The prefect set up of Dual 505-4 Audiophile Concept turntable with Ortofon Super OM30 cartridge.

Hello and welcome to whatishifi blog.

At another (more analytical) post you can find how to set up your turntable in a perfect way, explaining why. I strongly suggest you to have a look there first.

At this simple post I will share with you all the details regarding setting up a Dual 505-4 Audiophile Concept turntable with Ortofon Super OM30 cartridge. The same set up probably will apply to all Dual turntables that share the same arm that the 505-4 has.

Pano's Dual 505-4 Audiophile Concept with Ortofon Super OM30.

A few more words before I start. It is not a secret that Dual turntables get very well with Ortofon cartridges. They seem to make a good match together, so if you are not happy with the sound you get from this combination and you are sure that your turntable is set up correctly, look elsewhere for the problem. Take under consideration that your poor cartridge also needs to match with your phono stage. By this, I do not mean simple things like capacitance and resistance. The cartridge needs to get well with your phono stage soundwise. But this subject is a separate one, covered at this wonderful post.

Should I use the Ortofon extra weight?

The Ortofon OM cartridge has a detachable 2g extra weight. 

The OM30 is a light cartridge and this is why it comes with a detachable 2g brass weight. Even though the performance of the tonearm regarding the mistracking and the tone resonance test (both already explained at this post) is absolutely the same with or without the Ortofon weight, the listening tests proved that with the weight the bass is tighter and deeper. Also, the soundstage is livelier. These differences can be heard especially with records that carry some energy, like the Dire Straits – Dire Straits (Warner Bros 47769-1). So the answer is yes, you should.

Should I use the Dual extra tonearm weight?

Dual's standard tonearm weight (right) and the extra weight (left).

The Dual comes with an extra detachable weight of 20g that can be placed at the rear end of the tonearm. Dual suggests using this extra weight in the case that the standard tonearm weight needs to be placed near the back end of where it can go in order to provide the desired VTF. But this is not very clear, so with the aim of the tonearm resonance test we saw that without this extra weight the tonearm resonates at around 10Hz (good) but with the extra weight the tonearm resonates at around 11Hz (a little worse, but close). But we found out that with the auxiliary weight, the tonearm/cartridge combination has less mistracking than what could be accomplished without the extra weight – always at the same tracking force. So the answer is yes, you should.

Should I trust the Dual overhanging tool?

Panos printed an overhanging alignment protractor (it is not as easy as you might think) and made with extra care all the necessary adjustments. The Dual overhanging tool led us to the exact same stylus position and it is so much easier to use. So the answer is yes, you should.

What is the optimum VTF?

With the help of the mistracking test we found out that the Ortofon Super OM30 when placed at the Dual’s tonearm behaves at it’s best close at it’s maximum tracking force, so aim at 1.47g and do not exceed 1.5g.

Which is the correct antiskating value?

Correct antiskating value for Ortofon OM30 is 2.26 at the Dual 505-4 turntable.

For the above VTF and with the help of the mistracking test as well as the LaserDisk, we found that the correct antiskating value is 2.26 – 2.27. However I have to point out that this stands for the particular unit we are using, meaning that posible spring variations between units or aging springs might lead to different values at other units.

So here it is, a perfect set up for your Dual 505-4 and your Ortofon Super OM30.

Happy listening with confidence!

Christos and Panos