Cartridge Alignment Guide

[LeeS]

Friends,

I found this article on cartridge alignment that is a good read from Allen Wright:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/guru/guru.html

Gorts, I assumed this is okay to link over given the content. Let me know if this presents a problem.

It seems many members are getting into vinyl and I thought this would be a good overview.

[DaleH]

I just printed out this protractor yesterday and his guru points lined up almost perfectly with my DB Systems alignment. I printed it on overhead transparency stock (per his suggestion) on my old laser printer and the scale was very accurate. I may play with his fine tuning suggestions but it will have to be a big difference for my tin ears to detect.:)

The protractor is a quality item for free. I like how you don't have to rotate it to get to both null points.

[HiFi Guy 008]

Thanks for that LeeS.

I've been trying various protractors with less than perfect results on my vintage Grace 707 tonearm.

The 707 has 237mm effective length, same as Rega's RB 250/300, but with a slightly different offset. Unless you have an original Grace protractor (template), the best null points remain a mystery - and no-one has been willing to share one with me. :(

I'll try this out today - thanks again.

:)

[LeeS]

No problem Hifi Guy. Good luck with everything! :righton:

[Metralla]

I have a lot of time for Allen.

I first met Allen Wright in 1982 when he completely rebuilt a Laurie Cohen pre-amp for me, so much so that I called it the AW1. He didn't. ;)

Allen was in Sydney at the time, having come over from New Zealand, and Vacuum State was just starting. He moved to Germany where he ran his business for many years, and just recently, moved to Switzerland.

Allen has been very well known among the valve community for many years, often attending VSAC (Vacuum State of the Art Conference), which has now morphed into the Rocky Mountain Audio Fair. Allen is also well known among the DIY cable crowd for his interconnect and speaker cable recipes and his "Cookbook".

When SACD first hit the market, Vacuum State did some fine work in analyzing the early Sonys and produced a board to take off the DSD feed from the VC24+ chip and run it through their own output stage. This modification is now at level 5.

[LeeS]

Allen is also well known among the DIY cable crowd for his interconnect and speaker cable recipes

Geoff, where's a good place to find these?

[LeeS]

Nevermind. I found the link:

http://www.vacuumstate.com/cables.htm

[sacsongs]

I am a little lost on the use of this protractor. I had borrowed a GeoDisc from my mother-in-law's Sinatra LP box set.

I set up my old Denon DP-15F using this device. It sings pretty well but I am noticing a touch of sibilance. This Denon doesn't have a lot of buzzer and bells for adjustment. I can't lock my platter to my knowledge. It makes me nervous using this template on a transparency for fear of wrecking my stylus.

The lines in the center of the protractor--are those to be lined up with the tonearm lateral pivot point?

Sorry to sound like such a newbie, but I have been out the audio game for decades. I think I've forgotten more than I ever learned!

[Metralla]

Nevermind. I found the link:

http://www.vacuumstate.com/cables.htm
Sorry - been working! I did not see your request - but you found his web page and that's the main thing. Look carefully at the Level 5 board for your 777. ;)

[DaleH]

Sorry to sound like such a newbie, but I have been out the audio game for decades. I think I've forgotten more than I ever learnedThe lines in the center of the protractor--are those to be lined up with the tonearm lateral pivot point?



No. The object is to correctly set the overhang first. This is the distance from the center of the spindle to the tip of the stylus. You of course will have to move the cartridge in the headshell to do this. It's best to tape the platter in place so it can't move.

First you line up the outer null point with the stylus tip (by moving the protractor) and rotate the HTA (horizontal tracking angle) to line up with the grid lines. Now lift the stylus and place it on the inner null point. If the stylus is past or short of the inner null point slide the cartridge until the stylus is about half way towards the inner null point. Repeat until the stylus will sit exactly on both points without moving the protractor. Try to just snug the cartridge screws enough so you can move it in the headshell, but it's not loose, until you get it close.

I hope I'm making some sense, I've just completed a 16 hour road trip and I'm exhausted.

[Ben Sinise]

I've been trying various protractors with less than perfect results on my vintage Grace 707 tonearm.

The 707 has 237mm effective length, same as Rega's RB 250/300, but with a slightly different offset. Unless you have an original Grace protractor (template), the best null points remain a mystery - and no-one has been willing to share one with me. :(


Assuming that your arm is mounted correctly it should just be a matter of setting the stylus overhang to 15mm (the standard Grace setting) and then aligning the cartridge body so that it's perfectly square in the headshell, although some owners do prefer to align using a different system than Grace intended. There's more information if you do a search at The Vinyl Engine (http://www.vinylengine.com).

[Chad Etchison]

I have a lot of time for Allen.

I first met Allen Wright in 1982 when he completely rebuilt a Laurie Cohen pre-amp for me, so much so that I called it the AW1. He didn't. ;)

Allen was in Sydney at the time, having come over from New Zealand, and Vacuum State was just starting. He moved to Germany where he ran his business for many years, and just recently, moved to Switzerland.

Allen has been very well known among the valve community for many years, often attending VSAC (Vacuum State of the Art Conference), which has now morphed into the Rocky Mountain Audio Fair. Allen is also well known among the DIY cable crowd for his interconnect and speaker cable recipes and his "Cookbook".

When SACD first hit the market, Vacuum State did some fine work in analyzing the early Sonys and produced a board to take off the DSD feed from the VC24+ chip and run it through their own output stage. This modification is now at level 5.

Allen is a whiz, he recently helped me over at AA on a circuit I've been building.

His supercables cookbook is a legend.

[sacsongs]

No. The object is to correctly set the overhang first. This is the distance from the center of the spindle to the tip of the stylus. You of course will have to move the cartridge in the headshell to do this. It's best to tape the platter in place so it can't move.

First you line up the outer null point with the stylus tip (by moving the protractor) and rotate the HTA (horizontal tracking angle) to line up with the grid lines. Now lift the stylus and place it on the inner null point. If the stylus is past or short of the inner null point slide the cartridge until the stylus is about half way towards the inner null point. Repeat until the stylus will sit exactly on both points without moving the protractor. Try to just snug the cartridge screws enough so you can move it in the headshell, but it's not loose, until you get it close.

I hope I'm making some sense, I've just completed a 16 hour road trip and I'm exhausted.

Thanks DaleH. I will go over these instructions in detail and post again if I continue having issues.

[Damián]

The 707 has 237mm effective length, same as Rega's RB 250/300, but with a slightly different offset. Unless you have an original Grace protractor (template), the best null points remain a mystery - and no-one has been willing to share one with me. :(
I was there myself until someone over at the Asylum (:D) helped me out:

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=vinyl&n=629264&highlight=+Grace+707+Null&r=&session=

The grace 9'' tonearms have an effective length of 237mm and an overhang of 15mm. You can find more information on the Grace range at the link below.

According to the info at the Vinyl Engine, the null radii for the Grace 9'' tonearms are 66.8 mm and 103.0 mm: slightly unusual figures, giving rise to a relatively high level of tracking distortion at the outer groove radius (EG ~1% at a groove radius of 146.05mm for a groove velocity of 100 mm/s).

However, regardless of the null radii proposed by the manufacturer, you can align the cartridge for different null radii by using a suitable protractor, provided there is sufficient room for movement of the cartridge in the headshell.

What I did was to draw a simple two-point protractor on a strip of millimeter paper, like this:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1091/technicsdr4.jpg

That one's for a Technics arm (and not to scale,) but you get the idea. It works fine.

[HiFi Guy 008]

Thanks Ben and Damián.

I'll try those null points on a homemade protractor. :thumbsup: