Dear Doug, Gregm,
Base on what I understand from your answers, it is the SRA that is important, not the VTA (of course, the SRA and VTA are interrelated). As long as you can adjust the SRA to fit the angle of the cutting heads, it would be ok. So, any cartridge (no matter whether it has a build-in VTA of 20 degrees or 22 degrees) can be adjusted to fit any cutting angle. Am I correct?
Now, my friends theory actual goes one step further, which I have hinted but didnt really state out clearly in my original question. It goes like this:
Going back to my original example say an Ortofon, with 20 degrees build-in VTA, will fit the Decca, and another brand of cartridge, say a Clearaudio, with 22 degrees of build-in VTA, will fit the EMI etc., his theory is that with a Decca LP, an Ortofon (due to the fit of its build in VTA) will always sounds better than a Clearaudio no matter how you adjust the arm/cartridge (even if you adjust the SRA/VTA for individual records), assuming the cartridges are in a similar price range. And vice versa, an EMI LP will always sound better with a Clearaudio. So, if you want to ideally play back all the LPs, you will need one cartridge with a 20 degrees build-in VTA, and another one with 22 degrees build-in VTA.
Well, based on the answers I got from you guys, I guess this theory is false.
Thanks again,
Michael
Base on what I understand from your answers, it is the SRA that is important, not the VTA (of course, the SRA and VTA are interrelated). As long as you can adjust the SRA to fit the angle of the cutting heads, it would be ok. So, any cartridge (no matter whether it has a build-in VTA of 20 degrees or 22 degrees) can be adjusted to fit any cutting angle. Am I correct?
Now, my friends theory actual goes one step further, which I have hinted but didnt really state out clearly in my original question. It goes like this:
Going back to my original example say an Ortofon, with 20 degrees build-in VTA, will fit the Decca, and another brand of cartridge, say a Clearaudio, with 22 degrees of build-in VTA, will fit the EMI etc., his theory is that with a Decca LP, an Ortofon (due to the fit of its build in VTA) will always sounds better than a Clearaudio no matter how you adjust the arm/cartridge (even if you adjust the SRA/VTA for individual records), assuming the cartridges are in a similar price range. And vice versa, an EMI LP will always sound better with a Clearaudio. So, if you want to ideally play back all the LPs, you will need one cartridge with a 20 degrees build-in VTA, and another one with 22 degrees build-in VTA.
Well, based on the answers I got from you guys, I guess this theory is false.
Thanks again,
Michael