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VPI Classic/Clear Audio Maestro Wood Question

I just bought a CA Maestro Wood cartridge from an A'gon member. Per the seller, the cartridge is practically brand new and hasn't even broken in yet. The seller has great feedback and I found him to be very reliable.

I mounted the Maestro Wood myself, being careful to double check alignment, azimuth, VTF and VTA. My turntable is a VPI Classic, with the stock JMW 10.5iSE arm. As far as I can tell, the turntable and arm are in good working order. As regards azimuth, I adjusted it with both the little aluminum rod provided by VPI AND with a bubble balance. Azimuth is perfect. Ditto VTA. Oh, per VPI's suggestion, I am NOT using anti-skating force AND made sure the tone arm wire is not twisted.

After all mounting procedures were performed and double checked, I "eye-balled" the cartridge and cantilever alignment while playing a record. I noticed that as best I could tell, it seemed as though the cantilever was pulling slightly inward towards the spindle, maybe 10+ degrees. Same thing with the cartridge just sitting on a record with the platter not turning. However, when I lifted the arm, the cantilever seemed to hang straight down. Sound imaging is spot center in play mode. Ordinarily, I would have thought the cantilever was pulling slightly inward towards the spindle because of excessive anti-skating force, but as stated above, I am NOT using the anti-skating set-up.

Ok -- the question: Is it normal for the Maestro Wood cantilver to pull slightly inward towards the spindle under the circumstances described above?

One more question: I also own a CA Virtuoso Wood which needs a new stylus and cantilever. Does anyone know who the Clear Audio contact is that does the re-tips?

Thanks for the advice.
bifwynne
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,475 posts
 
Actually, I use a carpenters level with the weight of it in my hands...I just touch the top of the tonearm head and adjust the rear counterweight so that the bubble is absolutely cenetered. This works if and only if the cartridge stylus was mounted perpendicular. I trust my Benz LP, however, there are many top of the line cartridges that are not manufactured with such precision.
bifwynne OP
2,206 posts
 
Stringreen, my bubble balance level is part of a 40+ year old Sumiko Dennison protractor kit. The bubble level is about an inch or inch and a half long, is made of plastic and is very light. Even still, I am very careful when lowering the tone arm so as not to crush or damage the cantilever assembly of my cartridge. IMHO, I believe the bubble level is very accurate. Hey, at least I'm tryin' to get it right!
markd51
763 posts
 
Where's Doug Deacon when you need him?! lol

Speaking of Doug, I have not seen him post here in some time. Is he OK? Anybody know?

Somehow, I hope some of what I wrote might be of help.
Never forget to cover all bases I say, and one should not ever overlook things that are assumed, and thought to be correct.

You can best believe, any Unipivot Arm is going to be a PITA to set up. That you're going to have to invest more time, versus a dual pivot design.

Tools help. And the better the tools, the better the accuracy.

But Doug's advice always rings in the back of my mind.
His take will usually always revert back to trusting your ears.

That one cannot solely rely on VTF Scales, no matter if it is a $600 Winds Scale. That 1.7g VTF might work just perfectly on your friends Dyna DRT XV-1 Cartridge, but that doesn't mean yours will follow suit.

Nor any form of tool to aid Azimuth will necessarily be ultimately best, that the ears will always be the final criterion in most matters concerning vinyl playback.

About the only tool perhaps one shou;d place sole trust in, is a highly accurate Protractor. And which one is that?

Many have opted for the MintLP Arc Tractor, versus VPI, Dennison, Fiekert, etc etc. I myself think it is an outstanding tool, with little peer.

When people like Thom Mackris of Galibier suggest such, and another common sense no BS person such as Bill Feil conclude to settle on such as a no holds barred, no BS tool as thE MintLP Protractor, trust that they can find no reason to slam such in any form.

Keep experimenting. You'll most likely continue to improve your set-up. Mark
bifwynne OP
2,206 posts
 
Hi Mark -- you're 100% correct. I'm still fiddling.

My most recent tweak is VTF. Clear Audio recommends between 2 amd 2.5 grams, with 2.2 grams recommended. I followed that recommendation, but I noticed that there was a low frequency resonance when I played classical music and the cellos and basses came on line, probably somewhere between 50 and 100 Hz.

I turned off my sub woofer, but still the resonance; the sub rolls off at 40 Hz. I fiddled around with VTA which resulted in a very slight improvement, but the low frequency resonance was still there. I then rechecked alignment -- no problem there. Azimuth was ok too.

So, I turned back to VTF. I increased weight. Yuck - even worse and the top-end took a vacation. I tried damping fluid. Worse still. I then lowered VTF to 2 grams and got rid of the damping fluid. The resonance disappeared and the top-end came back from vacation. Tomorrow, I may try reducing VTF by another .1 or .2 grams and see what gives.

Ok, so it was fun when I started, but now I'm getting bored. I just want to enjoy my music and stop listening to my equipment.

I share this tale because my experience shows just how much tweaking this arm requires. Hopefully, there WILL be an end-point, and then I can get back to the music. Also, I agree 100% with your comment "that the ears will always be the final criterion in most matters concerning vinyl playback." FWIW
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