Hey Rim,
I don't think Robert's table is set-up... he doesn't have a rack, and doesn't even have LP's. One afternoon a few months back he stopped by my place and he was leaving he muttered 'so that's vinyl'. A week or so later he bought the Clearaudio with all the trimmings and its been sitting in the box ever since. While his house is being renovated his attention towards stereo's has fallen a bit - which sucks cuz the 2 areas he skimped on were the cartridge and phono stage. I'll give him a call though to see if he wants to stop by for a demo this weekend though. The motor on his beast weighs about as much as my entire TT.
Thanks again for this opportunity. Its a real eye opener for sure... Whenever the next guy is ready, just let me know.
Hey Rick,
I use the free protractor from Enjoy The Music, and also the $1 protractor from garage-a-records. I've never liked the sound that the Garage-A-Records 'tractor alignment gives though. The Pro-Ject Expression manual has some basic parameters too for alignment. In terms of Azimuth, i use my eyes and then ears. So far its been fairly easy to get that right, especially after fiddling with the AT440MLa and its uber tiny stylus. Literally, Azimuth shifts the soundstage from left to right. Azimuth is key with the 440MLa.
In general, i've taken instruction from the folks here and just trial & error. I should've purchased Pro-Jects protractor, but its $100 and i never pulled the trigger.
Also, i bought a $20 digital scale off ebay for VTF, and use my ears & eye for the VTA. THE hardest part of cartridge install for me is the 4 clips on back - this is more nerves than anything though. Removing them being the hard part. My clips are hardwired, so if i rip one off close to the tonearm its time for a new TT. I use a Husky hobby pliers for this, they are tiny. I tried tweezers but found that to be quite dangerous, with a perilous grip.
Oh my Woodsyi, when are we invited over for an afternoon? Damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!