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"Common wisdom regarding record wear"?

Posted by EdAInWestOC (A) on July 19, 2017 at 05:56:51

In Reply to: RE: New Cartridge posted by mr.bear on July 13, 2017 at 12:02:54:

I am sorry if this is a subject that is not the focus of this thread and if it is a subject where there are different points of view but I thought this was put to rest over 30 years ago.

There has been a resurrection of the low VTF/record wear pseudo-logic now that vinyl playback has become popular once again. This is not the first post where I have seen the issue mentioned.

The low VTF/record wear mania coincided with a Shure marketing campaign and I believe that the whole subject is mainly due to Shure's marketing efforts. I still remember the posters at retailers who sold Shure cartridges.

The Shure V15 was one of the first low VTF cartridges that touted excellent "trackability" and this was supposed to help bring about low record wear. I owned many of these low VTF cartridges and subsequently have owned many LOMC cartridges that are not low VTF models. My record collection has not suffered in the least when I switched away from the low VTF cartridges over 30 years ago.

Record wear is a subject that is near and dear to most of us. The problem that I have with the "low VTF" followers is that I have had much more problems with low VTF cartridges than I ever had with heavier tracking cartridges.

I buy used LPs as well as new pressings and I have the same problem that many of us do. Mistracking damage that usually shows itself in the inner grooves (but not limited to that location). I do not have statistics to back the next point out but low VTF cartridges and mistracking damage caused by low VTF issues are more of a problem than a cartridge that tracks at a higher VTF.

Low VTF cartridges have precious little range where mistracking can occur if something is amiss. The problems read like a list of things we all face: worn stylus, warped LP, high velocity program material, misadjusted cartridge alignment, etc.

Anything that is wrong when a cartridge is tracking at a low VTF will likely result in mistracking and any benefit that low VTF may bring is more than mitigated by damaged grooves. We have all seen these in the used record bins and they are likely caused by too low a tracking force, not the opposite.

All of this was argued long ago and the "record-wear via low VTF" issue was summarily put to bed. Shure "trackability" claims and any relationship to lower record wear could be argued in a laboratory (of course lower VTF results in lower pressure on the groove walls) but the problems caused by mistracking at too low a VTF cannot be ignored either.

I know my LP collection has not seen any record wear problems due to my switching to higher VTF cartridges over 30 years ago. I know by practice it is not the issue that some claim that it is. I wish this pseudo-science would finally go away and not affect new LP owners.

Can we be fair to these new vinylphiles and not make them go through the same nonsense that happened back in the 1970s? It is way past time that BS be recognized as BS. Ultra low effective mass tonearms are not even being made anymore. It is time this subject be recognized as what it is.

Sorry if anyone is offended,
Ed
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof

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