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Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: VPI Industries JMW 9 Drop Counterweight Accessory by Frank_Locke

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REVIEW: VPI Industries JMW 9 Drop Counterweight Accessory

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Model: JMW 9 Drop Counterweight
Category: Accessory
Suggested Retail Price: $70.00
Description: Similar to the Rega Heavyweight, but designed to fit the JMW-9 tonearm.
Manufacturer URL: VPI Industries
Model Picture: View

Review by Frank_Locke ( A ) on February 20, 2004 at 08:21:20
IP Address: 165.247.42.158
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for the JMW 9 Drop Counterweight


Over the past year or so I’ve had an enormous amount of fun splashing around in the shallow end of the high-end audio community pool. The VPI Scout/JMW 9/Grado Sonata (1.5mV output) combination I bought, my first "real" turntable, has given me not only hours of listening pleasure but also offered entré into the world of armwands and isolation cones, moving magnets and micro rattles. Oh the arcana of it all. I have had a great time upgrading my turntable—slowly but surely reading, learning and spending—and reporting on what I’ve heard along the way. For those interesting in previous examples of my windbaggery you can read my review of VPI’s steel and delrin record clamp or of the Mapaleshade isolation platform I indulged in.

My latest tweak is the JMW Drop Counter Weight ordered through Music Direct for $70. On newer Scout’s this is a standard feature. But for those of us that got in early at a lower price we have to get it as an add-on. C’est la guerre. The Music Direct catalogue offers only this brief description of the item: "Resolution is dramatically increased – a no-brainer mod for the VPI arm."

What is the opposite of a "no-brainer?"
When I ordered the dropped weight I was blissfully ignorant of the science and engineering behind its design and the benefits they might bring to LP playback. Then Eve showed up with that apple.

Not too long ago on Audio Asylum I posted a brief question: Why is a dropped, heavy counter weight preferable? In reviews of the Expressimo Heavyweight—for use with Rega turntables—both Michael Fremer and Wayne Garcia had said it was. So must it be. But why? I expected a simple answer. Instead, what I got was a mass of complex, contentious and often contradictory responses that read like chapter seven of a physics text. Apparently the universe is a complicated thing for those of us that want quality playback of our LPs.

Without touching off further brew ha-ha, let me sum my understanding of the benefits by saying that, according to most, they are apparently twofold. 1) A heavier weight closer to the arm’s pivot makes the arm less vulnerable to a see-sawing motion and, therefore, more vertically stable and, 2) should that weight also be below the arm’s center of gravity it will enhance lateral stability, particularly on a unipivot arm like the any of the JMW models.

Holding these purported benefits in check are notions of the drawbacks of coupling a larger, heavier weight to your armwand and the resonant frequency of not only the weight itself but also the screw used to tighten it to the arm. Let me reiterate that, despite the lack of involvement on the part of Janet Jackson’s right breast, I had no idea that this issue was so controversial.

There was also a lot of very interesting, though ostensibly recondite, discussion of effective mass. Perspicuous perhaps, though most of it went over my nugatory noggin.

Posting to Audio Asylum and sidestepping the whole dust up, VPI’s Harry Weisfield had only this to say when asked why a dropped counter weight: "The round counterweight was standard for about 9 months. When we shipped the arm with the cartridge factory mounted we began using the dropped counterweight because we could lock it and not have the settings change. When we raisd (sic) the price we made the dropped counterweight standard to partially offset the increase. That's the whole story." Not nearly the whole story but who can blame the man for opting out of this welter.

Ultimately though, the science is of secondary interest to me. My goal is simply to enjoy the sound of my records more than I previously have.

Did you hear the one about the audiophile’s proctologist?
Holding the JMW Drop Counter Weight in one hand and the standard, round counter weight in the other it seems they weigh about the same amount. How about that for a scientific method! So much, in this case, for the idea of using a heavier weight so that it may be moved closer to the pivot point.

In its drilled out, centered hole the standard JMW weight has two thin O-rings, made of delrin I’m supposing, that offer a modicum of de-coupling ("Ha!" says Michael Fremer) and are used to screw the weight onto the threaded end stub of the JMW arm. This works very well in my opinion; if I want a minute adjustment in vertical tracking force I can screw the weight a tiny bit one way or the other without having to drag out the gauge and measure the change precisely.

The JMW Drop Counter Weight, on the other hand, is easy to install but difficult to adjust in the tiny increments that are necessary when changing vertical tracking force by .01 grams, something I like to do with some regularity. The drilled out, off center hole is filled with one large, delrin (again, I’m assuming) O-ring, no threads. I found that if I wanted to change VTF from, say, 1.9 grams to 1.85 grams, just to see if it sounded differently, I had to drag out my Shure SFG-2 and try to measure the force. Fat chance! Even the slightest touch of the weight could change VTF significantly. This is what we audiophiles call a pain in the ass. It is also difficult to make sure the JMW Drop Counter Weight hangs straight downward. The set screw that is used to tighten the weight to the arm appears to be off center, at least in my sample, so it can’t be used to sight balanced placement on the end stub. What this means is that every time I change VTF I also have to check and, inevitably, adjust the arm’s azimuth. Call my proctologist!

Finally, once the desired weight has been set, tightening down the set screw changes VTF! Using the SFG-2, crude and inaccurate though it may be, I found that, no matter how carefully I tried not to upset the placement of the counter weight while I tightened the screw, I always did. In my infinite ability to adapt to and overcome the challenges posed by my environment I’ve landed on a strategy to overcome this situation: Set VTF at slightly less than I want knowing that it will increase a reasonably predictable amount after the set screw is tightened. (Did I mention I finished high school in three years?) Kidding aside, it angers me to have to employ these types of work around strategies when dealing with a $1600 piece of stereo equipment.

Listening to test records
I use two test records regularly in setting up and maintaining my turntable: The Cardas Frequency Sweep and Burn-In Record and the Hi–Fi News Analogue Test LP . I play side one of the Cardas LP once a week, more often if I’ve spent more than the usual amount of time that week listening. I give the Hi–Fi News Analogue Test LP a spin just to make sure parameters are acceptable if I’ve changed the settings of the JMW 9.

After installing the JMW Drop Counter Weight I experimented for two weeks or so with different amounts of VTF, various VTA settings, multiple "twists" of the tone arm wire (to experiment with various amounts of anti-skate) and mass loading to the headshell of the JMW 9. At the recommendation of VPI I have added 5 grams or so of weight to the headshell to raise the arm’s effective mass to an amount more in line with what the Grado Sonata likes. I experimented with this and other amounts of mass loading and found that 5 grams remained the magic number with the new counter weight. I settled on a final VTF of 1.9 grams, at least as measured by the disconcertingly capricious Shure SFG-2. This means that I can be certain VTF is set at somewhere between 0.5 and 4.0 grams. At $20, The Shure gauge gets you in the ballpark but makes no guarantee you’ll be able to see anyone but the right fielder. As the JMW 9 arm has no calibration markings for VTA or anti-skate I can not report on my final settings. Those having concupiscence for accurate measurement take note.

I listened to the Hi–Fi News Analogue Test LP ’s side one, tracks six through nine. These tracks, designed to test the turntable’s anti-skate settings, feature a 300Hz tone, left and right, progressing from +12dB to +14dB, then to +16dB and, finally, to +18dB. After installing the dropped counter weight the cartridge’s tracking ability remained unchanged. I got through tracks 6, 7 and 8 with no problem though heard distortion in both speakers with the contumacious track 9. The LP’s producers state "Please note that if your cartridge tracks bands 6,7 and 8 satisfactorily, then for all practical purposes you should have no problems tracking any records." If only this was true.

Moving on to side two of the Hi–Fi News Analogue Test LP , tracks 1, 4 and 8 offer the same tracking ability test, a 300Hz tone, left and right, +15dB, at three evenly spaced spots across the surface of the LP. I tracked bands 4 and 8 without incident but stumbled on track 1. I will attribute this instability to the same conditions that cause the opprobrious "Grado dance." I endure the dreaded and contentious dance because it only occurs when trying to play a very small number of my LPs. I can not say that switching to the drop counter weight will decrease the tracking ability of all JMW arms using a Grado Sonata but it’s worth noting that with the standard, round counter weight I was able to track this band. Sadly, there is no relief for me from the Grado’s nightmarish jig of doom with the new counter weight.

Nothing much changed with the Cardas LP other than with track 8 on side 1. This track features a 49Hz tone in both channels, in and out of phase. As my Epos M12 speakers are only rated down to 60Hz I usually don’t get much from this track. For the thrill of deep base I rely on room modes to excite vibrations in my listening room. And thrilling it can be, particularly, I’m sure, to the young woman who lives below me. Curiously, after installing the JMW Drop Counter Weight the sound from this track, usually a tepid buzz, became a kind of breathy flapping sound. This was portentous in that, as you will read, I found some considerable change to the quality of bass produced by my system with the new weight.

Listening to a real record
Since installing the JMW Drop Counter Weight I’ve probably listened to several dozen LPs, some new acquisitions and some I’ve had for many years. For the purposes of this review, though, let me focus on one LP that has particularly captured my imagination. The LP is Skylark by saxophonist Paul Desmond (CTI Records, 1974, CTI 6093, produced by Creed Taylor, engineered, mastered and cut by Rudy Van Gelder.) As with so many CTI LPs of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s the line up of featured musicians is a veritable who’s who of jazz luminaries and emerging talents. Jack DeJonette, drums, Ron Carter, bass, Ralph MacDonald, percussion, Gene Bertoncini and Gabor Szabo, guitars and arrangements by Don Sebesky. Those who abhor the so-called "lite jazz" of CTI are no doubt rolling their eyes but the elevated level of musicianship on this LP is undeniable.

"Music for a While" is a moody ballad that features two nearly baroque, thoroughly composed sections framing a lightly swinging section that is improvised over by Desmond. It is particularly reminiscent of some of Desmond’s most beautiful work of the late 50s with the Brubeck Quartet, albeit with an electric piano and a bowed cello. DeJonette’s drums are crowded into the right channel but are quite crisp. As the composed section of the tune gives way to the improvisation DeJonette delicately works his various cymbals. Most conspicuous was how much clearer I could hear the various colors of his myriad cymbals after installing the new counter weight. It was as if I was watching him play in person. The tone of the cymbal bells—ride, crash or high-hat—were so easy to distinguish from one another. I could visualize him gently moving from one cymbal to the next, skillfully using each part of each cymbal to get the greatest variation in tonal color. At one point he hits the side of the ride cymbal with the meatier part of the drumstick causing a unique and instantly recognizable "ping." I was thoroughly captivated by the level of detail in the upper transients I heard with the new counter weight.

Mid-range is one of the things that the Grado Sonata does undeniably well. So well in fact that those of who own one are perhaps more willing than we should be to overlook the Grado’s weaknesses, such as less than perfect tracking and a soupçon of hum. But on Sebesky’s arrangement of the Paul Simon tune "Was a Sunny Day," presented on Skylark as a breezy bosa nova, that midrange is so beguiling I forgot completely about what I’d learned listening to test records. The track opens with an unaccompanied nylon-stringed guitar played in deference to Jobim. Having been a guitarist for more than 25 years I am intimately familiar with the sound of a quality nylon-string. What was most captivating to me about the sound in this instance was how faithfully and transparently the sound of this type of guitar as I know it to be was reproduced. When a full chord is played on this type of guitar there is a slight bloating in the upper bass and lower midrange. Post the installation of the new counter weight this gratifying detail and others of its kind were patently obvious.

The title track features some of Desmond’s most classic work on the LP. His sound is equal parts breath, reed and horn. I could clearly hear all three of these elements as they combined to create the singular Desmond sound. Later on this same track, Bob James takes an acoustic piano solo in the style of Bill Evans. As with Burtoncini’s guitar intro on the Simon tune, what was striking was how faithfully the sound of the upper midrange notes was recreated. If you divide the keyboard into four equal parts, James solos primarily in the tricky third of the four sections, between middle C and the C two octaves above it. Having listened to many pianos in many recording studios I know that the sound of this section of the keyboard is a bit boxy and can sound glassy when the keys are pressed with a certain force. This is exactly what I heard. The reproduction of very small tonal details was closer to reality as I know it to be than I have heard before in my system.

But ultimately Desmond’s sax and James’s piano were slightly veiled, slightly rolled off and mellow on top. Just a little more than I would prefer. But it is impossible for me to say if this is a quality of the LP’s production or of my system. But I do know that the Grado Sonata is known to have exactly these characteristics. I can speculate that the dropped counter weight has helped the turntable take itself out of the equation a bit more so that the characteristics of the cartridge are more clearly revealed.

Bass reproduction was a bit more of a challenge with this LP but I’ll attribute that to my bass challenged speakers and let the new counter weight off the hook. In fact, after giving this issue some considerable thought, what I think has happened is this: With the dropped counter weight I’m getting a truer bass signal from the cartridge but the rest of my system is unable to turn it into music.

With the standard, round counter weight the bass I heard could be muddy and a bit soft but because it wasn’t particularly well focused and excited certain room modes it was acceptable. It sounded like bass. With the aid of the dropped counter weight bass response has gained more resolution. Its focus is tighter. But because of the inaccuracy of the rest of my system this has created, in some ways, less acceptable sound. I have come to find this is one of the unfortunate side effects of small upgrades at the lower end of high-end audio. Sometimes you gain in certain areas but lose in others. And sometimes an upgrade in one area reveals an unexpected deficiency in another. Tough business this.

The way this translated to music when listening to Ron Carter’s bass was interesting. The thing that’s so interesting about Carter’s playing on so many of the CTI releases is that he always seems a bit impatient with the music. After exploring the outer reaches of the universe with the Miles Davis Quintet of the mid-60s who can blame him if this was in fact how he felt. But he always finds ways to push the music; he’s always slightly pugnacious in his attack, like he is sparing not so much with the other musicians but with the music itself. On the track "Romance de Amor" Carter sets up a "groove," letting the low E string ring while grabbing another E an octave above, then sliding up to grab several more notes at the top of the neck. At one point he is strumming double then triple stops. This is great playing! Unfortunately most of the texture and color I know is there, must be there, is MIA. And when, for a brief chorus, "Music for a While" breaks into double time, his walking becomes something of a blur and it’s hard to hear the individual notes. Alas, this is all the bass my Epos M12s will give me. But if someone would like to drag a pair of Wilson Watt/Puppy 7s up to my place I’d be happy to rewrite this review.

Conclusion
Ultimately the sound I heard after installing the JMW Drop Counter Weight is the richest, most three-dimensional and involving sound I’ve yet heard in my system. But there are a few trade-offs.

I noticed a slight narrowing of the soundstage. This I attribute to a slight but necessary lowering of VTA. What seems to have happened is this: The enhanced resolution brought on by the new weight revealed some upper midrange graininess. This was easily overcome by a slight lowering of VTA which, as I’ve come to know with my Sonata, brings the soundstage in a bit while deepening it. I can live with this trade-off. The JMW Drop Counter Weight is difficult to adjust quickly and accurately so, if you like to change VTF often or change cartridges regularly, just for fun, this might not be the right upgrade for you. I also noticed a slight increase in inner groove distortion, nothing to put me out too much, but again, this is probably due to the increased transparency fostered by the new counter weight. Absolutists take note, if you go this route you may be expected to make certain trade-offs: Sound enhancement vs. ease of use.

The addition of the new weight helps the Scout and JMW 9 arm "get out of the way" so that whatever cartridge one may be using can take center stage and be left to prevail—or not—based on its own charms. As Music Direct states, resolution is dramatically increased. The experience, though, of installing and experimenting with the JMW Drop Counter Weight has given me much to ponder when considering the meaning of the words "resolution," "dramatically" and "increased" in terms of the sound of my system and the absolute sound.


Product Weakness: Difficult to adjust quickly and accurately. May make certain system weaknesses more apparent.
Product Strengths: Helped create the richest, most three-dimensional and involving sound I’ve yet heard in my system.


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: McCormack DNA 125
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Conrad Johnson PV10b w/ phono stage
Sources (CDP/Turntable): VPI Scout (w/upgraded Steel & Delrin record clamp)/JMW 9 arm w/ JMW dropped counterweight/Grado Sonata (1.5 mV output)
Speakers: Epos M12s & Target stands (filled with sand)
Cables/Interconnects: Wasatch, StraightWire, MapleShade
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Jazz, rock etc.
Room Size (LxWxH): 12 x 15 x 12
Room Comments/Treatments: I listen in my living room
Time Period/Length of Audition: 1 month
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): 2 Standard, low-current PS Audio Ultimate Outlets
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: VPI Industries JMW 9 Drop Counterweight Accessory - Frank_Locke 08:21:20 02/20/04 ( 15)