Setting tonearm angle?

Dear Rmcfee: Seems to me that you don't have yet a reference to compare it and IMHO you need to have a reference to compare different VTA/SRA set up to decide which one is close to the reference ( live music could be a good reference to start with. ).

Changes in VTA/SRA does not only affects the parameters you named but overhang too.

At the end and as the other posts your ears and music sound reproduction priorities will tell which set up is the one for you.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

True, I have no reference. I just made adjustments until bedtime.
Changing all those parameters each time is time consuming and it would be so great if you could adjust the VTA as the record played.
The azimuth setting changed quite substantially as did the tracking force so those couldn't be ignored.
Eventually I got too tired to be subjective at all.
Crazy hobby!

Why would the azimuth change when you adjust the VTA? The two are set in two different planes. The SRA and overhang, sure, but not the azimuth.

I have an on-the-fly VTA adjuster on my Dynavector 501 arm (Pete Riggle), and I have several cartridges to adjust VTA on. They vary greatly in proper adjustment, from the Dynavector XX2MKII, two different Actex LPM, and Zu Denon 103R.

Having the Riggle VTA adjuster helps considerably in quickly setting VTA to optimum height. The point being, after overhang and alignment has been set for each cartridge, in their individual headshells, I have noticed no loss in sound quality due to improper overhang, just the improvement gained by proper VTA.

In other words, I haven't noticed the necessity of adjusting overhang as VTA is adjusted. I may be missing something, maybe the fact the sub-arm is so short that when the main arm is raised, the changes in VTA may occur with less variation in height of the main arm.

Further discussion would be welcome, as I am still learning about how to get the most out of my analog rig. I think I would go nuts if overhang had to be reset each time. Makes a good case for multiple tonearms/turntables.

Best regards,
Dan

agree with Islandmandan...almost all cartridges need some sort of angle not the straight line as the tonearms is set in the first time...also double check the tracking force again with the Digital Tracking Force Gauge after you set the VTA.