Kleos Sibilance

That could be it, a mismatch, but a VPI dealer knowing what table I had sold me a cartridge that has no business being on that arm. I am just speaking about my situation. I have read that others have had problems with their cartridges even after being set up by VPI. I would think they would know how to align cartridges. I believe one of those instances is mentioned in this thread. Maybe it was a defective cartridges, or should I say cartridges. Who knows.

Update. I recently realigned my cartridge. I do not believe it. My cartridge is tracking beautifully now. It is one of those, what happened? I have heard better, but it is certainly listenable right now. I think the biggest thing that I did was adjusting the VTA and azimuth. More the VTA though. It seems as though the Benz I have is very sensitive to VTA and only being off slightly is all the difference. I am very excited! Even though it is somewhat difficult to set up, it took me about a year, it is possible. I cannot believe it. Sounds great through the whole side, very little inner groove distortion and tracking error, big improvement. There is still some sibilance on some tracks, So Long So Wrong last track side two, but I believe this to be a recording glitch and just very demanding to track. Maybe a better cartridge or a MM cartridge could do a better job but I am not touching any of the settings. It seem together, the JMW 9 and Benz H2 are not very forgiving in setup.

Good for Tzh21y!

I am the OP and no amount of adjusting has solved my issue. As I mentioned, putting weight on the headshell improved things significantly.

Over last weekend I removed about 1 gram of the Blu-tack (imitation brand) and reset VTF/VTA. This resulted in more lively sound and somewhat underdamped sound. And the sibilance increased somewhat.

Yesterday I removed the Kleos and send it to Sota so they can install it in a SME 309 for my upcoming Star refurb. I put the wand with the Shelter 501 II back on the JMW 9 Signature and readjusted VTF, etc. Real difference. Not as fast, lighter and undistinguished bass, and generally lower quality sound. The Shelter is pretty good in some areas, it does retrieve a fair amount of detail and has a clarity that my VPI/Dynavector 20xH cannot match. Of course I bought the Shelter when they were under 1K$.

Y'all have some fun,
Robert

Let us know how the Sota works out. I am very interested in the outcome.

When I purchased a new cart for my Signature arm, I used the following to determine if the cart could be compatable. I purchased the mentioned cart.

ZYX Fuji R100 X(H)-SB
- Cart weight 9 (5 cart, 4 SB)
- Compliance 15 horizontal, 12 vertical

JMW-9 Tonearm
- Effective mass 7.7

JMW-9 Signature Tonearm
- Effective mass 9.5

RESONATE FREQUENCY EQUATION

rf = 159 / sqrt ((eff. mass + cart weight + fastener weight) * (compliance))

CALCULATIONS

JMW-9 Tonearm
- Resonant freq 9.9 horizontal, 11.1 vertical

JMW-9 Signature Tonearm
- Resonant freq 9.4 horizontal, 10.5 vertical

I would also check your spindle to pivot distance to ensure it is 223mm. With the VPI plinth, I can almost make this distance (just over 222mm). I also use the Mint LP Protractor as I find this more accurate than the supplied protractor.

I am not sure why any of this is not clearly documented, but having this has helped my situation. Maybe HW can comment on the above specification.