Talk Me off the Ledge - A cry for help

Just putting the arm parallel with the record doesn't get it. You have to play around with it until you get it right. When you use different thicknesses of records, you sometimes need to adjust the VTA to suit the thickness of the record, because the thickness changes the VTA.

Once you get the "hang" of VTA adjustment, it will be rather easy to dial it in for those certain thick records that move it off enough to hear.

If all your other records sound ok to you except DSOTM, then your cartridge is satisfactory for you. You need to figure out what is different about this record. My guess is that it is a thick record and changing VTA.

Adjusting VTA is a fact of life with vinyl, and you'll be doing alot of it, so it's best to get used to doing it. Try making very slight adjustments, first moving it down slightly at the rear, and if that doesn't seem to improve things, try moving it up slightly in the rear. When I say slightly, I mean slightly. Then you will hear what differences these changes make, and you'll get an idea of what to do when you want to change the sound characteristics that you want. This is a try-and-listen type method. There is no other method than this. All analog users do this by try-and-listen.

Well, Ive started to notice it on some used Doors, and Grateful Dead records but wasnt sure it was because of the condition of the record (good BTW, not great) or the recording. My reggae records (used, but in very good condition) sound very good but they dont have much vocals or they are old recordings. I guess I need to experiment with other new vinyl.

The manual states the TT is set up in the factory for optimum performance. The way it was setup the tracking weight was a bit off, the cartridge headshell wasnt prallel to the little gauge that came with it, and the arm wasnt parallel. Ive corrected the first 2 but the last adjustment is driving me nuts. I wonder if the arm base being up so high was the way it was meant to be? The cartridge was set up at about a 10 degree angle to the arm base.Any other suggestions to help fix the sound?

Obviously something moved in shipment. There should never be a 10 degree slope on the arm. About 1-2 degrees up or down, from parallel is about it. If it was supposed to be way up there, it would sound boomy as hell down where you are playing it now.

If you want another reference point, use the SRA(stylus rake angle). Put the stylus in the groove of a non-moving record. Look at the stylus from the side, and if your eyes are real good, you can see the little diamond sticking down into the groove under the tip of the cantilever. This tiny diamond stylus shaft should be sticking straight up from the record. If it is tilted noticeably either forward or backward, then you should adjust your VTA so that the SRA is vertical. Then use that as your starting position for listening testing.

Apart from all the tweaks: ever considered the thought that the vocals on the Pink Floyd record do sound sibilant? If the reggea-records sound good, your set-up shouldn't be to bad. I only own a original copy of DSOTM (not the remastered version), and that souds ok, although a bit processed.