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Benz micro glider cart loading advice

B

banjoman

pfm Member
I am setting up a Benz Micro Glider (Series 2) Medium Output cart on my Origin Live Silver 2 arm and needed some advice.

Firstly, loading and gain on my Trichord Delphini phono. The recommended gain for the cart is 0.8mV and the loading 200 ohms

Unfortunately my Delphini only allows me to set the following loading:
33 ohms
100 ohms
1K ohms

And the following gain options:
0.25-0.4 mV
0.4 - 0.6 mV
2 - 3 mV
3 - 5 mV

So nothing really matches the 200 ohms / 0.8mV perfectly.
What's the closest settings I should try?

On a separate note, the tracking weight is also giving me a problem on the Origin Live arm. Recommended weight is around 2.0g, but I find that with the Origin Live counterweight, if I set tracking at 2.0 g, the arm swings out (even if I set anti skate to 0!!). I only get it to remain stable at 2.5/2.6g upwards.
The arm and anti skate are fine - I used it with a Denon DL103 (which is heavier than the BEnz at about 8.5-9g compared to the 6.8g Benz).
Is it OK to use the Benz with 2.6g tracking weight or does it mean I need to get a different counterweight for the Origin Live Silver arm?

It's all driving me a bit nuts at the moment! Any thoughts please?
 
Thanks mike.
Will try that.
For the gain setting is it better to go higher than the recommended 0.8mV or lower at 0.6mV?
 
banjoman said:
Thanks mike.
Will try that.
For the gain setting is it better to go higher than the recommended 0.8mV or lower at 0.6mV?
Click to expand...

I'd go higher as that gives more head room and less noise although you'll find that you will need the volume pot set higher.

With MC cart loading too high may tend to increase the HF giving a false sense of 'air' whilst too low cuts the HF and gives a thicker sound. My own phono stage doesn't allow adjustment of MC loading but sounds fine with carts that I have used.

The recommended load for my cart is >30 Ohms and my MC input is 600 Ohm. Works well.

Cheers,

DV
 
I'm sure you've checked but.... is everything level? I only ask because I had a similar thing a while back & discovered that the base that the turntable was sitting on had settled unevenly over time.
 
minorrevival said:
I'm sure you've checked but.... is everything level? I only ask because I had a similar thing a while back & discovered that the base that the turntable was sitting on had settled unevenly over time.
Click to expand...

Good point. Did check and everything is level. The Oracle has a built in spirit level to check leveling but also used a separate level to check. Seems all fine.
Think its still a problem with the cartridge weight on the tonearm
 
"Think its still a problem with the cartridge weight on the tonearm "
? I've used numerous Gliders on various tables and no way should you be tracking it at anything like 2.6 gms.
Used Gliders in all sorts of arms on an Oracle with no problems other than..
check the arm lift platform is actually level.
My Kuzma arm baffled me with the same symptoms till I remembered I'd bent the platform upwards. plays fine but slides down the armlift thing giving a false impression of too much bias.
Set it at 1.8 with minimal bias and hand cue, if it hesitates in the lead in, too much bias, if it dives in, not enough.
They are great cartridges and I'd settle for 100 Ohms and 0.4-0.6 mv's, never found them that fussy:)
 
Cut a 30mm strip 5mm wide from a sheet of printer paper. Balance you tonearm so it hangs free in the air. Remove any anti skate.

If you push the arm around just using the bit of paper then it's ok if not your bearings are notchy.

It won't be the cart itself it will be the arm setup.
 
Will do the paper test to check the bearings, but I think the bearings are fine.
I'm using a cheapo digital stylus pressure gauge which seems to be accurate when I test it with a 5p and 50p coin but it may be part of the problem.
Worth getting a manual/mechanical stylus pressure gauge?
 
Sorted. It was the stylus gauge that was broken after all that. Got a new one - set tracking weight properly and its all fine and dandy.
Thanks everyone for help
 
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