Adjusting SRA using macro lens vs microscope

Raul i agree with your statement above

"The main problem is that there is almost no tonearm with the precise A/S setting device mechanism, it is really complex to do it."

For this reason i dont use any AS with my setup my ears like it that way. I log every time i play an lp and as of yet not using AS has caused no harm what so ever to any lp in my vinyl collection.

I believe that todays super high quality bearings used by Triplaner and others is the reason. Or as Doug says maybe some cartridges seem to sound better without AS.

One thing is for sure the setup parameters for vinyl playback are a web sites best friend for posting.

One thing is for sure the setup parameters for vinyl playback are a web sites best friend for posting.

LOL. They should charge us by the word. ;-)

Raul,

Skating forces do indeed exist. I said so myself. But we are not logically compelled to compensate for them. If existing anti-skating devices cause more problems than they solve, we may logically choose not to use them. Better to live with an inaudible problem than create an audible one.

Like Stltrains my ears prefer zero A/S, for reasons I've explained and demonstrated many times. In my system the anti-skating solution is worse than the skating problem. If the opposite is true in some other system, so be it. There are no perfect setups, as you correctly said.

I have experimented lately with A/S on my SME V arm and AirTight PC-1 and found that it sounds better with about .6 or .7 grams on the dial. Without A/S, the sound was a bit thin and uninvolving. With a little A/S there was more body and weight and presence. So at least with my setup I prefer to use a limited amount. I have not noticed its effect changing during the length of one side. I'll play with it a bit more.

Thanks guys. I think I am getting the SRA, I can't make too much out of the strings but I think I can hear the harmonic integration varying with SRA with the piano. I adjusted VTF to be consistent but did not realign the cart..

The microscope does give a pretty close starting point but not neccesary. Very helpful on alignment though.

Onto antiskate, what is wrong with using Hifi News record to get both channel to mistrack at the same time. I did notice the soundstage to be more organized to the right side when dialing antiskate with this method.

Glai,

Piano's excellent. It's percussive, which gives you a well defined leading edge, but it also has a complex harmonic trail. Choose something dynamic (Beethoven) rather than a soft legato (Debussy). Listen for the relative timing between hammer strike, string fundamental, string harmonics and body reverb. A piano-forte or harpsichord are even better than a modern piano because their sounds are crisper, clearer and tighter.

On Saturday we heard Emanuel Ax from the 5th row of Hartford's fairly intimate Belden Theater. He played Beethoven's 4th concerto and also a Mozart double concerto, with Mrs. Ax on the other piano. She's a technically strong and rhythmically solid pianist. He's... almost indescribably beyond that. His technique and sense of the music's internal rhythms are so solid you don't even hear him being solid. You tend to notice his gloriously complex tone and long, singing lines. Within an infallible rhythm Ax somehow caresses each single note: iron fist within a velvet glove. The audience was properly ravished.

... and of course they both played with perfect SRA. ;-)

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What's wrong with the HFN record's anti-bias tracks is self-evident if you think about what they actually do. Those tracks bear no relation to the amplitudes and frequency mix of real music. They're not designed to emulate real music. They're designed to present progressively severe tracking challenges that will CAUSE your cartridge to mis-track. This ennables one to adjust A/S to balance lateral groove pressures for the absolute worst-case scenario.

If every record you play is that extreme, then by all means use the HFN tracks. If, OTOH, you play real music then adjusting A/S for the worst case scenario will result in too much A/S for all other records. Adjusting your car's suspension and tire pressures for 180-200mph laps on the track may not give you optimal performance or ride when tootling around town at 35.

It's more accurate and realistic to adjust using real records and it helps train your ears. If some amount of A/S makes your soundstage more organized to the right or, like Peterayer, it helps with body and presence, then by all means use that amount. That's the method I've always recommended based on real music, not intentionally unrealistic test tracks.

@Peter, your A/S description gave me some idea what to expect from your system when we visit. Now I'll have to apply some anti-bias of my own! ;-)