New front end

[Shindoug]

After many months of waiting all the pieces have finally come to together for my new front end. Garrard 401 with Kokomo bearing upgrade. Solid Plywood plinth - home made. Schick tonearm. EMT xsd 15 cartridge. Standard Auditorium SUT.

Sorry the pictures are not great, it looks better in person - but parents are always biased towards their children. The old turntable was a Merrill Heritage upgraded to MS2 with a well tempered arm and a variety of cartridges.

Sound? In a word: stunning. it makes the sublime leap from music that sounds fantastic to music that is fantastic - there is such presence, vitality and life. I'm not sure which part of the rig gets the credit for this cartridge or turntable - not that it matters. I'll try some of my other cartridges on the Garrard at some stage just out of curiosity. One slightly disconcerting thing - I find that the EMT needs quite a bit of VTF to really get the magic (almost 3 grams !) I hope that isn't causing excessive record wear. Do others run their EMTs with high VTF?

[ronenash]

Simply stunning! As a big fan of vintage turntables I am sure it sounds stunning.
My Denon 103R also tracks at a high 2.5g. I have never gone up to 3g and you might get increased record ware at this VTF. Maybe someone else can comment on this.

[RoadDawgWest]

Really nice vintage Gerrard 401 table you have put together.
Did you make the plinth?

[Freestone]

Glad you are enjoying the 401.

On my 301 I track around 2.8 up to 3

I looked at several of the studies. Wear (or damage) isn't an issue. Tracking error from being too light or dirty grooves or stylus can be more damaging.

I think it is a non issue.

[Jerome W]

Very nice ! Congrats !
What is the TT next to it ?

Sent from my iPad using A.Aficionado

[cmalak]

Shindoug...what is EMT's recommended VTF for the XSD-15? Remember suggested VTF is a function of the cart's compliance. Usually, too little tracking force is more detrimental in terms of groove wear than too much but as long as you stay in the recommended range by the cartridge manufacturer you should be fine.

[Shindoug]

Thanks for advice re EMT tracking. The recommended tracking per the manufacturer is 2g - 3g , so I'm running within the correct parameters. Psychologically it just seems that one would want to run as lower VTF as possible (imagining that diamond getting dragged through the delicate vinyl) but evidence suggests that light VTF with misstracking Is MUCH worse than heavy VTF with good tracking. Furthermore things SOUND better at the high VTF. I notice that the Ortofon SPUs run even higher VTF's - that makes me feel a bit better. I guess I was just looking for moral support on this.

Jerome - the other turntable is the Merrill Heritage

[Plink]

Shindoug, what is the record? Looks like a Bluebird reissue. I love the old music on those issues.

[pitch perfect]

Originally Posted by Shindoug

The recommended tracking per the manufacturer is 2g - 3g , so I'm running within the correct parameters. Psychologically it just seems that one would want to run as lower VTF as possible (imagining that diamond getting dragged through the delicate vinyl) but evidence suggests that light VTF with misstracking Is MUCH worse than heavy VTF with good tracking.

This is true.
I typically track my XSD/TSD at 2.5~ grams. You have nothing to worry about at all..

Originally Posted by Shindoug

Furthermore things SOUND better at the high VTF. I notice that the Ortofon SPUs run even higher VTF's

An stock Ortofon SPU-A, for example, tracks at a range of 3.0-5.0, but with a recommended force of 4 by the manufacturer.

On the other hand, Shindo's version is optimized for 2.8 grams. No more nor less. So, sometimes there is an exact number a manufacturer recommends.

-M

[fjn04]

2.5 grams is the VTF I have been using. I have the nude Tsd-15 SFL.
By nude, I mean not in the EMT headshell. Cheers, Don