VPI Classic 3

Isn't it better to be hooked on audio than be a rotten, cheatin' husband?? No girl friends, no drinkin', no cigs. And my obsession with Linda Ronstadt ala 1970s and 80s doesn't count, especiially her album pic on "Living In The USA." Linda was born in 1947. The lady is about 66 years old now. My wife already confiscated that album. I think one could do far worse than my audio addiction.

Bifwynne,
Yep, that was a great Linda Ronstadt Album. And regarding having an audio addiction. It's been since 1968 for me.

CAptain Winter

May i ask how do you adjust the azimuth with multimeter instead of the azimuth meter, thanks

i have XV-1S on Classic 1, wish to upgrade to Classic 4 or HRX, but HRX is pricey but is it worth it for hRX?
For Classic 4 will cost me $4000 more for the upgrade with trade in.
Chris

Csng1, I would go for a Classic 3 without a VPI arm and put on either a Graham Phantom or Tri-planer. It would cost you roughly the same as if you went for a Classic 4 with the 12.7 arm.

Csngl,
To adjust Azimuth with a Multi-meter, you need a test record, HiFi News or Ultimate Analogue test records and a Root Mean Square (RMS) Multi-Meter. You use 2 tracks on the record, one that plays only the left channel and one that plays only the right channel. My procedure:
Disconnect the RCA cables after the preamp. So my process includes the cartridge, turntable, phono section and preamp. In other words, disconnect the RCA cables going into the AMP. They will be your test point.
Play the right channel track. Put your multi-meter into AC mode, Hook up the multi meter to the right channel and adjust the volume so you get between 0.3 - 0.5 Volts AC.
Play the left channel and this time adjust the balance knob to bet the exact same AC voltage. Pick a voltage between 0.3 - 0.5. Try not to pick a voltage lower than 0.3, because then your crosstalk voltage will be really low. If you pick 0.510, you cross talk voltage will be around 0.025. If you pick 0.3, your cross talk voltage will be around 0.014.
You might have to go back and forth a couple of times, but when you are ready, you are reading exactly the same voltage on the left and right channels with the left and right channel tracks. For example, let's say that it is 0.3 Volts.
Now for the test:
Play the right channel, and record the voltage in the left channel
Play the left channel, and record the voltage in the right channel.
You want to try and get those as close as possible, preferably within 1 db, 20*LOG10(V1/V2). If the right channel has higher voltage (when playing the left channel) than the left channel (when playing the right channel) then tilt your azimuth of your tonearm towards the right channel and the voltage of the left channel will go up. It takes a bit of practice, do it multiple times. Resist the temptation to make large changes in azimuth, you can usually find a good balance close to 0. If you are going over 2 to 3 degrees, then you might have missed it, or over compensating. In that case, go back to parallel and start measuring again. Rememeber, tilt the azimuth of the tonearm towards the channel that has the highest crosstalk value.
For example my last results were:
Left channel v1=0.3 v2=0.14 crosstalk(db)=-26.62
Right channel v1-0.3 v2=0.15 crosstalk(db)=-26.021
This is with an azimuth, tilted towards the right channel 0.19 degrees.
This is also my last step, I do my alignment first, adjust SRA to 91 degrees, re-do alignment, complete VTF, then I do Azimuth.
One last piece, when you measure cross talk, the meter will fluctuate, I use the reading that it stayed the most stable at, for the longest time.