Shelter 90X Tracking Force

Tom thanks a mil. Although I have a Shure Gauge, I had my Linn dealer fine tune my initial set up of the Shelter 90X. The Shelter dealer recommended the TF of 1.9. I will probably leave it alone as I am more set it/forget it until it is time for my annual LP-12 tune up. Someday in the near future I will be ready to graduate from my LP-12. I have seriously read/researched your table. It remains confusing however that Stereophile rankings contain such a wide price margin within the class i.e. LP-12 and Quattro yet I remain excited about the opportunity to own yours. Once again thanks for the feedback.

Hi Xagwell,

There's a lot to be said about set and forget. You get to focus on the music and that's not a bad thing at all ...

If you get bored (and only if you get bored), you of course can obtain a more precise gauge. I would not mess around if I had "only" a Shure gauge because your results would not be repeatable. The subtle changes in pacing can be quite remarkable with fine cartridges like your 90x.

I've had quite a few questions as of late about the "Class B" rating. I don't want to hijack this thread to discuss this, but it's been on my mind to expand on the my manufacturer's comments (published in Stereophile and posted on my Rants page).

Stereophile limits manufacturers to 750 words. Between not wanting to be ungracious and the word count limitation, I left a lot out. My first draft was over 2,000 words. As Mark Twain once wrote "I would have written you a shorter letter, but I didn't have the time". It was painful to snip all of my comments. In the next week or so, I plan on publishing my thoughts on my Rants page.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Tom,
Thank you loads for the fabulous input. Very helpful.
Sit (John)

My 2 cents. The Shelter's VTF requirment, like most cartridges, is temperature dependent. My 90X is mounted in an OL Illustrious arm and for ambient temps in the range of 68-70f I track at 1.99g. Higher temps require less tracking force. I use a trick I gleaned from Doug Deacon and use different weight o-rings slipped on the arm stubb behind the counter weight. The temerature lets me know which o-ring to use and I can repeatably fine tune the tracking force with out having to move the counterweight and measure the VTF.

Good trick, John / Doug ...

Can you imagine how much fun it is to exhibit an analog rig at CES, with the doors open to the morning air in Las Vegas in January?

It sure catches my attention.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier