Ortofon RS-309D opinions

Sprog, OK, I know what you are talking about now. Mine does the same thing. A tiny movement makes a big difference. I just barely moved the knob and got it to within 0.1 of the tracking force I wanted and left it at that. Sounds good to me, so I didn't mess with it any further. Other than that I really like the tonearm, its fit and finish and look.

Yes Dmgrant1. Now check your VTF and move the arm back and forth from the armrest (let it rest in it) to the gauge you're using several times (I'm assuming you have accurate stylus force guage). Is the tracking force fluctuating wildly?

If set at 2g mine goes from that to 2.5 to 1.5 an everywhere in-between Useless...

So I have to set it to zero and use the counterweight, which as I've said is really tricky to set and then makes it impossible to check how it sounds at minute differences in VTF.

Anyway .. it's still an absolutely superb arm in my opinion.

If anyone at Ortofon sees this - your adjuster needs fixing... ;)

Wow Sprog.

Did not know that. I will try that tomorrow on my set-up and report back my findings on this thread.

I have one of those digital scales, supposedly pretty accurate. But, heck, it beats the Shure "balance beam."

I find getting the weight correct as recommended in the instructions, quite easy. Set the VTF to zero, balance the arm with the counterweight. I do agree small movements make a big difference, then fine tune uusing the VTF knob. I agree you need digital scales too, the scale is too crude for the necessary fine adjustment

I was wondering if anyone had compared the SME V12 or SME 312s 12" arms to the RS-309D?

The effective mass of the Ortofon RS-309D bothers me. Compared to the SME, wouldn't it's heavy mass make it like driving a nail into your records with a brick? Isn't the whole Ikeada/heavy arm school of thought for Ortofon SPUs and super non-complient MCs and not modern designs like the Ortofon Wingfeld?