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Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

RE: Reasons for distorted sibilance?

Hi
Assuming that the basics like tracking force and antiskate are indeed optimally set, the sibilance will be due to tracing issues and/or VTA/SRA errors (see later for additional search terms).
The protractor has enabled you to set the basic parameters in the horizontal plane. However, there is another variable you need to consider in aligning your cartridge and that is the vertical plane - i.e. arm height such that the headshell plane is parallel to the record surface. Records vary in thickness so unless you adjust for each and every record, you are never going to get perfection for all your records. Rather than wasting space repeating an explanation, I recommend doing a search on "VTA" (Vertical Tracking Angle) and SRA (Stylus Rake Angle) to understand the purpose of this adjustment. Since SRA and VTA for a given cartridge are interlinked, and the specification for VTA is quite wide, you will always encounter a record that sounds "off" compared to others in your collection. Modern audiophile cartridges are typically set with a VTA of 23degrees. As a collector, in my experience if you have records spanning many decades, you will never ever get perfection with a single cartridge with "recent" specs and my records from the 70s sound better with a cartridge with a VTA spec of 20 degrees. I have a cartridge with a lower VTA for tracking records from the 60s.

My advice, set as close as you can, then just enjoy the music - if you continuously adjust settings, you will be chasing rainbows! Trust me, I've been there!

Best wishes
Anthony
Regards Anthony

"Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats


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  • RE: Reasons for distorted sibilance? - flood2 16:41:41 03/12/12 (1)

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