Interview with Peter Ledermann of Soundsmith
- Thread starter Robert
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Robert
Tapehead
Yes lots of interesting stuff, particularly using cactus spines as cantilevers!
I also disagree on a few points, mainly on the anti-skating methodology. I always set using a test disc on a high modulation track. Setting anti-skate for clean tracking on the highest bands doesn't degrade performance on the lower bands (try it). The reverse is certainly not the case IME.
I also disagree on a few points, mainly on the anti-skating methodology. I always set using a test disc on a high modulation track. Setting anti-skate for clean tracking on the highest bands doesn't degrade performance on the lower bands (try it). The reverse is certainly not the case IME.
Tony L
Administrator
Just watching this now. FWIW I agree with him on anti-skating 100%! I really dislike audiophile test records and would never dream of using one to set tracking and anti-skate. They all make the error of setting for a worst case scenario that in reality only exists on test records, not at all in the real world. The direct equivalent would be fitting snow-chains to your car tyres all year round despite it only snowing lightly maybe two days a year. It basically screws up tracking on everything else as you end up tracking too heavy and with the stylus weighing far more on the outer groove-wall.
The key thing to grasp is anti-skate is a variable, not a constant, so setting it for the worst possible case is a very bad compromise. Far better to set it at the top of the bell-curve of most typical groove modulation. Set to the average it is right far, far more of the time than to either extreme.
I remember the first time I set a deck up using HFS69 (still got a copy). It sounded dreadful, just leaden and dead in the water. I’ve since tried with the HiFi News record and that is just as bad IMO. These days I just use my ears and almost always end up just a smidge over the recommended/median VTF value with regards and about 2/3rds that value of anti-skate.
FWIW I often use Steely Dan’s Gaucho as it is pretty typical amplitude and has very wide panning on drum kit metalwork, background vocals etc, so easy to tell if one side is sounding less dynamic and free than the other (one of the tracks even has the lyric line “skate a little lower now”, which is right about half the time!). Beyond that some good mono jazz. I end up tweaking it a little over a few weeks with a new cartridge until I’m fully happy.
PS I disagree with him about stylus cleaning and have 40 years of great results with my AT637 vibrating cleaner. That is one audio product that if it broke tomorrow I’d pay pretty much any price to replace it!
The key thing to grasp is anti-skate is a variable, not a constant, so setting it for the worst possible case is a very bad compromise. Far better to set it at the top of the bell-curve of most typical groove modulation. Set to the average it is right far, far more of the time than to either extreme.
I remember the first time I set a deck up using HFS69 (still got a copy). It sounded dreadful, just leaden and dead in the water. I’ve since tried with the HiFi News record and that is just as bad IMO. These days I just use my ears and almost always end up just a smidge over the recommended/median VTF value with regards and about 2/3rds that value of anti-skate.
FWIW I often use Steely Dan’s Gaucho as it is pretty typical amplitude and has very wide panning on drum kit metalwork, background vocals etc, so easy to tell if one side is sounding less dynamic and free than the other (one of the tracks even has the lyric line “skate a little lower now”, which is right about half the time!). Beyond that some good mono jazz. I end up tweaking it a little over a few weeks with a new cartridge until I’m fully happy.
PS I disagree with him about stylus cleaning and have 40 years of great results with my AT637 vibrating cleaner. That is one audio product that if it broke tomorrow I’d pay pretty much any price to replace it!
Tony L
Administrator
I’d love it if possible, thank you very much indeed!
If he doesn't want it can I have it? I have one also but the clear cover disappeared years ago and, trivial I know but soooOOoo annoying!
Robert
Tapehead
Depends on the test record though. HFS69 uses the torture track at crazy levels as does the HFN disc.
I use the Ortofon disc and have done for 30+ years which has something more representative of a real hot vinyl cut.
I'd rather set for real life worst case (not test lab extremes) for both VTF and bias and don't find any detriment when tracking lower cuts.
Some carts are far more sensitive to these things than others. Grados for example seem quite sensitive to tiny changes in VTF and bias, AT designs far less so. A lot depends on the internal damping - AT are well damped, Grado far less.
Also remember that the VTF window is typically 0.25g, and the difference between setting bias to track average and and hot cuts is typically 0.5g - we aren't really talking big numbers!
S-Man
StrivingON
Tony L
Administrator
Where do you end up typically? As an example my MP-500 has a range of 1.3-1.8g VFT, my ears tell me the optimal is 1.6g and 1g of anti-skate. Using a vintage 3009 my anti-skate setting is a little cruder than ideal as it is 0.5g steps, but 1g is definitely better than either 1.5g or 0.5g. My past arms were even cruder as they tended to have an uncalibrated dial (Zeta) or some unmarked rod/weight system (Spacearm, Hadcock etc), so I’ve always done it by ear. I always end up in this sort of range, i.e. just a hair over the median, around 2/3rds anti-skate. Arm always as flat as I can get it on a typical thickness record, i.e. not tail up or down from a VTA perspective. I assume I’m impacting SRA with VTF and that is part of what I’m hearing (another reason I hate test records!).
One thing that implies I’m likely getting it right is I can’t recall any cantilever moving out of alignment over the cartridge’s life. Any that were a bit off started life that way out of the box (e.g. both my AT OC9 and 33PTG had a very slight slant outwards, which may be an AT thing unless I was unlucky twice!). Cantilever’s moving off centre is a dead giveaway something is wrong with anti-skate, as is uneven stylus wear (though obviously you need a good microscope to see this, my vintage Olympus might be good enough, I’m not sure).
PS Regarding cleaning I’ve also got one of those Japanese Onzow stylus cleaner that work similar to a putty, but I find it very hard to use as it just isn’t the right height to either sit on the platter or armboard, so I’ve hardly used it to be honest. The 637 is just so easy, and I bought some of Nagaoka’s own fluid as one would assume it was safe on their carts! I just stick a drop on the 637s pad and let the cart do its thing for 30 seconds or so. It really does work, the crud is gone when looking under a loupe.
Robert
Tapehead
To give you an example, I'm currently using a Rega Ania Pro. Rega state VTF @ 1.75 - 2g. I'm running it at 1.85vtf and 1.5 bias. At those setting it clears the 80um highest cut on the Ortofon disc - though I know from experience it would fail the 'torture track' on other well known discs but those I agree are cut way hotter than reality demands. Some of the those discs are a throwback to the late 70s when cart compliance was really high and Shure were competing aggressively the the 'trackability' crown.
Last cart used was the AT33PTG/II and that one I ran at 2gvtf with 1.8g bias (upper limits for this cart are 2.2g).
By contrast if I use a Grado F1+ the bias needs to be down at around 0.8g.
I agree that a cantilever deflecting away from 'true' when playing is a sign something is wrong.