Is extremely accurate "VTA" adjustment necessary?

Gregadd:

Fascinating that you have not learned to set VTA by ear in all this time (30 years - I certainly have:-)

As cartridge manufacturer's recommendations/guidelines are generally far from spot on I can't imagine a better way (in general) to adjust VTA.

This said, in the spirit of the thread, adjustable "on the fly" VTA is a desirable feature, IMO, but then again this is usually adjusted/set by ear.

As to not confuse the subject your initial post/claim specifically regarded to VTA.

Tools/"O" scopes are helpful for other adjustments (not VTA).

My last reply to you disappeared, hopefully this one will stick.

Dekay, you not being nice? How come?

Fran:

Attended a wedding today. Nice kids, both musicians/songwriters, and still feeling positive in the aftermath (this will most likely pass:-).

dekay, i see, you took my comments as a personal assult on your golden ears. that explains everything.
i stand by my position that vta adjustments require such minute adjustments that they require they assistance of very accurate measuring devices.
if you are lucky, the tonearm designer incorporates it in your tonearmarm.
if i was inclined,how do i prove you personnally are not acurately setting vta by ear? i'll leave that alone. maybe your ears are better than mine. If you are one those mechanically gifted persons who can repeatedly make micro adjustments by eye god bless you. I'm not. nor have i seen anyone else do it. what you are really talking about is rocking the tip of a micro fine stylus back and forth in the groove(raising the arm pitches it forward-lowering the arm pitches it backward) until it reaches a theoretical optimum position. putting aside a discussion of whether that optimum position actually exists,finding it by ear is a hit or miss proposition. Indeed finding it with the aid of tools is also extremely difficult. At least with the aid of tools you can be sure you're actually changeing the height of the arm in a predictable repeatable way. with my sme 4 I have some success with a vernier caliper and other drafting tools.
As far as you being nice. we need more people who are not afriad to speak thier mind.

Gregadd, for VTA I suppose I'm in the adjust by ear camp (but not by eye!). For azimuth, I totally agree with you about using some additional mechanical/electical aid to the process.

For setting both VTA and VTF, I've learned from Lloyd Walker's approach, and I find that, with an appropriately designed tonearm that gives one a way to make highly controlled micro-adjustments to the VTA, doing it by ear is the only way to get done well. (Trying to insert shims would be the death of me, though. :-) )

Here is Walker's explanation of the fine tuning process for any who have an interest:
http://www.walkeraudio.com/fine_tuning_your_turntable.htm
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