Cartridge recommendations.

[mcourtman]

Thanks for the advice, a few more photos which I hope might help.

Matt

[Ted Kendall]

Looks like the arm height is set a tad low - the arm tube and headshell should be parallel to the record surface. The adjustment is acheved by loosening the set screw in the arm base and raisng or lowering the pillar by hand.

[Edward Huggins]

That tonearm looks uncomfortably low to the LP's surface. It just does not look right.

Raise the arm and/or add headshell spacers. The Goldring 1042 is a superb cartridge (still listed at around £245.00) and deserves the best possible set up with the required -15 degree negative rake. That cartridge, and in that arm, is almost as good as it gets....

[mcourtman]

Originally Posted by Ted Kendall

Looks like the arm height is set a tad low - the arm tube and headshell should be parallel to the record surface.

Originally Posted by Edward Huggins

That tonearm looks uncomfortably low to the LP's surface. It just does not look right.

Thank for your advice, would anyone be able to post a picture of what it should look like?

[bikerhifinut]

Basically get the top of the headshell parallel to the record surface, not the turntable.
Get that right and you might even hear an improvement (it will be subtle) in reproduction.
I found this from a quick google. head down the page to the VTA setting part and theres a nice photo of a useful tweak to getthe arm parallel to the record.
https://www.theransomnote.com/tech/a...able-properly/
Hope that helps.

Andy

[bikerhifinut]

Originally Posted by Edward Huggins

That tonearm looks uncomfortably low to the LP's surface. It just does not look right.

Raise the arm and/or add headshell spacers. The Goldring 1042 is a superb cartridge (still listed at around £245.00) and deserves the best possible set up with the required -15 degree negative rake. That cartridge, and in that arm, is almost as good as it gets....

the last thing you want to do is add spacers under the headshell cartridge mounts, that would make the problem worse. I am not familiar with SME 3009 arms but I would think there is a VTA/armheight adjustment.

Spot on with the G1042 remark Edward, it's as good as it needs to be with that arm.
Goldring recommend a tracking force of 1.75g for their 1000 series cartridges, i still have the paperwork for mine here and its got a nice piccie of what the cartdridge should look like on the record. I can scan it and send to the OP.

A

[Kentode]

Hi, this is a goldring 1022gx, linn basik arm, linn sondek turntable. You're looking for the arm to be parallel to the record. A piece of white card makes it easier to see.

[bikerhifinut]

And here are the goldring instructions.

Andy

[mcourtman]

Thanks again for everyone's advice.

I've increased the height of the tone arm and checked again the stylus pressure using my old Garrard Stylus Pressure Gauge. Its reading just over 1.5g and now when playing a single the bottom of the cartridge just misses the anti-slip grooves.

Do you thing I should I buy a protractor so I can check the arm is in the correct alignment?

More pictures attached.

[dseymo1]

I dont know how accurate the Garrard SPG will be at such a low tracking force, but it's certainly a good starting point. You can find the sweet spot by ear, simply by tweaking the force up and down slightly and listening in between changes.
You don't need to buy a protractor - you can make your own. There are plenty of 'print and cut out' examples on line, which are probably the easiest approach. The SME should have come with its own protractor, if you still have it.

[mcourtman]

Many thanks, i'll happily play a few more records
I've only had the setup for 7 years, purchased 2nd hand. It didn't come with any tools etc...

[D_S_J_R]

I wish I'd come in earlier - I sold many of these arms at the time and have here a fixed-head version with Shure V15 III awaiting a suitable turntable to put it on... the 1042 is a rather lower compliance design for the 3009 Improved S2 arm and can sound scrappy if not properly set up. It's not a gracious sounding device unless it's in a Rega RB tonearm of old which seems to tame it in my personal experience.. These SME's are lower mass, but they can resonate at higher frequencies with more modern medium compliance cartridges. SME did one or two things in later years to tame this however...

OK, we have the 1042 and the SME arm and it's going to cost hundreds to replace (I'd have suggested an AT540 or mechanically better for this arm, a 440ML'a' or 'b' myself as the Ortofon 2M Bronze may suffer similarly). First thing with this cartridge is to either replace the resonant SME shell with a more rigid lightweight alternative (the one from the Technics SL1200mk2 series is fine and not massive and the Sumiko type was a universal favourite if the arm can balance this combination) or if intending to keep original, get some of the Black-tac that SME supplied and place some between cartridge and shell. Earlier SME shells fixed the cartridge to top-recessed screw holes/underneath 'bumps' and there was a void between the top of the cartridge/finger-lift and the shell proper. Later SME shells offered a flat mounting to the cartridge, a more substantial shell material and the finger lift was riveted to the side of the shell. Yours doesn't look straight in the picture and it's important for the top of the shell to be parallel to the record as viewed frim the side and not just the arm-tube (the shell can be gently bent to form if it's not true front to back but take care here). The Black-tac DID have a definitely beneficial effect on high frequency reproduction and even the infamous Shure V15 III sounded less 'acidic' or 'hard toned' than it could do before this stuff was introduced.

I think SME used to make different size counterweights. the one that came as standard with my 3009 fixed shell arm is useless for a typical 5 or 6 gramme cartridge plus metal screws/nuts and usually, we suggested going to one of the massier counterweights to get it closer to the pivot block and keeping inertia down. I don't know if this option applies to the S2-detachable version, but you could ask SME and then scour the used sections in various sites to see if you can find one should they exist - weigh yours first though. SME don't have much in terms of old spares now and as they're under new ownership, I politely suggest that high profits are what they're about today and even when spares were available a few years ago, the prices were eye-watering.

Slide the stub-weight back to the first line (Zero) on the outrigger, make sure the arm floats as instructed and then slide forward to 1.75g approx. the SME calibration was pretty good I recall and the sub weight will probably have its front face level with the end of the outrigger shaft itself for 1.75g. The lateral balance part of the outrigger may well be ok as-is set to two or three notches out from memory.

SME at the time, specified slightly too much bias correction and with a V15 III elliptical stylufor example, one tracked at 1g and set the bias ideally to 0.75g. The 1042 has a rather more advanced diamond profile and I reckon the SME-specified bias setting should be just fine for it.

I hope the above is kind-of helpful to you and that you can get it all working well again. The above is based on personal experiences over decades. Despite falling from grace in the 1980's when more rigid direct soupled tonearms came along including the SME IV and V, the SME3009 II Imp./M75-ED combination was just fine if 'of its time.' Modern cartridges offer reduced compliance and perfectly safe but higher tracking weights and even Audio Technica have optimised their new models for 2g tracking (actually, they're safe at 1.8g but there ya go...). By the way, an AT95E is NOTHING LIKE as good as a *good* M75-ED used to be - I have examples here in my cartridge stash, but I do concede that the Shure original stylus assembly can suffer corrosion of the cantilever (the diamond falls out or the tie wire comes away) and the 'naked diamond' wasn't always of the highest quality, especially compared to the diamond on the 1042.

[bikerhifinut]

Run the G1042 at 1.75g as per the specifications Matt. It'll track a lot better.
Also as long as the stylus force gauge/balance gets you in the "ball park" remember its ok to tweak the stylus force up or down by a quarter gram or so on the G1042 and set it "by ear" for the result that you like. The figures given are nominal but usually the manufacturers recommended setting is the best for most arms. Again I might have a spare ortofon freebie balance I can post out. I'll have a look in the stash. They are remarkably accurate and need no batteries!
Theres an electronic stylus gauge available on the usual Auction site for less than a tenner and I have checked it against ones costing 8 times as much with its included test weight. It came in just as accurate. A few members on here have the same, that's where I found out about it.
There'll be an online protractor you can print out I don't know if one of mine will scan ok but I can give it a go. If you accurately punch the hole for the spindle, an online printout will work as well as any expensive device assuming your printer prints to scale accurately, most do. Ask yourself how often you really will use an alignment protractor.
I used to have one on a sheet of A4 that came with an arm, I will have to have a good dig around my files.


A.

[bikerhifinut]

some links,
https://www.vinylengine.com/cartridg...tractors.shtml

http://www.styli.co.nz/protractor.pdf

theres more but the second one is nice and simple. Print it out on a piece of card and punch the spindle hole CAREFULLY and away you go!

Andy

[D_S_J_R]

You can get SME originals on eBay (that's where mine came from) and of you use a third party one, I believe SME at this time used 60mm from disc centre as the inner null point for correct alignment where today's arms (except Rega) use 65mm. Not sure if it's a good idea to experiment here just at the moment. A Rega card protractor may be very cheap or even free to get gold of and this has the same null point (60mm) from memory.

[bikerhifinut]

Originally Posted by D_S_J_R

I wish I'd come in earlier - I sold many of these arms at the time and have here a fixed-head version with Shure V15 III awaiting a suitable turntable to put it on... the 1042 is a rather lower compliance design for the 3009 Improved S2 arm and can sound scrappy if not properly set up. It's not a gracious sounding device unless it's in a Rega RB tonearm of old which seems to tame it in my personal experience.. These SME's are lower mass, but they can resonate at higher frequencies with more modern medium compliance cartridges. SME did one or two things in later years to tame this however...




By the way, an AT95E is NOTHING LIKE as good as a *good* M75-ED used to be - I have examples here in my cartridge stash, but I do concede that the Shure original stylus assembly can suffer corrosion of the cantilever (the diamond falls out or the tie wire comes away) and the 'naked diamond' wasn't always of the highest quality, especially compared to the diamond on the 1042.

That would agree with my findings Dave, The last time I used my g1042 was in my Rega RB600 arm and it sounded smoother and quieter to my ears than it had previously in a Linn basik plus arm.

Likewise I Think the AT95E is really quite a rough old thing, again i wonder if newer production isnt as good as the 80's offerings? For what they cost i think the AT91/Rega carbon work better, conical stylus notwithstanding. So your recommendations of the AT440 etc seem logical to me.

And after a bit of thought would my findings on the Shure M75ED be explained by using it in a not best compatible RB series arm? Its been in an RB250, 300, and 600 with similar performance observations. It did improve greatly with a JICO stylus, its a shame they cost so much in postage from JICO as I think it could even be better than a Shure original. So perhaps in an SME3009 it would show its mettle?

Matt have you checked out your M75ED and is it ok? If you havent yet a simple way would be to just connect the wires on the good headshell that has the 1042 in it and give the stylus a GENTLE flick and listen for output on both channels.

Andy.

[bikerhifinut]

Originally Posted by D_S_J_R

You can get SME originals on eBay (that's where mine came from) and of you use a third party one, I believe SME at this time used 60mm from disc centre as the inner null point for correct alignment where today's arms (except Rega) use 65mm. Not sure if it's a good idea to experiment here just at the moment. A Rega card protractor may be very cheap or even free to get gold of and this has the same null point (60mm) from memory.

I might have one lying around.
I have a standard protractor that I have had for years and it aligns my cartridges fine in a rega arm as far as i can tell.
A

[D_S_J_R]

The AT95E is an evergreen starter cartridge as is the conical tip Rega Carbon (a posher AT91) and I respect them hugely and recommend them for the better Garrards and lower-caste Duals for example, as well as the myriad Pioneer PL12-D's and so on out there.

I had a pre-conceived downer on the M75-ED as familiarity setting 'hundreds' up in the early 70's brought a little contempt I feel and by the late 70's to early 80's the Martin Colloms reviews in HiFi Choice were scathing. I gave away a perfect ED some years ago because I thought I had another good one. Turns out that although the diamond is pretty fair (Shure's non-V15 diamonds were more like shiny bits of coal than clear polished and set diamond), the tie wire looks to have fractured and the stylus flops about alarmingly and sticks down to much (no physical damage). My favourite of broadly 'this generation' is the father of the M75-ED/91-ED and that's the V15 T2, which has a better diamond finish, a similar high frequency response dip (mechanics in the pole pieces in the body cause it) yet has a lovely 'musical' and quite 'powerful' bass and mids, the treble regions being 'restrained' rather than dull.

Sorry all.

Anyway, I hope the OP gets sorted and happy again with his vinyl setup.

[mcourtman]

Originally Posted by D_S_J_R

....yours doesn't look straight in the picture and it's important for the top of the shell to be parallel to the record as viewed frim the side and not just the arm-tube (the shell can be gently bent to form if it's not true front to back but take care here).

Thanks again for your advice. When you say my headshell doesn't look straight, do you mean when looking head-on at the headshell when a record is playing. Or when looking from the side? In the SME manual it suggests placing the cartridge on a small flat mirror which in the manual emphasises if it's not level.

Originally Posted by D_S_J_R

...slide the stub-weight back to the first line (Zero) on the outrigger, make sure the arm floats as instructed and then slide forward to 1.75g approx. the SME calibration was pretty good I recall and the sub weight will probably have its front face level with the end of the outrigger shaft itself for 1.75g. The lateral balance part of the outrigger may well be ok as-is set to two or three notches out from memory.

Great, I think I've done this correctly. When the stub weight is pushed back to the first line, and the anti-skate fish wire loop is unhooked, the arm is balanced and floats. I've then pulled the sub weight as far forward as it will come and hooked on the anti-skate weight. Using the old SPG3 it reads about 1.5-1.7 grams (I did calibrate the SPG with the 5g weight provided).

Originally Posted by D_S_J_R

...I hope the above is kind-of helpful to you and that you can get it all working well again.

Everyone has been most helpful, I'm sorry if my questions seem very basic.

Many thanks,

Matt

[RojDW48]

I was relieved to discover that it was just the cartridge body rubbing along the anti-slip ring on your 45s! I had an alarming mental picture there for a moment. I wonder if that would happen with my Decca Londons, which are designed to sit very low, but I have never played a 45 on that TT.