Technics SL-M3 VTF adjustment?

Does anyone know if there is a way to adjust VTF on this model? I just purchased an aftermarket replacement for my Stanton D6800PEL stylus and the replacement is quite a bit lighter than the original and I am now getting distortion...I have a feeling the lighter weight is causing a tracking issue.

Anyway...if anyone is familiar with this model and knows how to do it I would love to hear from you. I checked the service manual and it says nothing.

JQ

Yes there is, but it must be done very carefully. When the plexiglass cover over the arm mechanism is removed look for a small nylon screw next to the arm pivot. That is the balance adjustment. When I had an M3 I adjusted by moving the arm in from the front panel far enough to mate up with the line inscribed on a Shure pressure gauge. Make sure that you DON'T accidentally start the platter! Disaster will be the result. Drop the arm to the gauge and observe the result. Lift the arm before turning the adjuster then turn the screw to whatever weight you want to use. What IS interesting is that the official Technics service manual makes NO mention whatsoever about adjusting stylus pressure. Mine was set a little under 1 gram with the A-T 3472 cart it was delivered with and never sounded great as long as I had the set. A Shure MP-94 sounded better but was at 1 gram when I finally got the nerve to open it up and see what could be done. Too bad Technics left out such a crucial detail. Finally sold it when space became an issue.

Wow!!! I think I will leave any sort of adjustment like this to the pros!

Thanks for the reply.

JQ

It's not that bad. I've got a big collection of p-mount cartridges, and have swapped them on my SL-M3 many times, making this adjustment.

1) Remove the cover over the top of the arm, four big screws in each corner.
2) Turn on the turmtable, and put the turntable into manual mode, which is the top button on the control. This will let you move the arm back and forth without the platter turning.
3) I use a digital scale these days, so I remove the platter mat, and put my scale on the platter. I have used the Shure scale also, which is trickier as far as dropping the cartridge onto the line.
4) There is a white plastic phillips-head screw for adjusting the tracking force, which is marked, including which way to turn it for more or less tracking force. Move the arm out over your scale (pressure gauge).
5) Cue the stylus down onto the scale. Read the scale, determine if it needs more or less force, raise the stylus, and then turn the screw the indicated direction. It can take several turns of the screw to change the force by a tenth of a gram.
6) Repeat the above step until you have the force where you want it.
7) If you put the plexiglass cover back on the arm, don't tighten the screws too much. When I bought my SL-M3 from The Turntable Factory, they warned me that this could crack the cover.

I've done it over a 100 times now, and usually don't put the cover back on the arm assembly.

Here's a photo of the adjustment screw, upside-down as you'd see it from the front of the turntable. The arm lock is on the bottom of the photo, which goes on the back of the arm assembly for shipping. The marking about which way to turn it will be behind the screw, as you'd look from the front.

Thanks for this great info guys!

SA-708 said:

It's not that bad. I've got a big collection of p-mount cartridges, and have swapped them on my SL-M3 many times, making this adjustment.

1) Remove the cover over the top of the arm, four big screws in each corner.
2) Turn on the turmtable, and put the turntable into manual mode, which is the top button on the control. This will let you move the arm back and forth without the platter turning.
3) I use a digital scale these days, so I remove the platter mat, and put my scale on the platter. I have used the Shure scale also, which is trickier as far as dropping the cartridge onto the line.4) There is a white plastic phillips-head screw for adjusting the tracking force, which is marked, including which way to turn it for more or less tracking force. Move the arm out over your scale (pressure gauge).
5) Cue the stylus down onto the scale. Read the scale, determine if it needs more or less force, raise the stylus, and then turn the screw the indicated direction. It can take several turns of the screw to change the force by a tenth of a gram.
6) Repeat the above step until you have the force where you want it.
7) If you put the plexiglass cover back on the arm, don't tighten the screws too much. When I bought my SL-M3 from The Turntable Factory, they warned me that this could crack the cover.

I've done it over a 100 times now, and usually don't put the cover back on the arm assembly.

Click to expand...

Sorry to ressurect this old thread but I am finally getting the nerve to try this adjustment - having acquired a few more Pmount carts since I first posted. Not all are within T4p spec.

Anyway, being this is a fully automatic turntable, which guage would you suggest (see the bolded area in the text above) You can only drop the needle via the cue button and I am afraid of dropping the needle on the scale in such an uncontrolled manner. A manual table of course, one could ease it down on the scale softly.

JQ

I want to give a big "Thank You" to both GasMan and SA-708 who posted the useful information above. As you can see by the age of those posts, it took me quite a while to build up the couarge to do this, but this week, I got my digital scale and followed the above instructions and here is what happened:

I picked up a NOS Stanton 720EE with original D71EE stylus recently and it sounded pretty bad, lacking in treble and very conjested and bassy sounding. The documentation states this tracks at 1-1.5 grams (I have a Stanton chart that also says .75-1.5) so I checked the tracking force on the scale and it was tracking at almost 1.6 grams. I scaled it back to about 1.5 and 1.4 and it sounded pretty much the same. Once I got into the 1.3 region, the sound just opened up - noticeably better! I am leaving well enough alone for now...it sounds great and after a few lp spins, no skipping, sibilance or other weirdness.

Thanks again guys.

JQ

PS - I will repeat what someone said earlier..why would Technics leave this adjustment out of the service and owners manual? I guess they didn't think it was necessary due to the T4P standard i.e. factory set to 1.25? Which obviously mine was not............