Anyone willing to help???

crimsondonkey · « **Reply #40 on:** 8 May 2009, 08:04 pm »

Aaah peace at last

Scott F. · « **Reply #41 on:** 8 May 2009, 08:09 pm »

Wayner, no worries mate

BobM · « **Reply #42 on:** 8 May 2009, 08:44 pm »

Aren't we all assholes anyway. Just ask the wives and girlfriends, they'll tell it straight.

"Hello, my name is Bob and I'm an asshole."

Come on guys, fess up. It will cleanse your soul and make you feel better. Then you can go out and do assholey things without feeling guilty.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #43 on:** 8 May 2009, 09:16 pm »

I, more than readily, admit to and acknowledge my recurrent bout with asshole-osity at AudioCircle and in life

Being a mid-to-small sized Greek guy from New York sure doesn't help with diplomatic communicating to audiophools, associates, friends, and family alike

John

*Scotty* · « **Reply #44 on:** 8 May 2009, 09:31 pm »

John.Who loves ya baby. Kick back and have a Tootsiepop,it's what I do and I'm not even Greek.
Scotty

twitch54 · « **Reply #45 on:** 8 May 2009, 10:05 pm »

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 8 May 2009, 09:16 pm

Being a mid-to-small sized Greek guy from New York sure doesn't help with diplomatic communicating to audiophools, associates, friends, and family alike

John

Since you have a love for all things audio does that make you a "Geek Greek" ?? LOL !

JCC · « **Reply #46 on:** 8 May 2009, 11:51 pm »

Reading through this thread, I am surprised that there has not been more discussion of azimuth. The Dynavector 20 has a micro-ridge stylus which is a version of a contact line stylus, in that it will go deeper into the groove. This type of stylus is more sensitive to the azimuth adjustment than a typical elliptical stylus.

There are three critical adjustments:

1. VTF - The Shure gauge that you are using should work fine.
2. VTA - With the micro-ridge stylus you should be able to hear a difference in sound.
3. Azimuth - This is a very important adjustment for the microridge stylus.

I own the Analogue Productions Test LP, which is excellent for the various cartridge adjustments that are required. The instruction on the use of this test record without an oscilloscope are poor. You can, however, adjust using your ears.

For Azimuth you can loosen some screws and twist the cartridge in one direction. If it is off in the opposite direction, one channel will get better and better and sound very sharp. When you go too far, the opposite channel will sound comparatively poor with some fuzz. When you get one channel very sharp and have fuzz on the other, it is time to a slight twist in the opposite direction. With a little experimenting you will get is so that both channels are sharp.

For VTA, if the angle is too small, the bass highs will be poor, and the bass will get muddy. If the angle is too high, the highs will get brittle and the bass will be weak. So if you can adjust this you can tune it in with your ears.

I hope that this helps. I understand your frustration, because I went though a lot of aggravation with my cartridge adjustment.

bacobits1 · « **Reply #47 on:** 9 May 2009, 12:05 am »

I have never messed with azimuth. I have a Rega 300 no adjustment except for paper shims?
Hard enough to see the damn stylus.
I'm old(er)!

The problem comes in when you think.....well maybe I can nudge it a bit more and it will sound even better.Then you futz it up and have to almost start over.

Den

JCC · « **Reply #48 on:** 9 May 2009, 12:32 am »

Quote from: bacobits1 on 9 May 2009, 12:05 am

I have never messed with azimuth. I have a Rega 300 no adjustment except for paper shims?
Hard enough to see the damn stylus.
I'm old(er)!

The problem comes in when you think.....well maybe I can nudge it a bit more and it will sound even better.Then you futz it up and have to almost start over.

Den

For Azimuth, no shims are involved. Just slightly loosen one screw on the cartridge and you can twist it left or right.

The shims are for VTA. You can obtain various adjusters assigned for the Rega to help with this issue. You can use Pete Riggles VTAF, which requires turntable modification. Others don't require turntable modifcation. One example is the Galbier which you can see at http://www.galibierdesign.com/prd_acc_regavta.html .

VTA is generally not critical for an elliptical stylus. Most can't hear much if any difference. When you have a contact line stylus, you can hear the difference. An optimized contact line is even more sensitive to this adjustment. With mine, I can hear the difference from one record thickness to another.

twitch54 · « **Reply #49 on:** 9 May 2009, 02:37 am »

Quote from: JCC on 9 May 2009, 12:32 am

For Azimuth, no shims are involved. Just slightly loosen one screw on the cartridge and you can twist it left or right.

Are you sure ???? azimuth has NOTHING to do with left / right ...rather the perpendicular angle of the stylus/cantilever assembly as it relates to the record surface/groove. Which can only be absolutely / accurately measured ( if one is so analy inclined) with test record and multi-meter.

Wayner · « **Reply #50 on:** 9 May 2009, 01:24 pm »

Twitch54 is correct. Azimuth adjustment is an adjustment few tonearms have, however, my Rega R200 does. There is a screw on the side of the headshell assembly, that when loosened, allows you to adjust the angle of the stylus in the vertical plane. If your tonearm and platter are mounted to a nice flat plinth, this adjustment really isn't necessary. The goal of this adjustment is to allow the user to set the cartridge so that it is perpendicular to the record grooves.

Wayner

bacobits1 · « **Reply #51 on:** 9 May 2009, 03:23 pm »

Twitch and Wayner are correct and so am I. No twisting in the Headshell slots.
I see now how some mis-info can get out there.

D

JCC · « **Reply #52 on:** 9 May 2009, 04:55 pm »

Quote from: Wayner on 9 May 2009, 01:24 pm

Twitch54 is correct. Azimuth adjustment is an adjustment few tonearms have, however, my Rega R200 does. There is a screw on the side of the headshell assembly, that when loosened, allows you to adjust the angle of the stylus in the vertical plane. If your tonearm and platter are mounted to a nice flat plinth, this adjustment really isn't necessary. The goal of this adjustment is to allow the user to set the cartridge so that it is perpendicular to the record grooves.

Wayner

Azimuth is more critical (in my opinion) to proper set-up than is VTA. VTA gets all the press, therefore many people are not aware of the importance of this adjustment. What is azimuth? Looking at the cartridge body from the front, it is the left to right tilt of the cartridge body. Contrary to popular belief, azimuth is not necessarily correct with the sides of the cartridge body are perpendicular to the record surface. What we're actually looking for is the correct relationship of the stylus to the groove. Unfortunately, the vast majority of styli are not mounted perpendicular to the bottom of the cartridge body, thus making azimuth set-up by sight alone erroneous. And with the current trend toward decreasing stylus size, even seeing the stylus without the aid of magnification borders on the improbable. The "eyeball" or "mirror" method should only be employed if other more sophisticated methods are unavailable.

Stated differently Azimuth is the alignment of the stylus to be perpendicular to the record grooves. VTA is the angle of the stylus and cantilever to the record. Normally you can loosen one screw a little and twist the cartridge to the right or left the set azimuth. If your head shell does not have sliding capability with the screws you cannot adjust it. Most have some play allowing for adjustment. So sorry guys, it is adjusted by keeping one point fixed and turning the cartridge to the left or right and up and down.

One other thing, this is one of the most critical adjustments depending upon your stylus. Try it and you will know when it is correct. You can really hear the difference if you have a contact line stylus.

woodsyi · « **Reply #53 on:** 9 May 2009, 05:08 pm »

I am still not sure how sliding the cart around would change the azimuth. You may change the orientation of the tip but you are not changing the angle of the tip. On my Phantom arm, the azimuth adjustment tilts the cart side ways.

The screw in front of the counterweight rotates the arm clockwise or counterclockwise as you look down the the length of the arm. Twisting the cart around horizontally wouldn't do that.

Wayner · « **Reply #54 on:** 9 May 2009, 05:49 pm »

This is azimuth adjustment. Sometimes a picture tells a thousand words.

I skewed it really bad on my Rega R200 to get the point across. While I agree with JCC wholeheartedly, most of us mere mortals only have our eyesight to adjust azimuth. However, many cartridge manufacturers provide features on the cartridge body to help the installer deal with things they really can't see well. My AT440MLa has nice square surfaces in front to help align the cartridge. The sides are also square to help with azimuth alignment. We can be very confident that the stylus assembly is true to the geometry of the cartridge body.

Wayner

Dan Kolton · « **Reply #55 on:** 9 May 2009, 08:13 pm »

Here's software (costing $500++) that can be used to set azimuth. Brian Walsh from Essential Audio in Barrington, IL, a dealer (http://www.essentialaudio.com/), has and uses this to set up cartridges:
http://www.adjustplus.de/index.php?lang=english

The term "azimuth" as applied to phono cartridges is as Wayner illustrates in the previous photo. It can't be set by twisting the cartridge in the horizontal plane (parallel to the record surface). Please stop referring to that as azimuth. That twisting adjustment could be part of properly setting the stylus "overhang" in order to make it tangent to the record groove at the null (zero tracking error) points for a particular tracing error minimization scheme such as "Baerwald" or "Loefgren".

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #56 on:** 9 May 2009, 08:39 pm »

A small, accurate single bubble level set gently on the headshell above the cartridge works better than eyeballing azimuth. You need to have a headshell that's flat on top for this to work. You may want to dial back the vtf and antiskate before trying this.

Wayner · « **Reply #57 on:** 9 May 2009, 10:03 pm »

That is not the best way to set azimuth, what if the surface your turntable is on is crooked? Using a level to set azimuth is good for having the stylus "square to the world", but the real focus is the platter. The stylus needs to be referenced to this surface, not the worlds gravitational forces. Of course if both are totally dialed in, then that's good, but I doubt that that ever happens. A better way is to place an old record on the platter and use a steel ruler on its side and use that surface as a reference for setting the azimuth. This way, there is a relationship between platter and stylus.

Wayner

toobluvr · « **Reply #58 on:** 9 May 2009, 10:23 pm »

The bubble level technique is not good for many reasons. It is also very difficult if your arm is unipivot.

Good luck getting it perched on top of the headshell in a perfectly square, centered and balanced way without tipping the arm to one side or the other.

All in all, not a good way to try and set Azimuth....in any arm.

While VTA and VTF are well understood, I see from some comments on here that azimuth is not that well understood.

Here is a real easy way to visualize azimuth.....
Stick your forefinger out like you are pointing at something. Now rotate it by twisting your wrist. Don't move it up or down, or side to side, or forward and back. Simply rotate it on its own horizontal axis. Now visualize that your pointed finger is the tonearm tube. Azimuth is set / adjusted by rotating the arm tube on its own axis......just as you did with your pointed finger. Obviously, this rotates the cartridge, cantilever and stylus right along with the arm.

The pic Wayner provided is absolutely correct.

Other visual images of azimuth: (a) the drilling action of a drill bit, and (b) turning a doorknob.

Moving the cartridge around.....forward and back....and twisting side to side....in the slotted screw holes of the headshell is absolutely not an azimuth adjustment!

Moving cartridge body forward and back adjusts overhang , and twisting the cartridge body from left to right around its vertical axis simply squares it up properly in the headshell to minimize tracking error at the null points...usually 66mm and 121mm from the record spindle.

Now get out there and start tweeking you vinyl-heads!

*Scotty* · « **Reply #59 on:** 9 May 2009, 11:23 pm »

I used a piece of brass bar stock 1/2inch wide to set the azimuth on my Maplenoll. I run an AT 440ML which as Wayner mentioned has square edges to align with. I was able to just rest the cartridge body on the top of the bar stock which was held on edge by the spindle on the turntable.
Scotty