catman Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 G'day all, I was recently reading some old 'hi fi' magazines from the early 1970's (fascinating reading actually), and I was amazed by the recommended tracking weights of some of the ultra high compliance cartridges of the day, like .75 grams! I can't even visualise such a light tracking weight! I guess those days are mostly gone, but I wonder what is an acceptably low tracking weight for modern, typical moving magnet cartridges. I've always liked the 1.25 to 1.5 gram range, and I still have a bit of a bias against cartridges with a tracking weight in the 2 gram range, although a few expensive and highly regarded cartridges do track in that (to me) high tracking force range. Is such a high tracking weight deleterious to record and/or stylus life? Regards, Felix.
Gryffles Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 From what I've read and been told to light causes more damage to both.
cheekyboy Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 I would be inclined to set the VFT at the upper part of the range specified by the cartridge manufacturer, who after all should know how to get the best from their product. The super light tracking forces for some of the old Shure cartridges for instance were for very highly compliant cartridges and designed to be fitted to ultra light arms. Too light a tracking force outside of those parameters can indeed do damage to both the stylus and the record. Cheers, Keith
awty Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 (edited) depends. You should set your tracking weight within the manufactures specs, which will be worked out to match the chosen suspension/ cantilever length. High compliance arms with very good bearings can track quiet low. Most arms seem to be around mid compliance, so tracking weight should be at the higher end of whats recommended....sorta. edit: What Cheekyboy said. Edited June 30, 2015 by awty
Tweaky Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 The old SME 3009 3 was specifically designed for this sort of use, ultra low tracking force with a high compliance cartridge [like the old Shure V 15 ] Unfortunately for SME it came out just as this sort of setup started falling out of fashion, this ended up with people try to use the SME 3009 3 like it predecessor, with heavy low compliance Moving Coil cartridges, which are not a good match, they then started to blame the arm, which is unfair, and also the reason it has the undeserved reputation it has. I suppose it depends how long you have been spinning LP's....a lot of us old timers wouldn't think twice about setting tracking weight by ear- [within a certain limit] same with VTA [listen for the least sibilance, then it's spot on] ...I've usually found if you start at 1.8g and tweak back in weight is the easiest way to sort things out quickly, if you have lost sound stage width going lower, revert back to 1.8g and incrementally increase weight....it's usually under 2.05g. A "LOT" depends on the stylus profile....low tracking weight and a conical stylus can easily = mistracking, use the same tracking weight with a Shibita/microgroove/line contact etc it could track with no problems....there are so many variables, it really comes down to either personal experience, or asking those who have been doing this stuff for along time just what sort of "Ball-Park" settings you should experiment with, then report back with your results, if they fall out of the norm it usually helps deduce a problem with setup in another dept. 2
Soundscape Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 I recently obtained an early Dynavector Karat cart, supposedly it was the model with a diamond cantilever, but was retipped by the Garrot brothers with a ruby cantilever & "microscanner" stylus. The DV manuals I have downloaded state that it should track at 1.5g (-0.3, +1.0). I am wondering what more experienced folks would suggest I run it at? @@Tweaky I shall try the method you suggested above. Trying to think of a good test disc for sibilance and soundstage in my collection.....
Tweaky Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 rehabit@ I'd have a look at the current Garrot site and use the general recommendations used for their Optim FGS stylus'd ruby cantilevered cartridge. http://garrottbrothers.com/ As for VTA test material....anything with female vocals and a drummer using brushes riding on cymbals, playing at the same time is ideal. Change VTA so the brush stokes are heard as a Ter'sTer's Ter's ters's, instead of a Tiss Tis Ter Tiss, if you get my drift ...sorry hard to explain.....you want the first hit on the cymbal to be clear and concise....just adjust a mm or so to start up or down, you will soon hit the sweet spot and it will just be immediately obvious, and everything will snap into place. 2
Recommended Posts