Stylus Rake Angle

Using my MINT LP arc protractor, it is very clear that changes in VTA (SRA)
alter overhang. It is more severe at the outer edge than at the inner grooves
because of the trace of the arc. IOW, the variance away from the arc is
greatest at the beginning of the LP.

In my system, this is audible. The MINT is extremely precise, assuming that it
was ordered correctly with the right pivot to stylus distance, or effective
length.

Now the Mint glass thickness is different from the various LP thicknesses, and
thus overhang changes slightly with different LP thicknesses.

Regarding the timing of the note when adjusting VTA, I think Schroeder is
talking about the harmonics not arriving before or simultaneously to the
fundamental. IOW, the note's fundamental (frequency?) should be heard first,
followed by its harmonics with a natural sounding delay. This is pretty easy
to hear with a mandolin or harpsichord pluck. If the timing of that pluck is
off, the VTA is off. I think this is his and DougDeacon's point.

Peter et al, If you hear an effect of VTA on timing, I don't doubt it. I just wonder why that would be so. I certainly believe that VTA adjustment makes a difference, and I do pay attention to it in a non-anal way. However, I never thought about it in the way stated or inferred by Frank Schroeder. If there is substance to it, it's interesting to me.

I think of it like this: If the fundamental is being obscured by the harmonics, the harmonics are arriving too early. I hear this when the arm is too low in the back. If the fundamental occurs unnaturally early, or there appears to be a minute lag before you hear the harmonics after the fundamental, then the arm is too high.

This is roughly how Doug described it to me and it corresponds to what I hear. I can see how this could be described as a tonal shift or emphasis between the high and low frequencies.

This is exactly what my experience is. Let's say we're starting at 90 degrees. If you guys claim you will see a change in overhang from a minute SRA adjustment, Because that's all it takes to go from one side to the other, then it's an inherent fault of the system because of the vinyl. The only way this can be overcome is by incorporating an adjustment to raise and lower the platter itself. However, this still does not deal with the tooling issue. But I'm not so sure that this is relevant to playback.

Dear Lewm: I posted here:

++++ " IMHO DYNAMICS is the main live MUSIC characteristic......... Precision, definition, accuracy, velocity and natural coloration and agresiveness are part of changes on dynamics........ Rythmum is another characteristic of live music. Dynamics affect it. " ++++

Main part of that dynamics is related to transient performance ( as Csontos posted. ) and time decay and part of that transient response is related to stylus-groove contact where VTA/SRA as azymuth, overhang and cartridge owns tracking habilities define it quality level.

Now, when all those cartridge/tonearm parameters are in " perfect " relationship in the set up: you just will know it even if you don't know nothing about " fundamental, harmonics or timing " but know how live music sounds in a near field experiences.

Of course that we can't even the near field live MUSIC event because in a live MUSIC event there is nothing that " filter "/degrade/modified/obstacle in between you and the MUSIC source but the AIR. Here is the magic!

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.