Mr_Putty wrote:Johnny,
A change in VTA will not change azimuth if the stylus and cart are parallel to a straight arm, for example. But, if the cart is offset to the arm as most are, there will be a change in azimuth when an arm is raised or lowered relative to a flat record surface. A curved arm has the same affect.
Hope this helps.
930turbo wrote:Hi,
So if one would adjust the VTA on the fly and settled in to the proper height , one should check the Azimuth again as well. Some audiophiles adjust the VTA depending on the weight/thickness of the record.
930
Golear wrote:I totally agree.
Alas, there are millions of LPs in existence and each LP is of a different thickness, was cut at a different angle, and at different groove depths. There's no guarantee that Side A and Side B of one LP were cut at the same angle. If the angle is easily adjustable, may be there's no guarantee that even that every track was cut at the same angle. Cartridges with elliptical styli are not as sensitive to VTA as ones with exotic profiles. And the "right" VTA (and other) settings may also depend on the sound system, the room acoustics, how well it was recorded/pressed and personal taste. So there may be no alternative to making the adjustment for each LP.
The height of the tonearm bearing is the only thing that can be adjusted, on the fly, for each LP. So... it's very good that changing tonearm bearing height moves multiple parameters into the "zone of sweetness" (as established during careful set-up). There's VTF, VTA/SRA, alignment, azimuth, and let's add anti-skate, too. Woo hoo!
I've been working on VTA for a while, and I've come up with a system that works very well for me. I set the initial VTA for an LP with a VTA gauge (of my design). This takes a few seconds and does not involve any eye squinting. Then I start the LP and sit down. As the music plays, I do fine adjustment (if required) from my chair, via my "remote controlled knob turner". With practice, I can do this without "hunting". Interested?
(Full disclosure: this is not being done behind VPI's back. I emailed HW, out of the blue, two years ago on this, and he was kind enough to respond. I wanted VPI to make a device and we threw out some ideas. But they had a very, very full plate - and they still do. I worked on it myself (with some new ideas) and contacted HW again, and we have continued the dialog.)
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