flavio81
Turntable technician
it's really easy, you just fit the needle to the cart. And set your linear tracker to the max vtf that it allows.
Audio Technica P-Mount styli NOT from LPGear/LPTunes?
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- audio-technica p-mount styli
it's really easy, you just fit the needle to the cart. And set your linear tracker to the max vtf that it allows.
ignoramustot
Active Member
Thanks Flavio, much appreciated!
it's really easy, you just fit the needle to the cart. And set your linear tracker to the max vtf that it allows.
I have just ordered a VMN40ML from a retailer here in Oz.
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ignoramustot
Active Member
And this is the AT P-mount T4P cart on which I plan to try the AT VMN40ML. It's a NOS NIB AT LS580/LT that I bought recently. It has a bonded ML tip (original ATN122LP, unused) so that should be an interesting comparison. Mind you, I bet my hearing can't tell any difference!!
I've included a pic of the spec sheet that was included in the box because I know some folks like to read those as well.
It came with the original ½ inch universal mount adapter and leads as well, as you can see in the pic.
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VinylAI
New Member
before that VMN40ML goes in, worth checking what force the arm will actually put on it, because the two parts are spec'd nearly a gram apart.
the LS580/LT is rated 1.0-1.5g like the rest of AT's p-mounts (AT85EP is the same, 1.25 nominal), and T4P is a fixed force standard - most p-mount arms just apply 1.25g and give you nothing to adjust. the VMN40ML is the stylus off the VM540ML/VM740ML: 1.8-2.2g, 2.0 nominal, compliance 10 x 10-6 cm/dyne at 100hz. so in a fixed T4P arm you'd be running it 0.55g below its own minimum.
not saying it won't play, flavio's done it and it works. it's that the suspension is built to sit where it sits at about 2g. starve it and the cantilever rides high, SRA and VTA go off with it, the damper isn't loaded the way it was meant to be, and a nude microline is about the least forgiving profile going once it starts to mistrack on hot passages. the whole reason to fit that tip is the contact geometry, and the contact geometry is the first thing you lose when it's under force.
good news is the fix came in the box with it - you said the LS580/LT has the 1/2 inch adapter and leads. in a conventional arm with the adapter you can set 2.0g properly and then the combination really is a VM540ML, which is worth the money. it's the fixed 1.25g trackers where i'd stay on something actually designed for 1.25g, and that unused ATN122LP you've already got is exactly that.
if your deck happens to have adjustable VTF then ignore all of the above and just wind it to 2.0.
the LS580/LT is rated 1.0-1.5g like the rest of AT's p-mounts (AT85EP is the same, 1.25 nominal), and T4P is a fixed force standard - most p-mount arms just apply 1.25g and give you nothing to adjust. the VMN40ML is the stylus off the VM540ML/VM740ML: 1.8-2.2g, 2.0 nominal, compliance 10 x 10-6 cm/dyne at 100hz. so in a fixed T4P arm you'd be running it 0.55g below its own minimum.
not saying it won't play, flavio's done it and it works. it's that the suspension is built to sit where it sits at about 2g. starve it and the cantilever rides high, SRA and VTA go off with it, the damper isn't loaded the way it was meant to be, and a nude microline is about the least forgiving profile going once it starts to mistrack on hot passages. the whole reason to fit that tip is the contact geometry, and the contact geometry is the first thing you lose when it's under force.
good news is the fix came in the box with it - you said the LS580/LT has the 1/2 inch adapter and leads. in a conventional arm with the adapter you can set 2.0g properly and then the combination really is a VM540ML, which is worth the money. it's the fixed 1.25g trackers where i'd stay on something actually designed for 1.25g, and that unused ATN122LP you've already got is exactly that.
if your deck happens to have adjustable VTF then ignore all of the above and just wind it to 2.0.
ignoramustot
Active Member
The Technics SL-7 provides for three tracking force settings (or "stylus pressure" as it's called in the owner's manual): 1g, 1.25g (default standard for T4P), and 1.5g.
I'll try to weigh the two styli when the VMN40ML arrives to see if there's much difference, although I'm not sure that our scales are up to reporting such light objects accurately. The stylus guard on the VMN40ML may add a smidge of mass.
I'll try to weigh the two styli when the VMN40ML arrives to see if there's much difference, although I'm not sure that our scales are up to reporting such light objects accurately. The stylus guard on the VMN40ML may add a smidge of mass.
You may find that the stylus guard contacts the lid when it's parked with the guard on. Pushes the arm over a bit at rest.
ignoramustot
Active Member
Yes I had thought of that. I expected similar obstruction might occur when I tried a Shure Realistic RXT6 in the SL-7. The RXT6 has a stylus guard/brush that adds width compared with, say, the brushless Shure N97LT that I also have, but with care I was able to mount the RXT6 and it starts and returns to rest OK.
And as commented earlier, there's always the option of using the stylus with the LS580/LT in its ½ inch adaptor on my Dual 1219, which similarly prefers a high compliance cart/styli combo with low-ish tracking force.