[Wayner]

Yes, here in the people's republic of Minnesota, it's another rainy Saturday. The old joke always comes to mind: What happens after 2 days of rain? MONDAY!

I think it's terrible when all there is to do is (after chores are done) spin LP's and have a few cold beers, yummy.

I was wondering about the age old problem of accurately locating the stylus on your tone arm head/headshell. Most manufactures supply some kind of tool or template, like the plastic alignment jig for Technics or the plastic pointer with dimple that comes with the old AR-XA's. But, if you don't have these models or tools, what do you do. Better yet, do you think you have a good understanding of whats going on, or do you think it's all a bunch of bunk?

Maybe this could be a good thread to help out some of the newcomers.

Wayner

[jmpiwonka]

i think this could be a good thread.
i can't get a factory template or anything to setup my cartridge so i have to use some sort of protractor.

i'm curious, what are the signs of a bad setup cartridge. i'd guess there would be distortion and probably bad channel seperation. maybe weak muddy imaging.
what would be the first to show distortion? the treble or the bass?

[2bigears]

  you really would think the stylus would self-center in the groovy-groove all on it's own if your close to being square on the arm mount.i gotta believe it as an amateur tt expert 

[Photon46]

I've used the free protractor that you can download off of Enjoythemusic.com's website with my VPI Scout, and I find it very easy to use. It agrees to a fraction of millimeter with the indicated alignment that comes with the Scout's protractor. The one set up parameter that was a little bit touchy was azimuth. I ended up making a little jig that holds a small bubble level right over the headshell while playing a record and then I can sight the top of the headshell against the bubble level. The jig is just a "L" shape of corrugated cardboard with the little bubble level tacked on to it with some blu tack type adhesive. My wife holds the level in position for me while I check the azimuth.

[ChairSpud]

I'm sold on proper cartridge alignment, without it you'll get music but will never come close to recreating the realistic musical experience we audiophiles strive for.

I use either a DB Systems protractor or one of the free downloadable protractors available on vinylengine.com. The DB Systems protractor is great for  beginners because it tells you which way to move the cartridge, forward or backward and also whether a twist is needed, how much and what direction. As a general rule (if the TT didn't come with a jig or protractor) any table with S-shaped arm I align using a Stephenson protractor and any other turntable with a straight arm I use a Baerwald protractor.

I have to admit I've become spoiled with the simplicity of the Technics overhang gauge in combination with a removable headshell.

Dave/ChairSpud

[JimJ]

I've used the free protractor that you can download off of Enjoythemusic.com's website with my VPI Scout, and I find it very easy to use. It agrees to a fraction of millimeter with the indicated alignment that comes with the Scout's protractor. The one set up parameter that was a little bit touchy was azimuth. I ended up making a little jig that holds a small bubble level right over the headshell while playing a record and then I can sight the top of the headshell against the bubble level. The jig is just a "L" shape of corrugated cardboard with the little bubble level tacked on to it with some blu tack type adhesive. My wife holds the level in position for me while I check the azimuth.

x2 on the ETM template.

Someday I'll buy one of those fancy jigs, but with my $140 Denon cart I can't exactly justify that right now With a high end MC cart, now that's a different story...

[TONEPUB]

I've always felt that the last 20% of alignment was really
where the magic was in analog, even on a very modest
setup.

I've heard plenty of relatively inexpensive table/cart setups
that are really dialed in provide a very musical experience.

In addition to a good protractor, I highly recommend the
Acoustic Sounds Test Record.  This has really been a big
help, whether I was setting up a Continuum or an SL-1200.

http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?title_ID=35532&&banner_id=12835

It's my favorite so far!

Another thing to help pursue this end, once everything else
is set up, is to make very tiny adjustments up and down the
scale with VTA (if your table will allow it), tracking force and
anti skate.  This takes a fair amount of patience, but will
really yield some great results.

[Wayner]

Well now, you guys are impressing me. I really thought alot of you were throwing in a cartridge and saying to one's self "looks good to me". As Tonepub has pointed out, this is kind of like rocket science. If you don't get it, your not going to get it (sound wise) that is. Back in the old days, when the stylus was conical there was really no big deal. The stylus was actually shaped like a cone and it was symmetrical. As the technology advanced, cartridge designers realized that the shape of the conical stylus wasn't the greatest after all. It had too much surface, weight and caused excess record wear and it had too much contact. Then came the elliptical stylus. It tracked better, had less weight and it's surface contact with the vinyl groove was less. This was great. Except now, alignment is critical because we do not have a symmetrical shape.

Record masters are cut on a lathe. The cutting arm moves in a straight line. Now when we play records (unless you have a linear tracking tonearm), the arm moves in a radius, not in a straight line. Because of the shape of the elliptical stylus, it has different surfaces touching the groove at different locations during the LP playback. This is where the tracking errors occurs. According to Bearwald (math geek), there should be 2 null points (where the stylus fits perfectly square to the world during record playback. One fairly close to the label (start of last song) and one towards the beginning of the lp. If the offset angle is less than ideal, the distortion greatly increases. One or both of the null points has been lost. Extreme record wear is occurring. The jigs that you refer to are a great aid in helping you set the stylus so that you archive the 2 null point hits, which will improve the mechanical distortion and reduce record wear.

The odd thing about 'tables and arms is that every designer used some different design parameters. Most centered on a 9" arm but the overhang distance varies from table to table, as does the table spindle to tonearm pivot center. All of these varying design perimeters are corrected by changing the offset angle. Ever notice that the tonearm head is always at an angle, regardless if it's a straight or "s" shaped arm? There is a reason for it. That angle helps to correct for different design perimeters of the arm (the angle varies from table to table). Why did everyone do it a little different? Who the hell knows. Most modern day designs come very, very close to Baerwalds theoretical perfect dimensions, and they should, cause it works.

You should do some reading on this guy, he was pretty a smart dude.

Wayner

[mgalusha]

I've had a DB Systems protractor for a number of years and have been quite satisfied with the results. I recently installed a M0rch UP-4 and so had to start from scratch with alignment. I also had to make a new arm board and took the opportunity to make a jig to set the spindle to arm pivot distance, much better than trying to eyeball using a ruler.

[andyr]

Having tried a number of protractors over the last 30 years (including the ETM one), IMO the best ones are "arc protractors" made specifically for the arm you have.  The "original" one I think was the Wallytractor - excellent piece of kit but rather pricey and actually getting one from Wally nowadays may be a bit of a problem, as he's getting on a bit - but a guy named Ken Willis has come up with his own for far less money.

I have one and I think it's excellent!     What's particularly great about it is that he can make one up with Baerwald or Loefgren null points for several arms (for you people who have more than one arm on your TT  ) or you can have Baerwald, Loefgren & Stephenson alignment arcs on the one protractor.

Ken's email address is: <kwillisjr at yahoo dot com>

Regards,

Andy

[enjoythemusic]

Andy,

   Of course i'd be biased to the Enjoy the Music.com protractor (available at www.enjoythemusic.com/freestuff.htm ) yet not sure if you know there is also an Excel program to make your own to Baerwald, Loefgren and others. In fact you can pick and choose whatever alignment points you design and POOF you can print out your own custom protractor to whatever specifications you chose

Sorry, just really happy to see so many who use the protractor as have given away over 10,000 printed versions and totally lost count of the file downloads (30k+?). Please give the Excel file a try, it is great for an expert such as yourself.

[lofreek]

I have done a great many cartridge installations and only recently have I been satisfied with the results. I attribute it to using Sound Forge in my PC to record the test tones. With the waveforms visible, I can easily see distortion, asymmetry, and phase related issues. More importantly, I can see when I have solved them.

I currently have the Denon and Audio Productions test records. The AP is much more useful overall, but it is good to have more than one source for test tones on vinyl.

I have learned that the Shure SFG is not nearly as accurate as necessary. The electronic scales are much more accurate. Accuracy to .01 gram is really important, as tracking force and VTA are so intertwined.

I have several alignment tools - a Geo Disc, an LP gear gauge, a Shure gauge, and the VPI gauge which came with my Scout. The degree of accuracy required to get a turntable to really sing is far beyond what is possible by eyeballing. These products can only get you in the ballpark, and in my opinion fine tuning by ear is fallible. The waveforms do not lie.

[andyr]

I have done a great many cartridge installations and only recently have I been satisfied with the results. I attribute it to using Sound Forge in my PC to record the test tones. With the waveforms visible, I can easily see distortion, asymmetry, and phase related issues. More importantly, I can see when I have solved them.

Can you explain what you use Sound Forge for?  I've tried looking at the output from my phono stage with my 'scope but the signal jumps around too much (I guess because it's such a low signal from the cartridge?).  What output is your cartridge ... 5mV MM or a LOMC at < 1/10th of that?

Regards,

Andy

[ChairSpud]

Lofreek, I am impressed and very intrigued this kind of accuracy might be within the reach of mere mortals. Are these tests part of the Sound Forge program or is this something you've put together yourself?

Dave

[lofreek]

I love this stuff - better analog audio through software! I simply record in Sound Forge a stereo 24/96 wave file of whatever test I am performing. The beauty of this method is the ability to capture the behavior of the cartridge and better analyze it. There are many tests, and I will describe three.

For instance, the test where you are looking at single channel 1k sine waves and hoping to achieve symmetry regarding crosstalk, really requires a very narrow 1k band pass filter applied to it in order to get a true result unaffected by the vinyl itself. This filter eliminates the distracting bounce of the meters, so you can get a more accurate analysis. Applying such a filter in a DAW such as Sound Forge is as easy as pie. Sound Forge has way cool meters, and it is very easy to get accurate decibel readings, and you can see if you improved things after an adjustment.

Another very crucial test is the one where you are adjusting the rotation of the cartridge, hopefully yielding the two channels perfectly in phase. An in phase sine wave on the record should yield a recording where the two channels are perfectly in phase. In SF, zoom way the hell in and look at the waveforms of one cycle. It is easy to tell if one channel leads or lags visually. I have yet to see an oscilloscope that would provide anything approaching this kind of precise data for this adjustment. If the left channel is early, rotate the cartridge ever so slightly clockwise. Run the test again, and hope that you didn't overcompensate, go the wrong way, and/or screw up your overhang adjustment!
 
Probably the most difficult test for a cartridge is a full spectrum high level sine wave sweep. The reason is that since only one frequency at a time is going, distortion is easy to see. After you record the file, zoom in and look for flat topped waves. This is distortion, as sine waves should always be rounded. This distortion might be way below our ability to hear it, but nonetheless there. We can deal with it. If you've got distortion but the two channels are behaving more or less identically, your in luck, as if they are not reasonably symmetrical, you have to go back and redo all the earlier tests. Distortion is often the result of insufficient tracking force, maybe by less than a tenth of a gram. Raise the VTF, and run the test again. Strive for the cleanest and most symmetrical performance from your cartridge.

This is a very headache free method for this otherwise not too pleasant task, especially with a unipivot arm. See, you can keep all of your tests and compare them. You can actually see the changes in performance to such a fine degree that it could elude even the most sophisticated listener. It takes the guesswork out. Make absolutely certain that you never exceed 0db EVER while doing these tests - if you overload the ADC, you cannot use the recording to evaluate distortion. And you can use any DAW software. And yes, of course you fine tune your VTA by ear...