Last night when I got home from work I put on an eighties pressing of Simon & Garfunkel's "Wednesday Morning, 3am" LP. It sounded more than a bit harsh and bright. I love the new TT/Cartridge combo (Kenwood KD-2055 and Audio Technica AT-15Sa, which was NOS), but I have noticed some LPs sounded a bit harsh.

I tried something- using Audacity I recorded a part of the LP with the weight at the maximum recommended weight of 2 grams. I then recorded the same portion of the song with the weight set at 2.5 grams. I edited them together and looped it and listened closely. Holy crap, HUGE difference. I realize now the harshness I was hearing was a slight mistracking! So not kosher!

Here's the question: how damaging would it be to run the weight at 2.5 grams? It has a Shibata stylus, and I don't notice the cartridge bottoming out- and the same amount of space between cartridge and record as at 2 grams. It seems that setting it at 2 grams would cause more damage, with the slight mistracking.

The soundstage is wider, much more detail, and my mono "The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees" (no, you can't have it) plays thru near dead-quiet- more than I can say for the 2 gram setting or even my Rega P1/Bias II combo.

Any opinions? :scratch2:

What tools did you use to set up the cartridge?
Jim

I used a protractor I downloaded from VinylEngine.com (at least I think that's the site). My vision is over 20/20 so I can see any slight misalignment if there is one.

Any weight up to MFGs recommended is OK. If the cart is old and the suspension has dried out over the years, It will be artificially stiff, so you can boost the tracking force without damaging that cart because it has become less compliant (movable). You need a bit more force to get it to behave.

So lets say your arm weight scale is of by 10% and the cart is 15 years old so it's dried out. You can safely boost 0.5 grams without any issues. Listening is ALWAYS the acid test. Do what you have to to get decent sound. Vinyl can take a gram or two more without dying. Heck, we got a million plays on the old stacker's with ceramic carts running 5-10 grams down force. They did wear records out eventually, but it took a lot of plays. I think you're fine. Make it sound right and it is right is the rule for mechanical analog systems like TT's.

If you can adjust the height of you tonearm (VTA/SRA), you might want to adjust it. Changing the tracking force has a similar effect but isn't as easy on your records.

Here's a link that discusses cartridge set-up:
http://www.deadwaxcafe.com/vzone/cartalign.asp#vta

Having a properly set-up TT is a good portion of the battle to get great sound. It's easier to learn by seeing than reading so you might want to consider purchasing Fremer's 21st Century Vinyl DVD.

Could be that a NOS cartridge has hardened suspension for the cantilever.

AFAIK, if it sounds really good and has almost no distortion or other nasty anomalies, then your vinyl will be okay. Better to track heavy with perfect alignment than running light with El-shit-O alignment.

I used a protractor I downloaded from VinylEngine.com (at least I think that's the site). My vision is over 20/20 so I can see any slight misalignment if there is one.
Which protractor? For Japanese turntables, the Stevenson usually produces a better result.

If you can set the anti-skate that also makes a huge difference in what you were hearing. By upping you tracking force (which I am a firm believer in using 75-100% reccommened max VTF) you were getting that needle into the groove without bouncing around....the anti-skate does the same thing side to side versus up and down. Anti-skate force is same as VTF.

James R.

So lets say your arm weight scale is of by 10% and the cart is 15 years old so it's dried out.

Actually it's from 1975- got the original receipt from the store. :D

I'm ordering the Fremer DVD, a GeoDisc and the Hi Fi News test record (in addition to a JA Mitchell clamp) next week. Should I add a new cartridge to the package?

Here's the question: how damaging would it be to run the weight at 2.5 grams? It has a Shibata stylus, and I don't notice the cartridge bottoming out- and the same amount of space between cartridge and record as at 2 grams. It seems that setting it at 2 grams would cause more damage, with the slight mistracking.

During the 70's everyone was obsessed with low tracking forces, but eventually people realized that a lower force with mistracking was worse for both record and stylus than a higher force without mistracking.

Older cartridges and styli had a big safety factor in their maximun recommended tracking forces, because the manufacturers knew that many users had no force gauges and used the indicator dials on tonearms to set tracking, and many of those who did have gauges were using low-tech balance and weight tools made of clear plastic (which I am still using today, btw). 25% over max for a cartridge made in the 70's is probably well within that safety factor.

Actually it's from 1975- got the original receipt from the store. :D

I'm ordering the Fremer DVD, a GeoDisc and the Hi Fi News test record (in addition to a JA Mitchell clamp) next week. Should I add a new cartridge to the package?

All here have brought up all the important points, and all is good sound advice. Very little that I can add.

As they've all explained, it could be Anti-Skate, it could be stiff Cantilever Suspension Components, it could be an error of Cartridge Alignment? Even your Stylus Force Gauge may be erroneous, weighing on the light side, and while you "might" think your tracking at 2.5g, you could possibly now, only be tracking at 1.75g, so this is another point to ponder, and to confirm if this Scale you use is indeed accurate?

Most Moving Magnet Cartidges don't require the ultra fine tuning of verticle tracking force changes like with some expensive Moving Coil Cartridges of say .01g-,03g, and even changes as much as .1g may make unnoticable differences in sonics. Usually much larger changes in VTF are required to hear differences.

As Howard (Hakaplan) explained earlier, and Howard's generally right on the money about these vintage Japanese Made Turntables, and knows them like his hand.

As Howard explained, these Japan Tables used Stevenson Geometry, which was not the same as Baerwald, which the Mo-Fi Goedisc is Baerwald Geometry.

Howard might chime in again to better clarify this, as he's sharp in this subject, that the Null Points were at different distances from the Spindle, and generally the Stevenson used a closer inner Null Point to help alleviate lessen groove distortion towards the end of an LP.

With that being said, I've used the Geodisc with a few Japan Tables (Pioneer-Marantz-Technics) with pretty good results, so perhaps give it a try, see how far off your previous settings were, and see how it sounds aligned with the Geodisc? Might be an improvement?

I have a AT15S, it was an NOS Cartridge when I bought it about 5 years ago, it plays fine, no issues. Of course, it could also depend how any given Cartridge was stored all those years? If in a 125F Degree Attic all those years, this wouldn't likely be the best envoirnment for staorge of a Cartridge.

Let us know how it turns out, and we're all here to help you further with any questions-observations you may have? Mark

Thanks a ton, Mark, and everyone else. This morning I tried tracking the cart at 3.5 grams- still it didn't come even close to bottoming out (after like 15 seconds though). I really like the sound of the cartridge but I don't want the suspension to suddenly give way on a favorite LP. If the consensus is it won't happen I'm gonna keep it! :thmbsp: I've *never* heard such detail and such an exceptional soundstage as with this cart!

Once more, thanks to everyone who has helped and given me ideas! :banana:

Could be that a NOS cartridge has hardened suspension for the cantilever.

This was my first thought as well. As Mark stated could have a whole lot to do with how it was stored. Time and poor storage is not a friend to a cartridge...nos ain't always good.

I bought the AT from a used record store, from the time when they were a [I]new[I] record store. :scratch2: It'd been sitting on a shelf behind the counter since probably 1975, which is what the original receipt is dated as.

Does anyone have a copy of the owner's manual and/or repair guide for the Kenwood KD-2055? Let me know, please. Thanks!

I just got done playing around with tracking weight once again, and decreased the weight to see just what kind of sonic difference I'd get. I took it down to the previous setting of 2 grams. Better imaging! Better detail! No sibilance! Okay, down to 1.5 grams. Muuuch better, but a tiny bit of sibilance. Jacked it up to 1.75- sibilance gone but so is a little bit of detail and imaging. Back to 1.5, then up to 1.6. That's it!!! :banana: Most excellent imaging, detail and no sibilance.

Could it be the sibilances I'd heard before was part of the breaking-in period? Remember- the thing sat on the shelf since 1975. (Original price tag of $49.99 in 1975 dollars- how much in today's $$? Cuz I paid the $49.99 for it. :thmbsp:)

I just got done playing around with tracking weight once again, and decreased the weight to see just what kind of sonic difference I'd get. I took it down to the previous setting of 2 grams. Better imaging! Better detail! No sibilance! Okay, down to 1.5 grams. Muuuch better, but a tiny bit of sibilance. Jacked it up to 1.75- sibilance gone but so is a little bit of detail and imaging. Back to 1.5, then up to 1.6. That's it!!! :banana: Most excellent imaging, detail and no sibilance.

Could it be the sibilances I'd heard before was part of the breaking-in period? Remember- the thing sat on the shelf since 1975. (Original price tag of $49.99 in 1975 dollars- how much in today's $$? Cuz I paid the $49.99 for it. :thmbsp:)

Hello, This is actually the "right way" to set Vertical Tracking Force. By Ear. Still a reliable Scale of some sort is a plus to aid one in getting within a manufacturer's recommended VTF Range.

Also, a good scale helps a person return to previously found optimum setting with any given Cartridge, should you be the type of person who owns a number of Cartridges, and likes to swap around every now, and then.

The same applies to VTA, and Anti-Skate, it is the Ear that must be the final criterion, not a scale on a Tonearm.

As for the cost of this Cartridge, this actually seems very low to me, and sounds actually like a closeout price, even in '75? Maybe around this time, "Quad" was beginning to run off to the woods to die?

I bought a new AT-14S in 1974. Out the door price was at that time $75, so I would suspect either the AT-15S, and AT-15Sa were actually slightly more expensive yet, with the AT-20SLa being top of the line, was actually said to be a "cherry picked" AT-15S.

I also have a brand new NOS AT-20SLa Cartridge never having been pulled from its Box as well.
I'm not sure, but had thought this Cartridge sold around the $200 mark back then? Maybe someone else here can confirm prices from back then?

Last I seen, I think LP Gear used to sell the original AT Replacement Stylus', and cost was $90, but supplies are evidently gone? Mark

I ran one of those AT-15's on my dedicated Quad turntable.Was a great cartridge,had it on a Rabco ST-7 for a while.Then I set up a Technics for Quad only.

Needle Doctor still has replacement styli for a decent price.