Audio-Technica AT-VM95SH

schwarcw

msg wrote: »

I don't have any experience with this one, but have been curious about the microline and Shibata stylus shapes.

I thought this was a pretty good article over on Soundsmith that someone referred me to. Rich, I think.
https://www.sound-smith.com/articles/stylus-shape-information

Since a Shibata gets deeper and offers a greater groove contact area, should make for greater resolution and detail?

I've been using the Denon 103R that was modified by the Soundsmith. Peter's mod included a ruby cantilever and a diamond contour contact stylus as described in the sound-smith link. Here are a few pics of my Zu Denon 103R that has been nuded and potted in an aluminum headshell with the SoundSmith mods:

halo

That's very pretty Carl

mhardy6647

schwarcw wrote: »

msg wrote: »

I don't have any experience with this one, but have been curious about the microline and Shibata stylus shapes.

I thought this was a pretty good article over on Soundsmith that someone referred me to. Rich, I think.
https://www.sound-smith.com/articles/stylus-shape-information

Since a Shibata gets deeper and offers a greater groove contact area, should make for greater resolution and detail?

I've been using the Denon 103R that was modified by the Soundsmith. Peter's mod included a ruby cantilever and a diamond contour contact stylus as described in the sound-smith link. Here are a few pics of my Zu Denon 103R that has been nuded and potted in an aluminum headshell with the SoundSmith mods:

Your photos? Nice photos!

SCompRacer

I potted my own 103R...I gave it the midas touch.



AT action shot...

Dawgfish

I have a ZU Dl-103 grade 2 prime with Soundsmith Ruby cantilever and level 3 stylus. Or at least I did till about 6 months ago. I broke the cantilever. Ouch! Eventually I'm going to send it back to Soundsmith for either level 1 or 2 stylus/cantilever replacement?

Honestly I'm leaning towards the level 1 with aluminum cantilever and eliptical stylus. Why going to the level 1 or 2 from the level 3? Honestly the level 3 stylus is so sensitive to setup it can make it difficult to just sit back and enjoy. I got tired of having to readjust tonearm height between different records with different thicknesses. I also have a 103D and 103S both with aluminum cantilever and elliptical stylii that I frankly enjoy listening to more. They are more forgiving while still offering way more detail than the stock 103 and 103R's conical stylii provide. It's kind of like the 3 bears thing at least to my ears anyways.

Nice AT-33PTG mk2 SComp! I have the mk1 PTG and like it a lot. I also have an AT-160ml, AT-15S, Signet TK-5ea and TK-10 (Signet was made by AT) and really enjoy all of them. AT carts offer a lot of bang for the buck.

schwarcw

Your photos?

Not my photos.

A friend of mine took the photos. I wanted a better closeup of the stylus but he did not have that ability with his lens. I need a USB microscope as I would like to see if there is any wear.

schwarcw

Dawgfish wrote: »

I have a ZU Dl-103 grade 2 prime with Soundsmith Ruby cantilever and level 3 stylus. Or at least I did till about 6 months ago. I broke the cantilever. Ouch! Eventually I'm going to send it back to Soundsmith for either level 1 or 2 stylus/cantilever replacement?

Hey Dawg!

I broke a cantilever too! Ouch is right LOL!

My experience has been the upgrade was a very good thing for me. YMMV. Do the thing that your ears are telling you.

What are you using as a step up transformer these days?

Dawgfish

Ouch is right! Darn sad to hear that! I rarely use a SUT anymore. I still have Cinemag and Byerdynamic SUTs and use them occasionally. Most of the time I use my fully modded Jolida JD-9 and I'm very happy with it. It does have a little more noise than both SUTs, but I like the sound better overall with the modded JD-9.

msg

Hey Drew, did you get this cart yet? Had any time to check it out?

Interesting on the preference in not using the SUT.
I've not had the opportunity to try one.

Where's your volume knob in typical listening without the SUT?

For any phono, even MM, my volume knob is always significantly higher than with digital, no matter which phono preamp I'm using. I'd say 1 o'clock at least, on a typical preamp for what I would consider "loud".

Clipdat

msg wrote: »

Hey Drew, did you get this cart yet? Had any time to check it out?

Have not had a chance to do anything with it yet, but I did inspect it and put it on the Technics cartridge alignment tool. I noticed that it's slightly off, the stylus will need to be moved forward to meet the end of the tool.

Interestingly, the Ortofon Concord style cartridge was slightly over the end of the alignment tool, just slightly, but still.

I will post some photos soon to illustrate this if I can.

halo

Clipdat wrote: »

msg wrote: »

Hey Drew, did you get this cart yet? Had any time to check it out?

Have not had a chance to do anything with it yet, but I did inspect it and put it on the Technics cartridge alignment tool. I noticed that it's slightly off, the stylus will need to be moved forward to meet the end of the tool.

Interestingly, the Ortofon Concord style cartridge was slightly over the end of the alignment tool, just slightly, but still.

I will post some photos soon to illustrate this if I can.

Maybe the alignment tool is off if both carts are over? Might want to check with a protractor. You can get them for free at vinylengine.com - all you have to do is create a free account, download and print out the protractor, and double check the size with a ruler to make sure the print out is accurate.

jdjohn

Attached are two of the alignment protractor PDFs for printing. The 'stupid' one has Baerwald and Loefgren, and then Stevenson is the other file.

There is also a special Technics SL-1200 arc protractor available on VE. I'll attach that one as well shortly. Okay...added it and the instructions - two separate PDFs.

msg

Clipdat wrote: »

Have not had a chance to do anything with it yet, but I did inspect it and put it on the Technics cartridge alignment tool. I noticed that it's slightly off, the stylus will need to be moved forward to meet the end of the tool.

Interestingly, the Ortofon Concord style cartridge was slightly over the end of the alignment tool, just slightly, but still.

I will post some photos soon to illustrate this if I can.

I was never really sure whether the Technics alignment tool was very accurate. I think it sets the stylus depth, but then you're supposed to square up the cart visually in the headshell, right? Or are you supposed to align the stylus with the notch on the front of the tool?

That notch in the tool has always thrown me off. I think in the Technics documentation, they only spec to set the stylus at the end of the tool. I was never sure if I was supposed to also align the stylus with that notch. If I did, the cart body would not be squared in the headshell. I think I tried this on two different Technics alignment tools.

Clipdat

Maybe I described it wrong, the concorde was slightly over the end of the tool, the audio technica was slightly under.

So, I will try to adjust the AT. Like you said Scott I'm weary of this as you're just supposed to visually "square up" the stylus to the tool. Too much room for error.

I also inspected the stylus tip itself and the cantilever, and it seems like it's not "completely" flat at a 90 degree angle, but very very slightly off. I have read reviews of other people complaining about this with AT and other cartridges. Not sure what deviation from 90 is acceptable or if this matters. I could send it back and get another back the same or worse.

codycatalist

Go through the frustration of hand aligning the sucker. I promise you'll end up punching a wall, win win.