Parallel? How do you set the VTA?

The top of the cartridge needs to be parallel to the record surface, not necessarily the tonearm wand.
Fortunately, the top of my cartridge is perpendicular to its' face. I used a small square block of wood (similar to dice) as a square and adjusted the VTA till the front was square to the record surface.

Millenium makes a gridded, transparent acrylic block for this purpose. It's admittedly expensive at $85 but remarkably convenient for establishing what's parallel and perpendicular to the record surface, with more precision than mere eyeballing. I use mine all the time; it's one of my favorite audio tools.

Here's a link: VTA block

I set the headshell parallel to the record using the block, establishing a frame of reference, then adjust by ear. My tonearms all have calibrated VTA adjustment, so standardizing the preferred setting above or below horizontal for each cartridge is pretty easy. If things get out of whack, I can quickly go back to horizontal and readjust by the predetermined amount. Good for azimuth, too.

Stacked business cards, etc., also work but they're seldom perfectly flat.

Dear Actusreus: IMHO in many ways and due what you posted this thread have no sense to me. I agree totally with both Dougdeacon posts and I can add something.

You say that you need your Delos parallel because it is the way coils are centered. Lyra is the one that can or not confirm about. Normally all cartridge manufacturers give the advise for a VTF range and this VTF range is taking in count ( between other things ) that coild be centered.

Now, why that VTF range and not an specifiv value?, one of the reasons is that there are different LP weights that have different thickness and in the other side all LPs comes with surface irregualaritis/waves that impede your cartridge stay parallel all the time.

For all that that's why the thread has no sense to me. If what you want it was to know where to find out that level7spirit: why not asked?, simple as that.

Anyway, only an opinions. As always I respect you and all other persons here.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

Every cartridge I have requires a different vta to sound best and, as Raul mentioned, records are all different in thickness which changes the vta.
Dougdeacon is the only other post that makes any sense to me because first, most tables are not 'dead nuts' level so using a bubble only compounds the error. Bubble levels are not very accurate to begin with. Parallel to the record surface is a starting point and we can all get there by eye quicker than with levels, cards, graphs etc. From there it becomes listening by trial and error to find the sweet spot.

Zenblaster,

"Parallel to the record surface is a starting point" you said. What then in this thread does not make sense to you?

I think we all agree that final adjustments should be done by ear, but starting with a tonearm parallel to the surface makes total sense to me as a reference. Ballparking it by eye does not work for me. So what's nonsensical about it? What does not make sense to me is going blind back and forth not knowing whether tail up or down sounds best to your ears.

Raul,

I think you, just like Zenblaster, missed the point of my original post. Knowing if your tonearm is parallel to the record surface is a point of reference, not an end goal. It might or might not end up sounding best with a given cartridge and set-up. If it does not make sense to you, then please don't waste your time and move on to other posts that do make sense to you. You're acting as if I asked what the best DJ turntable to scratch my records with a Lyra Atlas was.