Are some tracks impossible to track?

Fair enough. I have reversed back to 2.2 g VTF.

But the JMW 9 is not that good OK, I know its not a $2-3k ARM. Is that what it takes? I thought the JMW 9 was designed for the VPI tables. And it does track 99% of what I listen to fine, as far as I can see. Maybe when the cart breaks in all the way the suspension will loosen up and it will track just a tad better. Or maybe on to the JMW 9 signature!

What are the best tracking carts out there?

The Shure V15Xmr (if you can still find one) tracks anything and is reasonably priced. Sounds good too.

I've followed your posts and I feel bad for you. I have almost exactly the same setup, including MuFi A308 but use a Dynavector cart, and I listen to exactly the same type of music on the same labels. As I mentioned in my last response, I tapped up the tracking force a little bit and increased the anti-skate one twist, and have not had any problems. I have the Pollini you talked about and it tracks fine, no glassy echo whatsoever.

I must tell you that my cart has about 70 hours on it at least; you might want to just take a breath and relax and enjoy the 99.99% of records that the tonearm tracks correctly while you wait for the cart to break in. Amusingly, the JMW arm tracks the Telarc 1812 cannon-shots perfectly.

Setting a tracking arm heavy will not hurt your records - it may wear out your cart slightly faster. I have tried this on mine and a friend's decks:

Set to twice the recommended weight. 5g, man, really? Yes. Really. Now do it. And btw, are you sure you are using the Shure stylus gauge you bought off needledoctor (you did right? You aren't using a postal scale or something?) and reading it right? Queue and wait to see if it mistracks. If it does, is there something visually off at this point? Noticeable wobble, etc? If so, figure out what's up with the wobble. Is the sound clear or harsh or really just funky or a little dull (the most probable outcome if everything is going well). If it still jumps but looks fine try a different difficult track. I like The Kills 45 EP "Rooster", you probably will not. Does it track ok, and the other one not? Sound a little dull but basically ok? You are in luck at this point or: if not, call Harry and Sheila and chew their ear off until they help you. If there's no wobble you may actually have a problem. There is one classic VPI scenario that has to do with the motor being bad and generating too much torque but I have only heard of this happening to two people, which is not many when you consider how popular the Scout is, and for good reason. Of course, you could keep increasing the force, or it may be those two pressings. If you don't have a wobble I recommend calling VPI anyway and saying: Hey, was that really a good idea the no counterweight thing? Not that it is actually ever a real issue - I basically believe the VPI press on this although I do hear the occasional story here on 'gon, but it always gets worked out ok.

This will probably fix it, so start dialing the force down to normal afterwards, in half g increments or rotations or however your setup works. On my spacearm a half turn of the allen wrench is about half a gram as well. You would be surprised, but often a cart works fine after that, on all the bad jumpy tracks in the collection, so it can't be because the record got ruined or "dug out". And most people who have been around a while will tell you a little heavy is better than a little light, because setting it light means it bangs around if it jumps out, but more importantly it bangs around in the grooves making dents in the groove wall and therefore distortion. I actually think the cantilever support and the tonearm just never quite get into alignment and "dance right" if they don't push on each other a little first - this is doubly important in a good unipivot like your VPI.

Your second question: the VPI tonearm is quite good - it is not by dial-a-number system, which I think is good b/c you know, you actually have to listen to what's going on. Is it long enough really to give low distortion? No. Is it pretty well made and relatively stiff? Yes. Does it have a good head system? Reasonably good. Not as good as Graham or SME or something, but as good as the Nottingham Spacearm I own. Nevermind that the British press actually seems to prefer the sound of the Nott arm to SME these days.. Does your arm work well in the setup you have e.g. the Scout? Yes. Exceptionally well, and it's voiced for it. I almost saved the extra money on my Spacedeck and bought a Scout. The sound is sexy, it's well made and well supported. I happened to get the Spacedeck for about the same price with the tonearm, although I almost caved and paid much more for the Space. Most people will not be so lucky or patient - I bought the tonearm for $650 8 months before I found a Spacedeck with the arm mount for $850. I stil haven't bought a good cart, but obviously I won't scrimp. Still, I hear good things about the Blackbird/VPI combo but neither one are particularly good trackers, the Blackbird is legendarily difficult to find a good weight for. Keep experimenting and don't listen to people who tell you to upgrade, or don't have good deck, which you do. It's pointlessly stupid when you haven't really even gotten to listen to music yet.