Weekly Q&A: Answers | Week of August 26, 2024

Where the diamond meets the groove: cartridge setup suggestions

Question:

I have a Technics 1210G with a Hana Umami blue cartridge and Technics stock headshell and have a tonearm height question. The Hana Umami Blue is 15.8 mm but the Technics does not have a tonearm adjustment for this height - it only goes to 17mm and has a corresponding height control position of 0. My dealer set up the turntable with the height control position set to 2 which, according to the user manual, is for a cartridge 19mm in height. The manual also says the tonearm should be parallel with the record and mine is not - it angles down approximately 2mm from pivot point to headshell connection. The headshell though is parallel. Hana says the tracking force is 2 grams and Technics says to set anti skate to that same number but my dealer had it set to 1 because he said it "sounded better". In your opinion, is this turntable set up properly? Thanks

– Michael