What is your cartridge and tracking force used

Glad you're happy with the change Stringreen.

BTW thank you very much to the member who shall remain nameless for sending me the scale, very kind of you and I truely am grateful!

Ortofon 2M Bronze - 1.63 grams - mounted on a Rega RB-301.

For giggles one day, I set my tracking for to two grams... (unheard of for me) and was stunned at how good my albums sounded. This is the high side of every cartridge that I own, and I am so surprised at how clean, and focused everything is , how musical records are at that setting. Even when using cartridges that track perfectly at 3/4 of a gram, two is the sweet spot.

Another thing I am finding which is surprising is that many are now going from elliptical stylus to conical! (isn't that a step backward)? You won't believe how smooth sounding this simple change is. I have only tried it with one cartridge, but couldn't believe the difference.

I guess my next move is to chuck the vintage solid state gear and go tubes and horns. Back to the past seems to be where the future is at.

Norman

I have heard many report that "changing" something in your setup can sound like a big "improvement" just because it is "different" and you may be hearing new details you did not hear in quite the same way before.

Before I damaged my Grado Gold (because I am a moron) I tried a few tracking forces above and below the recommended 1.5 and ended up settling on 1.65 or something like that. It was like splitting hairs, though - microscopic adjustments made barely (if any) noticeable difference. In the end, it just "seemed" right at 1.65.

Interesting thread!