Dumb VTA Question

Bif,

I just got my Delos back from Lyra in Japan and here is how
you do it.

Send an email to apatrick@audioquest.com and tell him why
you need to send your Kleos in. He will email you a RMA
form that you fill out and email back to him. You will get
a completed RMA form in pdf to print out and send into
Audioquest with your cartridge. All the return info will be
included with the RMA form.

It took less than two hours from the time I started this to
get all the stuff I needed to send it back to Audioquest.
Actually I had the cartridge in the mail,(via Priority Mail)
in less than two hours. The only cost incurred to me was
the shipping from me to Audioquest, which was all of $5.00.

I got my Delos back six weeks to the day I sent it in. It
had a collapsed suspension and Lyra fixed it, cleaned and
polished the cartridge, replaced the Washi paper with a new
one and even supplied new mounting hardware...all at NO
COST!

Alasdair was PHENOMENAL to work with. He really took care
of me and I have the highest regards for both
Alasdair/Audioquest and Lyra. Two absolutely WONDERFUL
companies!!!

I need to also give a big THANK YOU to Jonathan. He
answered several questions for me and always had the time
and guidance to give me. We really couldn't ask for better
people in the high-end business to deal with.

IMHO there is nothing wrong with the OP's procedure.
If you can't hear the difference it is not important, if you can hear, then you have done the alignment. The USB microscope may give you a closer starting point, but that all folks!

VTA depends on the cantilever angle, angle of stylus A_N_D what kind of Diamond is used. The side walls have different cuts (and more...) and they track the information. So it is logical that every change in that "angle" will give you different results. some record collectors say, you simply have to dial it in, until it "settles". You can hear it. Another chapter is the cutting angle from mastering...
The VTA adjustment is necessary when you listen to older records (until the end of 60's), when you use an old Mercury/London/RCA ... you can hear how the soundstage gets wider and deeper.
The SRA explanation is another - different - chapter and also has influence to VTA adjustment. But the VTA adjustment is only the way to get the angle the older records were cut for proper reproduction....
What you have done to find a good result is right, but to repeat it again, a VTA at a "given angle" is wrong, the given angle is for SRA and a statement from M. Fremer which sounds important in discussions but is totally overrated in reality.
It is ok when someone uses an Arm which can't be adjusted in the height, when he also uses an arm which is perfectly aligned from arm board to record surface distance (level) and when he listens only to records which were done after 1980 and when the cartridge height overall fits also for level adjustment with the given cantilever length, angle...and there are some more...it may be ok when someone uses a table AND a matched Arm from a Manufacturer ... anyway, forget it and do it the way you did before

OK, I've read Michael Fremer's comments regarding SRA and VTA and am still confused about the difference. Perhaps someone here can put this in perspective for me (and maybe a bunch of other folks)!

As I understand it, you change the VTA by lowering or raising the pivot point of the tonearm, which also changes the SRA. I had always thought of it that way since making those changes alters the angle at which the stylus contacts the record surface, hence trying to immitate the angle at which the record was cut. So, what's the difference between the two???

VTA/SRA can also be changed by lengthening/shortening the effective tonearm length, also called overhang I believe, but it still affects both of these parameters so, again, what's the difference?

Raising or lowering tracking force also changes the angle in both cases. I'm missing something here and would sure like to know what? Anyone else confused by this?

In reality, everything affects everything. You aren't done when you change the height of the arm..you must recheck how the raising/lowering affects the downward pressure. Once that is adjusted, you must make sure the stylus still sits in the absolute correct spot of the alignment gauge,...and then understand that all of that has to be checked and adjusted again, and then again, until gradually you are satisfied and can walk away (for a long drink and well deserved rest).