Spicy source shoot-out

[browellm]

Update: quite a few more hours on the cart. I wasn't entirely happy with the alignment, so I did it again - the cart now sits much straighter and more centrally in the headshell. A couple of older discs were skipping, so I increased the tracking force from 2.2g to 2.6g.

It is starting to sound really good now!

[i_should_coco]

Update: quite a few more hours on the cart. I wasn't entirely happy with the alignment, so I did it again - the cart now sits much straighter and more centrally in the headshell. A couple of older discs were skipping, so I increased the tracking force from 2.2g to 2.6g.

It is starting to sound really good now!

Make sure the VTA is right, I have found it surprisingly sensitive - 1mm at the pillar is clearly audible. Guy always recommends using a loupe and making sure the diamond sits exactly perpendicular to the record surface. You'll hear when it's right, it all just snaps into focus.

[meninblack]

Make sure the VTA is right, I have found it surprisingly sensitive - 1mm at the pillar is clearly audible. Guy always recommends using a loupe and making sure the diamond sits exactly perpendicular to the record surface. You'll hear when it's right, it all just snaps into focus.

VTA and Azimuth adjustment are the tricky bits with the Kuzma. Fiddly to do - and my bad eyesight doesn't help!

[i_should_coco]

Yeah, I remember setting up Kev's deck, the azimuth is a pain and the silicone doesn't help as it tends take a little while to settle. VTA should be straightforward though? Just an allen bolt and tweak up or down as required...

[meninblack]

It's straightforward in theory - but even with my powerfullest reading glasses I struggle to see how the diamond is sitting ... [/speccy twat]

I also have no idea at all how to set up the anti-skate!

[i_should_coco]

You need a loupe. I've used a digital camera with macro in the past. One of those USB microscopes could work, too.

[i_should_coco]

Actually, the anti-skate might be why it was mis-tracking - 2.6g, while acceptable, seems a little on the high side. I've always uses 2-2.1g and never had any problems. I would get kevin to take a photo of his weight to see how far along the rod it is and set it about the same. Nothing like precision, eh. (no, really, it's nothing like )

[AmDismal]

This any help?

Anti Skating
This is new and vital information, never before seen in print from other sources, and totally creditable to the Guru (Rowan
McCombe), who taught it to me back in the mid/late 70’s. (And I in turn taught it to Dice 45 circa 2000).
a/ Select a premium stereo recording with a wide even spread of texture across the whole stereo picture. A live well spread out choral
recording is perhaps the best for this, particularly if recorded in a large naturally reverberant space, but a.studio recording with a
huge background reverberation can also be used if nothing else is available (I have used Al Stewart’s 70’s “Year of the Cat”).
b/ With the antiskating force at zero, listen to the dynamics & microdynamics of the stereo picture. Not the tonality or anything else,
just the macro/microdynamics, but more specifically, what we call the Downward Dynamic Range (DDR), which is “What
microdynamics can you hear in the presence of macrodynamics?” A live recording of a large choir is a perfect disc for this purpose.
With no antiskating force dialed in, the left channel will show more DDR than the right channel, it will seem more alive than the
numb flat sounding right channel, which may almost sound as if it’s been switched off.
c/ Now increase the antiskating force step by step by small step. Maybe nothing happens for quite a while (you are still down on the
“flat” region of the Pix 1 red curve) but sooner or later you will sense the right channel (Pix 3 blue line) slowly coming to life more
and more, but the left channel (Pix 3 green line) sounds pretty much OK and unchanged.
d/ Continue to increase the antiskating compensation by *very* small steps until you reach a point (Pix 3 Red arrow) where the right
channel has improved to the point it now matches the left, so they both sound equally dynamic and you have a wonderfully balanced
stereo picture. This point you should mark/document carefully, as you may need to come back to it if you get lost further on.
e/ Then you further increase in extremely small steps and both channels will grow more alive together. This shows that the diamond
is now almost perfectly “floating” in the groove, with identical pressure & response on each side of the diamond (= each channel).
But one step too far and both channels loose their dynamics dramatically and the magic just vanishes. This is because the curve (Pix
3) associated with antiskating is even more extreme than the red curve of Pix 1, and the sonics drop like a stone once past the peak!
Obviously you have gone too far, so sneak it back a fraction and verify BOTH channels are now dynamic and naturally singing
beyond what you have heard before..

From here:
http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable...ic.php?t=20698
(linked pdf in thread)

[meninblack]

Kevin has kindly sent me a pic - I'll copy his! (Probably easier than trying to listen for "microdynamics" in one channel, TBH. )

[i_should_coco]

Ideally you want a test record and you set it so both channels start to mis-track at the same time. failing that, listen and tweak, you should hear the vocals live a little from side to side. Set it so they're central.

[browellm]

Actually, the anti-skate might be why it was mis-tracking - 2.6g, while acceptable, seems a little on the high side. I've always uses 2-2.1g and never had any problems. I would get kevin to take a photo of his weight to see how far along the rod it is and set it about the same. Nothing like precision, eh. (no, really, it's nothing like )

I think Anti-skate weight on the Kuzma should be as close to the top as possible, i.e. very little bias weight. That's what Franck recommends. I think some people even run it off completely, but I've certainly had most success with it as high as possible.

[meninblack]

Yeah, I read that and am currently running with the weight right at the top - but Kevin runs with it half way down the bar ...

[browellm]

Yeah, I read that and am currently running with the weight right at the top - but Kevin runs with it half way down the bar ...

Interesting, I definitely had end of side tracking issues with it further down. It's going to depend on the VTF and the specific cart though.

[i_should_coco]

Interesting, I think with Kev's, I just set it roughly in the middle an d it seemed ok. Perhaps he'll chip in.

[AmDismal]

That's what Franck recommends.

Yeah, but I hear he's biased.

I don't know why I'm on this thread, I don't even have a TT. I could say I'm disinterested, but...

[i_should_coco]

Yeah, but I hear he's biased.

I don't know why I'm on this thread, I don't even have a TT. I could say I'm disinterested, but...

Are you going to do your own drum roll?

Hey, trolling's not a crime, in fact it's positively encouraged round these parts.

[Tel]

This is the pic I sent mibby



I think I have left it where it was since you set it up Pete.

Unlike many on the Wam if it works I leave it alone!

Funnily enough for the first time in ages I checked the tracking weight of the cart last night, it is bang on 2.00 gms

[i_should_coco]

That looks closer to the top than the bottom, it's probably about 3mm from the guide disc.