Is extremely accurate "VTA" adjustment necessary?

Doug thanks for your insights. I know that you and other (TWL etc.) probably know a lot more about this than I do. After all I have only been into analog for a little more that 10 years. I just would like to make some point before you dismiss this article completely.

I think the author does agree with you that different thickness of records need different arm height adjustment, and that you will hear that difference. After all the difference between a thick and thin record can be quite substantial and on the order of an mm. The question here is more on how accurate does it have to be. If 0.0254 mm difference is audible on your system, I think you should hear a variation in your sound as the record turns, since the record thickness is varying more than this. Do you?

Sorry, but this might get quite controversial now. As a physicist I got to take issue with the following statement:

"As for that article, to me it's just another pointless argument offered by a theory-blinded engineer trying to "prove" that I can't hear what I hear."

- First of all the article does not say that you won't be able to hear differences in VTA adjustment.

- Second it does offer an explanation for what you hear if you do micro adjustments. It is just that what you hear might not be the vta/sra adjustment itself but more the mechanical rigidity of the tonearm mounting and selecting a good thread. In particular the triplanar arm might just offer you ten settings with the same average vta (across a record) that offer different rigidity of mounting. This probably is better that if you had only one good setting available. And my guess is that you will hear all the different settings on a good resolving system, except the reason is not the VTA or SRA angle.

- Third, his arguments are purely geometrical, not scientific. The argument just you that other geometric variations are much bigger than adjusting vta to 0.0254 mm accuracy and which should have a bigger impact on the sound. All this discrepancies and error are clearly measurable and like I said you might actually hear them. But then you should hear the VTA adjustment varying as the record is rotating as well.

As a physicist I do believe that there are a lot of things you will be able to hear in a good system that are not measurable and maybe not even scientifically explainable yet. These are complex physical systems and much more difficult to describe than most engineers think. However, geometrical changes in the vat angle just does not seem to be the correct explanation for this phenomenon of being able to hear extremely fine changes in VTA. In particular with turntables resonance control, vibration control, and rigidity are very important. There’s s lot of deaf (and blind) scientist and engineers out there, but this example does in my opinion not fall into this category.

Also the other important point here is that if we know what is going on, maybe there are better engineering solutions out there. The Teres project is a great example for this.

All the best,

Rene

One question I forgot to ask everybody here:

How accurately do you adjust the VTA via tonearm height adjustments (0.02mm, 0.1mm, 0.5mm, 1mm)? For example Rega spacers are 2 and 4mm, which is certainly does not seem to be enough.

Rene

I think that it is absolutely essential. When exact VTA/SRA is achieved, the surface noise and groove damage are sonically in a different plane from the music and very easy to tune out. Otherwise, these distortions occur within the fabric of the music itself and are far more destructive to the musical experience.

Decay, how thick are those spacer record mats that you add for thin LP's?
This does seem a like good option, since you are not disturbing the mechanical aspects of the arm mounting. However, like many popular tables mine does not use any record mats, which makes this impossible for me.

(sorry for adding another answer to the thread hear, I should learn to answer everybody in a single response..(:-)

Rene

Restock, I appreciate your intellectual curiosity about this issue, but it strikes me that you are asking but not accepting the sharing of experiences you are receiving. I can tell you only what my ears tell me while listening to my system.

Doug Deacon's experience matches my own exactly. We approach our solutions to this somewhat differently, but we we share the same experience, we are hearing the same things, and we both adjust VTA on an LP-by-LP basis. In my case, I have settings marked that are ballpark correct for "most" 120 and 180 gram records, and which I have carefully selected based on the interplay of VTA and VTF on my tonearm (each affects the other). I start at that applicable ballpark setting for the given LP (or slightly off from it if the record is 150 gram or 200 gram, based on experience). I then will adjust by ear if things are not sounding right: if it doesn't sound dialed-in, I simply stop the record, make a VTA adjustment, and start up again. My tonearm allows for very minor adjustments (in the .001" range and continuously adjustable), and even very small changes in this sub-.005" range can, on some LPs, make a difference in whether everything locks into place or not. I have experienced the sonic improvements such minor adjustments can make, my listening partner spouse has experienced it, my audio friends listening on my system have experienced it, and the manufacturer of my turntable experiences it. We've done it numerous times in our listening sessions together.

I try not to get compulsive about VTA - after all, this is about enjoying the music! - but I do pay attention to it and often I notice that when I'm simply not as engaged in the music, often the VTA is slightly off.

I will also add that, in my system, the answer to why such minor VTA changes are audible is not an artifact of mechanical stability variables as you hypothesized could be the case. My tonearm (Walker Proscenium) is not adjustable on the fly for exactly those types of concerns. Locking rings and a set screw bring the toneam to a mechanically rigid state after adjustment, and must be loosened to make any adjustment; nevertheless, it only takes 10 seconds to make an adjustment.

Your question, however, was is such extreme accuracy "NECESSARY." My answer to that specific question is: in my system, yes, it truly makes a difference and I hear it. I don't always bother with it and still enjoy the music, but to get the maximum quality of playback that the system can deliver, it is absolutely necessary to pay attention at these minute degrees of difference. And, I don't always do it because sometimes I'm not being that pickly; sometimes FM radio is OK, but most times I'm looking for more - especially in my listening room.

......

Speaking of which, I've just come back to edit my post to share this experience after writing the above: As I was finishing the post, I was being troubled by the piano reproduction on a Philips LP of the Beethoven Cello Sonatas with Rostropovich and Richter that was playing as I was writing (Philips 835 182/83). The piano sound was "shattering" slightly on some strongly struck notes in some louder passages at the end of the last movement. I changed the VTA by possibly .002" (two-thousandths of an inch), relocked the arm and replayed the section. The "shattering' was gone and the notes were reproduced in their full clarity and dynamic.
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