yamaha has been offering an underhung tonearm since the early 80s, as an extra cost option on their GT2000 and possibly standard on the GT2000X. The YSA-2. So the idea is not at all new. Nor was it categorically rejected by Japanese audiophiles, since all commercially available underhung tonearms emanate from japan. The YSA-2 is an entirely conventional tonearm for its day. Nothing odd about its appearance or functionality, and it can be mounted on any TT. Except it has zero headshell offset and is meant to be underhung. I want one.