Cartridge set-up ‘x-factor’

Does anyone else find that sometimes you set up a cartridge and you’re sure you’ve done it as well as you can but somehow the sound just isn’t quite where it should be and other times you do it to exactly the same level of skill and diligence and you absolutely nail it and it all snaps in to place?

I’ve been struggling for a while, months, to get my Cadenza Bronze back to where I had it on the first Korf headshell (having adjusted the arm azimuth to account for the Korf1’s slightly wonky alignment). I tried a different headshell, LP Gear Zupreme 10g…. nope, not nice at all. Then I got the replacement Korf (which was bang on for azimuth, so I re-centred the arm), but no, it still wasn’t where I had it. The magic transparency was gone. I tried a different alignment (Baerwald as opposed to the Techie 52mm, still on Korf2) and that I gave that a good shot, but no, it still just sounded…. Dull. Somehow…veiled. Constrained. VTA/SRA and VTF are all the same, as I noted down the optimum settings when I had it at its best.

I chucked my AT VM95ML on for a bit of a change and the drop was nothing like it should have been. Sure, the VM95ML wasn’t as good, but damn for £150 it just sounds so together and well balanced, I really got the feeling I was getting the best out of it (that’s completely subjective of course).

I was starting to worry whether my stylus was past its best and whether that brief period with Korf1 where I had nailed it would be the only time I’d get the best out of the Cadenza. A quick look under a loupe revealed it still looked pretty pointy, so I was encouraged that it still had plenty of life in it.

I decided to try going back to the 52mm mounting distance, so I did that and… all of sudden the beautiful layers of detail are nuance are back and I swear even more so. Not only am I getting the cartridge’s true capabilities one again, finally I think I’m hearing the full benefit of the new valves in the BB3 which I’d rolled during the difficult period. Sure I could hear the improvement when I first changed them, but truth be told I had somehow expected more and now finally I think I’m getting it.

So what’s going on? I really don’t think it’s the difference between Baerwald and 52mm alignment as if anything the former done right theoretically ought to sound a little clearer for most of a side. Visually imperceptible differences in the azimuth or even the alignment itself? The Cadenza is renowned for being tricky to set-up. Over/under-tightening of the bolts? Phase of the Moon? It’s a mystery to me, it seems like there’s an element of pot luck involved. All I know is, I’m not taking this cartridge off this headshell until the stylus has worn down to a nub!