Classic 3 and Zephyr

I did speak with Mike today. He said he's probably mounted about twenty Zephyrs and they do sit far back in the head shell as far as I previously mentioned. He didn't real have any explanation why SS designed it that way, and he too thought it was odd since it was designed for VPI. I measured the bearing-spindle distance and it's the 262mm mentioned. I took a picture (wish I could post it here) and sent to Mike so he could see it.

I've figured it out (I think). The issue is the distance from the cart's mounting holes to its stylus tip. I just held another cartridge up next to the Zephyr and it's obvious that this distance (in the other cart) is less than it is on the Zephyr. So, to compensate, the Zephyr has to be moved back in the slot.

If you increase the bearing to spindle distance by a millimeter or two, this will allow you to shift your cartridge forward in the head shell and still hit the cross hair dot on the vpi jig.

Mike is going to make me a wand a few mm shorter. I have a Clearaudio Maestro that is being re-tipped at Soundsmith now. That will be the perfect solution as I'll be able to keep both carts attached for an easy swap. Thanks again for all the responses.

Nice, you gotta love how VPI will go the extra mile for their customers. VPI's biggest problem now is keeping up with demand.