VTA and HTA overhang

Sarcher, you are absolutely correct that raising or lowering the VTA the same amount as the LP thickness difference will preserve the original alignment. There, I knew I would learn something and this is so obvious.

However, some of the people I know change SRA for different records by listening and trying to duplicate the original cutting angle. This is independent of record thickness as there is/was no standard cutting angle, though most I guess were around 92 degrees. For these people, changing SRA does indeed alter alignment. Perhaps to such a small degree that it is not an issue.

And as Audiofiel wrote, life is too short. I set SRA with a 150-160g LP and leave it, obsessing no more. However, I do spend 20 minutes per side cleaning an LP, because it sounds better to me, so we make our choices, even if they are inconsistent.

Peter, The people that try to get the perfect SRA for every record must believe that it's more important than perfect alignment. I doubt there are many people that would go to the trouble of adjusting overhang for every record as well.

I'm sure someone could design an arm with a curved VTA tower with on the fly adjustment. It probably would not be worth the effort as I imagine it would be quite difficult to accomplish. It would be allot of work for a little gain in accuracy.

I adjusted the VTA today by lowering the back of the tonearm. I then checked the overhang, and the adjustment in the VTA did indeed appear to change the overhang, but too insignificantly to take notice. Admittedly, I changed the VTA very slightly, and I acknowledge that bigger changes might indeed affect the overhang to a more significant degree.

I find it curious that this is never mentioned when the VTA is discussed. As I mentioned in my previous post, you have to wonder about the utility of the VTA on the fly adjustments. To me the entire idea was that it allowed real time adjustments while keeping other variables constant. I suppose if the changes are minuscule, I can still see the benefit, but this does seem to warrant at least some discussion.

Btw, is Doug on vacation? This thread begs for his input. Doug, chime in!

Reading these posts made me break out my MINT protractor and check the alignment again....its still perfect. I adjusted the arm so that it is absolutely level and I leave it that way, no matter the thickness of the record that I play. I know that it may sound better with the back end up or down, but I don't really care. I depend on the cartridge manufacturer (Benz) to provide the proper angles of the stylus. The sound is excellent to these ears.

Where did the notion of perfect alignment originate? It is only tangent at 2 points throughout the record side, whatever alignment you choose. Wax poetic about your wonderful alignment, but it is only choosing one set of errors vs another.

What about the null throughout the record, when the stylus is or is not vertically aligned with the angle/cut of the groove undulations? Why is that unimportant, because Roy Gandy can't hear it, or it's cheaper to make an arm without height adjustment?

In reality, if your arm height is set so SRA is right for the "average" record, it won't have to be changed for every one. The majority of records will sound right. But for the occasional record that is obviously off (assuming you can hear it), a small change in height will have little affect on horizontal alignment, and great affect on vertical alignment.
Regards,