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Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood

I have about ten hours on the cartridge, which is connected to the VPI Scout and JMW 9 tonearm. Just changed from Dynavector 10x4. The Clearaudio sounds a little harsh, especially on vocals. Midrange seems to be lacking a certain sweetness that I know is on some of the albums I am playing (e.g., CSN). Played around with the VTA and didn't help as much as I would like. Any suggestions, or should I just expect improvement as cartridge breaks in?
bnrlaw
prlscs
40 posts
 
I bought a new Virtuoso Wood cartridge in March and I feel it is wonderful sounding. The key to this cartridge is the VTA. I emailed Musical Surroundings, the distributor of Clearaudio, about the set-up. They told me the VTA should be set negative to parallel. This means to set it so the tonearm is lower at the pivot. If VTA is too high, the highs and mids will be harsh, bass will suffer, and will not be smooth. If VTA is too low, bass will muddy-up. Keep adjusting the VTA until everything comes together. It's amazing to me how sensitive this cartridge is to VTA settings. I am using it with an Audioquest PT-9+ arm and a Sota Saphire table. Good luck!
poorguy
90 posts
 
I'm also using this catridge. After 20 more hours, the harsh will be gone & the midrange will be improved.
shasta
155 posts
 
The distributor told me 20 hrs on break in, for cart and leads. As mentioned, off-VTA will be noticeable; (but isn't that true for all carts?) Prlcs's post is close to my experience. It jumps out at you when going a wee bit negative on the VTA from parallel.

Is your preamp loading per mfgr. recomendation for resistance and capacitance OK?
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