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Setting VTA on a new Shelter 901?

I'm trying to dial in a new Shelter 901, knowing I face several dozen hours of break-in before I ought to be too critical.

It's in an SME IV.vi arm on a SOTA Star. The arm has a VTA adjustment dial/rod...but it's not that easy to move, up or downward. Both ways requires loosening some base screws, etc. Not precisely repeatable, either. Nevermind that, my question is...

What's a good "geometry" ballpark to begin VTA tweaking...
cartridge bottom parallel to record? Slightly down at the back? Somebody on Audiogon mentioned slightly down at the front, but that sounds (and looks, in my mind's eye) very scary. But, so far, what do I know?

The cartridge is very, very slightly down in the rear right now, about 1-2° I'd say. Bass seems mostly controlled, but load...treble (strings) are very bright...vocals I'm familiar with seem pretty about right...so far, nothing I'd call warmth. That's some break-up that happens on crescendos...sounds like eggs frying ...seems more like electronic distortion ugliness that mistracking.

Thanks for any help and ideas.

Noel
128x128nnauber
nnauber's avatar
nnauber OP
4 posts
 
Thanks for all your tips and comments.
I'm still breaking-in...just reached the 20 hour mark on my Shelter 901. But I have found a really sweet spot in my slowly increasing VTA adjustments. Having started at about 1.5° down at the rear, and adjusting my SME IV.vi in 1/8-clockwise increments, I'm now just a tiny hair from dead flat (cartridge bottom relative to record surface)...with probably a bit more to gain in treble smoothness.
But I think I'll wait till the 50-hr. mark before further "+" VTA tweaks.
Cheers, all.
4yanx
1,576 posts
 
Nnauber- This is revealing to me, since I have a 501 MkII with about 40 hours on it, thus far. I started with the VTA about the same 1.5 degrees "butt-down", upon general recommedations from others. I have since raised the VTA of my Nottingham Spacearm just a silver at a time, increments of about 1/64 of a turn on the adjusting screw, until I am a cat's whisker or two below flat-level. Sounds sweet but I, too, will wait until about the 100 hour mark before trying to get any finer with the adjustment.
sbank's avatar
sbank
2,038 posts
 
4yanx,
Your comments are revealing, as well. My 501/II has about 35 hours(Oscar P. & Ray Brown are working on hour 36 as we speak!), and I'm relishing every nugget of info in this thread. My Spacearm is set about flat for now, and I'm also going to wait until 100 hours before I tweak it much. With this arm, I haven't yet figured out the best way to adjust in an ideally methodical fashion.

Anybody finding phonostage impedance settings having affect on break-in and/or? I recall someone suggesting to go w/setting at 47k until about 100 hours, then switching down to the recommended 100 ohms. Mine's been at 100 ohms all along. Thoughts?
twl
3,251 posts
 
100 ohms is where it should be. Also a hair down in the back, just like 4yanx says. The cartridge is broken in after 40 hours. There is no need to wait beyond that for making your final adjustments.
sbank's avatar
sbank
2,038 posts
 
Thanks for the insight, Twl. I'll get working on it.
The fun is just beginning! Spencer
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