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KAB Supermat and VTA SL-1210 M3D

R

ranch 22b

AK Subscriber
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I recently bought a nice 1210M3D with an Ortofon "Concorde" ProS cartridge. 'Found a $30 elliptical generic stylus at TurntableNeedles and thought I was set for awhile. But the sound was just not right, especially the bass and lower midrange - very cold and lifeless. The VTA wasn't correct but the best I could do with the provided 1/8" platter mat.

Fast forward to today. My shipment from KAB arrived and I replaced the thin mat with a 1/4" Supermat. Now, I could get the VTA correct and have the tonearm level. Wow - this Ortofon literally sounds like a different cartridge! The one dimensional bass and sterile midrange have been transformed into a very pleasing full sound. Now I think I'm getting a taste of what an Ortofon cart can do on this table. Nice.

'Amazing what a relatively slight adjustment can make!
 
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Cool :) But that one adjustment IS critical. Lots of folks spend hours adjusting the VTA (or rake angle) to cure a sonic issue. They move up and down to find the sweet spot. Sounds like you hit it :)
 
I've found that, even with the supermat, some of my cartridges ride right on the ragged edge of correct VTA, even with the VTA adjustment set to "0". I have the same cart you do, and I set the VTA to "0". That's where it seems to sound best to my ears.
 
A friend of mine has a nice VPI table, and once I helped him set the VTA. It was very much like adjusting the lens on a camera - once it's in 'focus,' you know it.
 
Whell, my VTA is also currently set at zero. As near as I can tell this setting on my 1200 creates a level tonearm with the Concorde cart. In playing with the VTA adjustment, I noticed that mine will go to a position a bit "below" the zero position.

I went through some old posts last night trying to figure out why my 1210M3D has a thin mat when it clearly doesn't allow proper adjustment of the VTA. Some have suggested that the M3D turntable series were sold new with the thin 1/8" mat plus an additional felt mat on top of the thin rubber one, together giving the proper thickness.

There are also posts saying that not all 1200s have the same VTA adjustment mechanism, so a zero setting for example on one would not necessarily correspond with a zero setting on another.
 
The 1200 MK II and above come stock with the 1/8" mat, plus a slipmat. The slipmat is useless for home listening of course. However, the 1/4 mat is an option for home users.

The 1200 series as distributed today should be thought of as a turntable that needs to be modified for home use, IMHO. The minimal modification is the addition of the 1/4 mat.

As far as the "sample variation" on the VTA mechanism, this is the first I've heard of it. It doesn't seem likely to me that this is the case. For example, you and I are both finding the same VTA setting is optimal for the same (Ortofon) cartridge. You've got the 1210 M3D, and I've got the 1210 M5G.
 
I think I may have misinterpreted what the poster meant.

Here's the quote: "The M3D and the MK5 have a completely different VTA chart than the MK2."

By "chart", from what I can understand, the poster means in the owners manual, and has to do with what mat/s were originally supplied with the turntable. My bad in thinking that the VTA mechanism itself was different.
 
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