Best tonearm position for VTA?

Thanks, DougDeacon and Sirspeedy, for pointing out where I am going wrong.

I do have trouble with the 103r in finding that spot where Walker says the bass goes heavy and the highs drop off. Perhaps I am too focused on the bass and not listening to the whole sound, and I'm probably making changes too quickly based on Sirspeedy's comments. I doubt that my amps are having any problem controlling the 10t's so most likely I'm just listening for the wrong thing here. The Glider is fairly easy to setup because there is a range that I can quickly find where the soundstage goes from being flat to large and deep. Small changes from here are what I believe are desirable. But the 103 keeps fighting me. Now that I think about this some more it may be that I'm trying to "fit" the 103r into what I experienced setting up the Glider.

Forget about parallel or whatever setting "LOOKS" right,and start to listen for what sounds like the most accurate timbral definition.This should take a few listening sessions with a wide variety of material to play.

Right on! Timbral presentation of familiar (acoustic) instruments is exactly what this is about. The mix of frequencies that constitute the sound of any instrument occur in a certain temporal order. Changing SRA changes the timing of when the stylus engages each frequency cut in the groove, which affects their temporal inter-relationships. The right-sounding SRA falls within a very tiny range of arm heights, but when you find it the sound of the instruments becomes more correct or "real" and every instrument has tighter, stronger micro-dynamics.

Also,and importantly,try to have some GOLDEN EARED audio pals over while you play with the vta.Experimentation is a "GOOD" thing here,and you will learn about your set-up.

Indeed. Two (or more) sets of ears are orders of magnitude better than one, as are two or more brains for problem solving.

Last night I spun the Classic reissue of Munch/BSO/Tchaikovsky, 'Romeo and Juliet' + Strauss, 'Till Eulenspiegel'. Okay, okay, I know it's fluff - but it's FUN fluff.

Curiously, the yellow sticky with arm height settings indicated the same number for Airy 2, Airy 3 and UNIverse. This seemed odd. The Airy 3 usually wanted the arm about 8/100ths of a turn higher than Airy 2, and the UNIverse typically likes it about 2/100ths or so below that. Nevertheless, I set it where the sticky said and spun it up. I wasn't listening critically and didn't pay much attention after that.

Halfway through side one Paul walked in from the den (two rooms away) and asked, "Did you adjust the arm height? It isn't right." Freakin' golden ears! He reset it and we updated the stupid yellow sticky. It was off by 5/100 of a mm. Oy!

Moral: you don't need to be in the sweet spot to hear SRA changes, you may not even need to be in the same room! Say, do CD's need this level of madness?

All due respect, R&J may be fluff, but Till Eulenspiegel is not. The idea that on this forum one must apologize for Richard (not Johann) Strauss is absurd. There are folk herabots who don't feel the need to hide from the fact they listen to Kansas and George Winston (not that there's anything wrong with that)!

Eureka! It's all about methodology! I went over to VA and did a search on VTA postings by jnhvac just as DougDeacon suggested. I found a post where jnhvac describes his method of starting with the cartridge level with respect to the record surface, then lowering from that position about 5 or 6 playing cards. (Real precision measurements here!) Next you start raising the arm 1 card at a time until you get the air around the instruments and the soundstage opens.

This method has worked very well for me tonight with my 103r. Listening to Jean Luc-Ponty's Enigmatic Ocean I can hear every cymbal at a distinctly differenct location. All instruments have much more presence in the room. The most dramatic impact is how the instruments just off center can clearly be heard adding to the sounds. That's the spot I remember stumbling on to with the Glider. Now I believe I have a methodology to re-create this with another cartridge.

Not to put down what is on the Walker page, but I think the talk of lowering the arm until the bass goes heavy was just to much for my pea-size brain to deal with. I understand what they are trying to relate, but it really is all about the presence of the instruments in the room and not the tonal balance, just as you guys have said. You guys keep talking, it will eventually sink into my thick skull!

I can't wait until my Graham tonearm cable shows up so I can mount that 2.2 and really get some precision adjustments!

Just checking back in.I have found as a previous poster mentioned that a tail-down(2-3mm)start does have rewards.Better to start 'fatter'with more bass and then you can hear it approaching some sort of focus as you raise the tail I think.I am into using my ears for the VTF as well.At the moment I use an end track on the first side of the Bluesbreakers album.A drum solo,cymbals and drums can be quite clearly heard changing with weight.