Hi
I'm glad to see the forum is back and hoping I can get some set up help.
I had a VP Prime when they first came out. I moved away from VPI for a while and recently purchased a used VPI Classic 4 with a 12" fat boy.
I have 2 issues with setting up my cartridge.
1st issue is when the bottom of the head shell is parallel with the platter the tone arm angles down severely. The table came with a 5/8" thick arm board which I had to replace with a 1/4" thick arm board so I could lower the VTA mount low enough. In the picture I am using a machinist parallel block which is the same height as my cartridge. You can see how much the tone arm slopes down. Is this normal?
The second issue I have is that I cannot set the proper offset. I am using a Dr. Feikert Alignment tool set at 300mm. With the cartridge moved out to the end of the tone arm as far as it will go the stylus is about 2-3 mm short. I'm using a Sound smith Voice cartridge. I don't see any solution to this other than to use a different cartridge?
Thoughts suggestions appreciated
Thanks


I used the Wallytools Reference and with my Kotesu the tonearm tail is also pretty low. It is what it is. You just have to go with what the tools show sometimes
That does not look like a standard vpi arm board (no bevel, and too shallow). but I could be wrong.
Arm not parallel - there appears to be a lot more vertical travel left in your vta tower. Have you tried increasing the height? If that does not solve the problem, VPI sells an inexpensive tonearm riser which utilizes the same bolt pattern as the vta tower. I'll post a picture below.
Cannot achieve alignment - this is typically a result of an incorrect spindle to pivot mounting distance. Check to make the S2P distance is 300mm.
For tonearm length, rather than first setting the Feickert to 300, instead leave the measuring arm loose, set the pin on the top of the tonearm bearing pivot, and see what the measurement shows on the Feickert. The tonearm could be mounted at an incorrect distance, or it could be one of the not-quite-12-inch arms used for the HW-40, which are a few MMs shorter than the standard 12-inch.
JohnK
First, what's going on with the side of the plinth? Looks like the finish is delaminating, what's up with that?
It is not unheard of that under adverse conditions the headshell can warp. I had that issue on a 12" 3D, which affected how the cart aligned. The issue you're having, along with the plinth, could indicate that something has affected the tonearm. Do you know the full history of the turntable?
JohnK