VTF measurments with a unipivot

Hdm and Captain Winters,
Thank you for your responses; this is exactly what I was looking for! My digital scale has the same design as the one in your link, Hdm, only is a cheaper version. It does seem to do a decent job with the exception of a negative reading as the cartridge approaches the dot. However, I get consistent readings both ways (I place the stylus on the scale and then turn it on; once I get a zero reading, I lift the tonearm).

Brf,
Yes, I agree with you that the final adjustments should be done by ear, but Lyra cartridges have a very specific VTF recommendation for optimal performance. So before I start adjusting, I'd like to know what 1.75 g sounds like and take it from there. To get the best sound out of my Delos might be as simple as making sure the VTF is set up correctly.

Actusreus, you can always measure the distance from the plinth to the record surface, take the platter off the table and build a platform out of playing cards to hold your digital scale to equal the playing surface height desired.

Not sure if there is a difference at starting at 1.75g or 1.78g when you will make the final adjustment by ear.

I any event, good luck. Time spent dialing in a cartridge yields great results, although sometimes, it can be very frustrating.

Dear Actusreus : Cartridge set up always is important and critical to have a good quality performance level from the cartridge.

Now, IMHO it's almost useless to ask for the penultimate VTF set up in a cartridge/tonearm set up due that that " perfect " VTF set up never works ( not only because there are different thickness in the LPs. ) because each single LP is not perfectly flat so almost at each " groove " VTF changes " like it or not ".

Good that you are interested in " perfect " VTF but this does not works during playback and that's why cartridge manufacturers give us a VTF cartridge range. Normally I made my cartridge VTF set up at the middle of that range or a little over it.

regards and enjoy the music,
R.

Thank you for your input, Raul. I think the "perfect" VTF in that sense is simply a VTF that optimizes the performance of the cartridge over the wide(st) range of recordings, similarly to the VTA. Jon Carr determined that for some of his cartridges, this is achieved with a VTF of 1.75 grams, and I trust his expertise. I find that the way I perceive sound varies from day to day depending on many factors so the by-ear method does not always work for me. I'm also more of a set-it-and-forget-it kind of guy. I'm not a "tweaker"; I want to spend my time listening to music, not analyzing the sound of every record.

Also, it seems to me that by your logic, you could never find a "perfect" (or perhaps "correct" would be a better word) VTF for a cartridge unless you'd be willing to adjust for every record, which is surely not true. There must be a VTF setting where any given cartridge performs best, whether it's a range or a pint point value, all else being equal. Again, if a designer of Jon Carr's caliber tells me it's 1.75 g, I listen. It may not be the way many audiophiles do it, but it has worked for me and my Delos so far.

Dear Actusreus: Normaly the cartridge manufacturer/designer as J.Carr makes the advise on VTF where the cartridge coils are centered and is a good trend try to be there. As I posted I try to make the set up at the middle of the cartridge VTF range after the other cartridge set up parameters.

As you said we can't stay changing the VTF every single LP and not only because " boring " but everytime we change VTF we have to adjust VTA/SRA and sometimes azymuth too.

We have to find out an average cartridge set up, IMHO these are the kind of trade-offs that we have to accept with an imperfect medium as analog.

regards and enjoy the music,
R.