...to find out that Ortofon actually recommends taking the little 2.5g brass weight out of the top of my OM series cart, because I have a low mass arm. I mean, 18 months with it in, and hearing no problems, made me think that everything was just fine.
Bzzt! Wrong!
Long story short, I pried the weight out. Put the cart and shims back in (don't forget, I made scribe marks on the mounting plate so I wouldn't have to go through a fresh 4 hour long alignment ritual), spun up some records and noticed right away that
1. because the counterweight is now closer to the pivot, I've reduced something I'd read called moment inertia,
2. I could lower the anti-skating force from VTF+0.6g to VTF+0.2g
3. I've read that I've moved the cart and arm resonance up to 8Hz, a perfectly acceptable level
Cartridge Resonance Evaluator
4. treble has more separation now!

Who knew? When all else fails, read the instructions!

reading the manual is usually the last thing i do, i live for those "oh, thats better!" moments. better late than never.

What's a manual?

Depending on the country of origin, it can be a great comical read

In the 80's it was what you found studio engineers and keyboardists buried in as the microprocessor and digital became mainstream. Kind of like the VCR clock, blinky, blinky, blinky.

That's what's weird about all this.
I didn't find this info in the owner's manual, but in an Ortofon OM series poop sheet describing the carts that I found online! Owner's manual (a tiny leaflet) doesn't mention weight removal at all. Sheesh. Why they save this info for an ad instead of the setup guide is beyond me.
(I tried to upload it but I get a "You cannot upload this type of file" error message.)

Reading the user manuals takes all the fun out of this hobby.

I know manual. Or is that Manuel?

My second name is Manuel.

Hey Tom what kind of Ortofon's model you have?
I have an Ortofon too. Mine is the MC 15 Super MkII.

*points to my signature file*

Ortofon OM 10 Super, as shown. On the top of it, you can see the 2.5g brass weight that's removeable by prying it out with a small screwdriver.



TECHNICAL DATA SUPER OM 10

Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec. 4 mV

Channel balance at 1 kHz 1,5 dB

Channel separation at 1 kHz 22 dB

Channel separation at 15 kHz 15 dB

Frequency range 20-24.000 Hz

Frequency response 20-20.000 Hz, +3 /-1 dB

FIM distortion at recommended tracking force, DIN 45.542 < 1%

Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force 70 μm

Compliance, dynamic, lateral 25 μm/mN

Stylus type Elliptical

Stylus tip radius r/R 8/18 μm

Equivalent stylus tip mass 0,5 mg

Tracking force range 1,25-1,75 g (12,5-17,5 mN)

Tracking force, recommended 1,5 g (15 mN)

Tracking angle 20°

Internal impedance, DC resistance 1 kOhm

Internal inductance 580 mH

Recommended load resistance 47 kOhm

Recommended load capacitance 200-400 pF

Cartridge colour, body/stylus Black/Black

Cartridge weight 5 g [COLOR=red]2.5g without weight[/COLOR=red]

Replacement stylus unit Stylus 10

Tanx for the info.