Tracking Force Suggestions for Stanton 500.v3 Cartridge?, DJ cart with range of 2 - 5 grams. Using for hi-fi play Options

[Knowzy]

Supposing I've got a brand new Stanton T.92 USB turntable and I'm getting ready to produce some samples.

It comes with a pre-mounted (and presumably pre-aligned) Stanton 500.v3 cartridge. As a DJ cartridge, it has a wide range- 2 to 5 grams- and no specific recommendation within.

The tonearm is balanced and the counterweight dial zeroed. What tracking force do you think I should set?

Normally the consensus is to set the tracking force near the top of the range and I'm inclined to use 4.5 grams.

However, as a DJ cartridge, the top of the range is designed to ensure stability amidst violent scratching motions, which I won't be doing. Maybe 4.5 is overkill for trackability.

So, I'm throwing the question open to HA to see if we can't come to an agreement before I began sampling.

Balanced and Awaiting a Tracking Force Figure

This post has been edited by Knowzy: Jul 8 2010, 07:09

[Knowzy]

I'm now using 5 grams of tracking force (the top end of the manufacturer's range) and it's still not enough.

Here's how I got there.

After rebalancing, I tried the outermost trackability track. Even at 5 grams, there were a few points of audible mistracking.

The innermost track was much worse- constant audible mistracking throughout.

Hear for yourself: The start of the FLAC is the outermost track and the end is the innermost track.

At +15dB, these tracks seem to be louder than you would typically encounter playing music records.

I actually still use HFS75 for this purpose. You might be interested to know that its sleeve notes say that +14dB "represents a typical hi-fi standard, achieved within the range of most high quality cartridges". So, I wouldn't worry too much if +16dB proved unachievable.

Side A has a +14dB version of this track near the end of the record that plays without audible mistracking.

At the center of the record, the Stanton could handle +15db at 4 grams.

Nonetheless, I'm a bit let down that I couldn't get a smooth play on the inside and the outside of the record no matter how much tracking force I used.