Setting up the height on turntable arms

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omutumo

New member
This isn't actually for myself as I bought my TT's second hand and are set up fine (had no problems anyway). A friend of mine has just bought some new tech mk5g's and when I was having a go they seemed crap but on closer inspection, I noticed that the height was set to the lowest setting and the arm base was actually lower than the record (I'm no expert on set ups but thats obviously wrong)

Is there a precise way of doing it like with counterbalance set up, maybe?

Thanks
 
the tonearm should be parallel to the record when the stylus is on the record. most carts have general settings for height, but they are a rough guide to be used when taking the slip mat into account. typically, integrated carts like the Ortofon concordes are run at a zero height setting while carts like the tall Stanton 680 are set at 6 i think. refer to the manfacturers documentation for the suggested height. you will see many people who scratch who set the arm height as high as it will go. while that looks agressive, it isn't good for vinyl. hth - jeff h
 
A high tone-arm can help prevent the needle from jumping out of the groove because it puts more leverage on the needle, however, this also increases the pressure on the record, which causes more damage, like dynagroove said.

And GM5s are ridiculously expensive, why would he put that much down on the equipment if he doesnt know how to operate and maintain it?
 
Yeah he just spent £2500 on equipment overall, he doesn't care... got money to burn :/ (bastard!)

Thanks for the pointers, i'll check again next time i'm round.
 
The objective of setting up tonearm height is making the tonearm as horizontal as possible. It is true though the "as high as possible won't skip" theory. But it also will erode your records.


That's all.
 
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