Set Up Turntable Today

[jdandy]

All this talk lately about turntables and cartridges has rekindled my vinyl interest to some degree, so I spent my time with the studio McIntosh system today, where my Micro Seiki DD-40 turntable is installed. I rounded up the stylus force gauge, the overhang gauge, the tangent scale, a small mirror for alignment, and proceeded to set up my cartridges and tonearm properly. The effort paid tremendous dividends, and I am still in the studio enjoying one album after another. I just finished listening to Hiroshima (Original Master Recording) of their first album. Fantastic performances.

Let me back up just a bit. Neither of my moving magnet cartridges were set up properly. The stylus overhang was correct on both, but the tangent geometry adjustments were way off, as was the alignment of both cartridges. Each cartridge requires a different adjustment to the tone arm for VTA as well, and the arm was not set properly for either cartridge.

One cartridge is the Signet TK9eA, a hand built, boron cantilever, nude eliptical diamond tip cartridge with less than 250 hours on it. The other cartridge is a Shure V15VxMR, boron cantilever, nude micro-ridge diamond tip with less than 50 hours on it. Both cartridges are very good sounding, excellent tracking cartridges.

I set up the Signet first, correcting the tangent adjustment to the two spots on the Shure gauge, and rechecked the cartridge stylus tip overhang adjustment, which was correct. I adjusted the cartridge body and head shell for proper alignment with the small mirror, set the tracking force using the Shure Stylus Force Gauge, and adjusted the vertical tracking angle on the tone arm. OK, time to see if I can hear a difference from before the adjustments. I put the Windham Hill record of Shadowfax, their first album, on the turntable. It's still spotlessly clean from being stored in a poly inner sleeve with the opening for the sleeve always inside the album cover, and of course, Last treated. I lowered the stylus to the vinyl, turned up the C2300 volume control, and sat down on the couch. My first thought was this is good music, very clean, great dynamics and seperation. I was glued to my seat for the whole side of the album, then flipped it over and listened to the entire side two. There was an amazing difference coming from my cartridge and speakers over the last time I listened to this turntable. The meticulous attention to detail that I paid today was rewarded in spades. I can't remember hearing the Signet TK9eA ever sound better.

I repeated the entire setup process for the Shure V15VxMR cartridge, including a different VTA setting for the tone arm, and different tracking force adjustment. Each cartridge took about 30 minutes of tinkering to get everything perfect, and the VTA on the tone arm set properly, but I enjoyed every minute of it. It was a pleasure to be in my own space, undisturbed, playing with my toys. When everything was right with the Shure V15VxMR I replayed the Shadowfax album. Wow. The Shure cartridge is a stellar performer. I am so happy I have this cartridge. It has been well reviewed in the past, and truly earns all of the accolades it has received. The bottom is rich and tight, well defined midrange, and pristine top end with plenty of air. The channel seperation seems much greater than the specification numbers seem to allow. It is an excellent cartridge. I pray I never damage the stylus tip. They are no longer available anywhere. The last Shure factory stylus replacement I saw for this cartridge was $600.00, and they are long gone.

I completed the turntable and cartridge adjustment work about 3:30 PM, and I am still in the studio, still spinning vinyl, and enjoying the heck out of it. I am reacquainting myself with the ritual of getting up every 15 minutes or so to lift the arm from the lead out groove, turning the album over, set the cartridge back on the lead in groove. There's no skipping to the next track from the couch, either. Man, am I spoiled. This is the old days, and it feels quite comfortable, and comforting at the same time. I now remember why albums were such fun to share with friends. It's because you had an opportunity to discuss what you were just listening to every 15 minutes or so, as you either flipped the album over , or decided what the next disc would be. This interlude never happens with music servers, and is much farther apart with CD's. Talking with friends a little between sides was fun. It's all coming back to me now.

My Micro Seiki is doing a fine job of spinning vinyl, and now that I put forth the effort to accurately set up the cartridges and the arm, the sound is very good, very analog, and very enjoyable. I think I am back into vinyl again.

[gregswaim]

Sounds like you had fun today Dan.

[jdandy]

Greg.......I did. Heck, I'm still in the studio, still spinning vinyl. I skipped dinner. I'll eat something later. I'm having too much fun to stop.

[gregswaim]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Greg.......I did. Heck, I'm still in the studio, still spinning vinyl. I skipped dinner. I'll eat something later. I'm having too much fun to stop.

I know the feeling!

[1KW]

Good for you Dan . Variety is the spice of life

[jdandy]

David........You bet. I am still down in the studio. Spinning Larry Carlton right now, and sounding very good. Looks like your AT cartridge will get a new stylus.

[80B]

Dan,
Great post! Got a storm coming, so I'm shutting down. Enjoy!

[1KW]

I am playing the Dave Mathews Band's new album on Rhapsody-Big Whiskey and GrooGrux king. It is well recorded, I am going to pick it up at Barnes and Noble on LP.

[jdandy]

I am going to listen to the 150 albums I presently own before I decided to purchase any new vinyl. I'm still getting back into the groove, so to speak.

[PHC1]

Dan, I know what you mean, I've been in the same vinyl heaven for the past week myself. I hope that my recent posts have inspired some members here to either rediscover or at least think about exploring the whole other world of vinyl. I know I am enjoying the whole experience greatly.

A properly setup cartridge will make a huge difference as everything else does with analog playback. The Shure V15VxMR is legendary in its own right.

I'm glad you dialed yours in to perfection, so now you can sit back and open up the window to the past as you rediscover the music stored on your old vinyl friends with the shiny grooves.