What is your cartridge and tracking force used

For giggles one day, I set my tracking for to two grams... (unheard of for me) and was stunned at how good my albums sounded. This is the high side of every cartridge that I own, and I am so surprised at how clean, and focused everything is , how musical records are at that setting. Even when using cartridges that track perfectly at 3/4 of a gram, two is the sweet spot.

Another thing I am finding which is surprising is that many are now going from elliptical stylus to conical! (isn't that a step backward)? You won't believe how smooth sounding this simple change is. I have only tried it with one cartridge, but couldn't believe the difference.

I guess my next move is to chuck the vintage solid state gear and go tubes and horns. Back to the past seems to be where the future is at.

Norman

I have heard many report that "changing" something in your setup can sound like a big "improvement" just because it is "different" and you may be hearing new details you did not hear in quite the same way before.

Before I damaged my Grado Gold (because I am a moron) I tried a few tracking forces above and below the recommended 1.5 and ended up settling on 1.65 or something like that. It was like splitting hairs, though - microscopic adjustments made barely (if any) noticeable difference. In the end, it just "seemed" right at 1.65.

Interesting thread!

Grado Reference Sonata, 1.8 grams, set up by the fellas at Overture Audio who tuned my Linn LP12.

Now using a Denon DL-103R on RB-300 and again best result with the maximum tracking force recommended (2.7g).

Grado Statement 1 @ 1.9g. Sounds best to my ears on my setup.