[mannikman]

Just wanted to introduce myself as a new member. Recently acquired a Verselax here in the UK after owning various LP12's and a Merrill modified AR. Great forum with lots of advice. The Versalex may well be the last turntable I ever own. It really has an impressive soundstage and the pace and rhythm is quite captivating. The instruction manuals are the downside so working through the set up to get it right takes some time. I am running with a metal bodied Denon 103 at the moment which gives a nice sound, mids to die for and not bad at the low end extension. Maybe a little rolled off at the top, but that may be where I am on the damping. Does anyone have the alignment grid for the 19 degrees offset for the tonearm head they could send me as a PDF file? Also how do folks align squarely the cartridge in the tonearm head, do you just use dial in roughly or is there a grid at a specified null point you use, or does it really not matter. Any advice welcome from you folks. Thanks.

[rob400]

Hi and welcome.

I also changed from LP12 to Versalex with no regrets.

With regard to cartridge alignment I've found an easy if somewhat crude way to set up azimuth. Position the stylus at the mid point of an LP in low light and shine a small torch directly above to gain a reflection of the cartridge body on the LP. It's easy then to adjust the azimuth spindle to position the cartridge body plumb. if you do this at the mid way across the LP point then you will find that the azimuth drift is only slight each way at the beginning and end of the LP side. Hardly crucial but it seems logical to set it up this way to me.

It really is a simple deck to use IMO. You might experiment with cup silicone levels to reduce or increase damping other than that my advise would be not to tighten the screws too tight. Nice and snug is fine. Good luck.

[mannikman]

Thanks for the advice rob400. I do have a question on the LTD arm which confused me a little. I noticed in the Versalex and the old Amadeus  manual that the effective length for the arms are 267mm, but I couldn't use the alignment protractor from the old Amadeus model with the Versalex as I tried. It appears the spindle to pivot distance is different leading to a smaller theoretical overhang for the Versalex. Does anyone know the reason why?  I checked the effective length manually and the spindle to pivot distance with the aligner that comes with the LTD and it all appeared to be correct. So is there a reason that the LTD arm has a smaller overhang. Thanks.

[threadkiller]

Because they're not the same arms, that's why.

[mannikman]

I guess that must be it  . The chappie over at Charisma audio I owe a big thanks to, he was very helpful in explaining a couple of things by e-mail which I really appreciated. Good guy!! To be honest with you it was a curiosity question more than anything, but after getting my kids back off to University today and having the house to myself for a couple of hours, spinning a japanese first pressing of David Bowie's Ziggy stardust, followed by first pressing of pulp's different class finished off with baby birds first album, the wet patch on my seat told me all was well in the hi-fi camp today.

[rob400]

Hi Mannikman.

Thought I'd reply to your PM through the thread as mats for the Amadeus and Versalex is an interesting topic.

The supplied mat is very frustrating, constantly developing static and coming off with he LP. I bought a 47 Labs "Bambi" mat a couple of months ago and like what it adds to my Versalex. John Roberts at Midlands Audio Xchange sells them for 100GBP. He's a Versalex user and prefers it to the Auditorium 23. Charlie (Threadkiller) is a wise old sage and he, amongst others, swear by the A23. So thats obviously an option to look at. I also like the sound of my deck without a mat (the John Burns preference). Less damped with the positives and negatives from that. Thats an easy way to start the comparisons.

Ive experimented with different platforms/ with or without squash ball feet scenarios also. I just kept gaining but losing a little every time. My conclusions are that its difficult to make the modern WTL decks sound bad. Once you've got the arm set up right its very much a plug and play deck with a more natural, neutral and resolved sound than our previous deck the LP12. I found that it takes time to remove oneself from the old LP12 tweaking mind set. My problem now is that my Versalex is half way across the world from me and I won't be using it again until the end of April. Ouch!

[threadkiller]

I do again welcome you aboard, and with your great taste in music I will try to keep my snarkiness to a minimum. (Nobody pays any attention to me anyway) In listening shoot outs the LTD arm is very close, I just don't like its feel in my fingers compared to the Amadeus, and I roundly reject the tone arm cables coming straight out the back. Makes things very wonky doing comparisons... I suppose once cables are settled on maybe it wouldn't be an issue. Still , there's tension there that isn't on the Amadeus. Did you hear that, New Zealand? ( they love to muck things up) Yet you've obviously chosen with your ears and good for you. Even that LTD'd Verselex will outperform , musically, a fully tricked out LP12. And look how expensive that is !

I am very intrigued by the 47labs mat, a company with some shrewd engineering behind it. Either of the two Auditorium mats are still my fav. If the day comes when something eclipses those, it will certainly be impressive. Right now I'm sticking with the Germans.

Now as to where or what to place your WTL on, that does make a difference. Not as finicky as some, yet be careful. Some on here have done some fairly suspect things...

Enjoy your table!

[mannikman]

Will take a look at the mats sometime, but would be interested to learn more about support racks and folks experience. I currently am using a spiked oak rack with each shelf spiked (spike down). Once I am used to the deck in my system I will look at how changes influence the sound in my room, but you need to be very familiar with your music as your audio brain is a bit short lived in its memory. I did see an earlier thread covering racks a little. To be honest with you I am not a hard core audiophool but I know what sound I find engaging and pleasure to live with which is half the battle I guess without breaking the bank. I have heard some stupidly priced systems that to my ears were just plain un-engaging. I could have gone with the Amadeus GTA as well on the sound front. There is some difference to the presentation of both decks but they both have a lovely soundstage and present music in a precise and controlled way. My wife preferred the sound of the Versalex and thought it looked like a work of art so that worked okay for me. There is no doubt that it slaughters the Linn I owned previously. But you end up with a sort of withdrawal effect when ditching a Linn, the desire to scratch due to the fiddling & tweaking itch takes a bit of getting used to since you don't need to with these TT's 's. I guess on this journey I am getting to the stage where I just want to listen to great music and not the label or electronics.

Anyone tried ultrasound to clean their records? Some interesting DIY approaches on the web.

[threadkiller]

Howdy!
Stick with your two good mantras, that many many expensive systems are shite , and play lots of good music.

You can always fiddle with supports.  I've not heard any WTL sound natural on butcher block, so I say go cautiously there...they particularly like ol wall shelves , like Targets, Apollos, Quadraspires, and the like.

Once most else is dialed in a mat change will be the cherry on top.

Cheers!

[SteevA]

..... Did you hear that, New Zealand? ....

I heard it, but I don't care.... 

Steve

[threadkiller]

No, not you!  WTL

[SteevA]

I knew that...

[rob400]

Will take a look at the mats sometime, but would be interested to learn more about support racks and folks experience. I currently am using a spiked oak rack with each shelf spiked (spike down).

Yours should be fine. Golden rules with the Versalex from my experience and IMO is go for light, dense and rigid support. I use Oak, solid and veneered with excellent results. Avoid glass and metal (which works so well with LP12 and Naim).