necroking Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 hi decide to align my cartridge today, due to some channel imbalance, i used the technics arc protractor (baerwald). i lined everything up as should be, hitting all 3 points. but when i lighned up the cantilever to run parallel with the grid lines the cartridge is turned in towards the spindle. now i know that this is normal, but to what extent? so my question is, how much inward twist is too much? Am i just being paranoid or is this actually too much twist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearchuck Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Nope, you're fine! "Twist" the cartridge as much or as little as you need to align the cantilever with the grid ... providing you've got the proper overhang ... which it sounds like you've done. And nothing weird about the photo. You're probably just not used to seeing a cartridge that isn't perfectly lined up in the headshell ... but that's because most people don't know how to align a cartridge properly. By the way, I love arc protractors. Best-sounding alignment I've gotten on my turntable. Of course, you have to fine one that is specified for your tonearm's particular mounting distance, but once you figure that out, they're so easy and accurate to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcguirk Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Bearchuck s spot on, most people don't actually align their cartridge against a protractor, but rather just get it perpendicular to the front of the headshell which is wrong. Remember that most turntables designed for home listening (not for DJs) don't even have headshells, so a crooked cart doesn't seem like a big deal there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
necroking Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Thanks for your replies. This alignment fixed my channel imbalance and the music sounds great. I was just looking for some opinions from people with more experience than me so thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviolentworld Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 bumpin this shit. how do you find the right protractor to align a cartridge? i have a philips 212 and can't seem to find anything regarding this table and using a protractor for it. any help would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxsilence Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Your alignment geometry should be for your tonearm, not your table (correct me if I'm wrong, but that was my understanding). There's really only a few different ones that people use, if you can't find any information online I'd suggest just printing a few on paper and trying them to see which sounds best. http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-alignment-protractors.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviolentworld Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Your alignment geometry should be for your tonearm, not your table (correct me if I'm wrong, but that was my understanding). There's really only a few different ones that people use, if you can't find any information online I'd suggest just printing a few on paper and trying them to see which sounds best. http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-alignment-protractors.shtml thanks man. probably start with the stupid and move on to the stevenson if that doesn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarondltd Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I've read that its just adjusting 2 screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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