The BEST cart alignment tool

Doh
 
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Hi John

can you explain the logic behind the thickness of the protractor?

I have never seen any alignment protractor as thick as this. Most are the thickness of a mirror which is similar to an lp.
It will be difficult to align at the similar height of where the stylus hits the vinyl as it looks like you need to remove the platter mat? A lot of tables do not have thick mats or some tables do not use a mat. Eg, one of my tables does not have a mat and LP's go directly on the copper platter.

Regards
Shane
 
The intent is to remove the mat. 1/4" puts the surface of the mirror close to the same height as the record surface would be. I arrived at this thickness by measuring my 5 tables. I always remove the mat to use my digital scale anyway, which really needs to be at the correct height. FWIW I've compared the horizontal alignment with and without removing the mat and there's no visible difference.
 
elcoholic said:
The intent is to remove the mat. 1/4" puts the surface of the mirror close to the same height as the record surface would be. I arrived at this thickness by measuring my 5 tables. I always remove the mat to use my digital scale anyway, which really needs to be at the correct height. FWIW I've compared the horizontal alignment with and without removing the mat and there's no visible difference.
Click to expand...

I own two tables; a SME 20/2 and a Sota Star Saphire. Neither has a removable mat, and thus I am unable to use this device. Anyone wish to purchase mine?
 
Umm..that doesn't make sense. Mat or no mat, the slight height difference (vertical plane) will not alter the alignment which is an arc in the horizontal plane.

I think what people miss in this (for example some say an arc protractor is better) is that in this case, you are better able to allow for cantilever angle. Not every cantilever is an exact alignment to the cart/headshell. By aligning to the cantilever, you are perfecting the alignment of the diamond tip.

Picture this. The tip is on an arc and it follows that arc perfectly so you think you are aligned. But that TIP is held by a slightly off rod )the cantilever) and if you look at the tip, it is dead on (the diamond) to the cantilever. So while at the MACRO level, the whole assembly followed the arc, it did so with a slight lean on the diamond.

Hey, its not for everyone but I for one found that it took e that extra 5% better in alignment than a standard two point protractor.
 
Rob did a better job of explaining it than I did. My procedure is to remove the mat because I'm going to use a digital scale to check the weight once the cart is aligned. I have done some comparisons and the 1/4" or so difference in height effects the tracking force measurement slightly. The height difference with or without the mat doesn't effect the cartridge alignment which is all in the horizontal plane.
 
Elcoholic, do you still have these available for sale? If so, please shoot me a PM. I'm interested in the Baerwald version. I'm new to this forum (active on AK and others, though) so I can't send you a PM yet. My email is softrideguy (at) gmail dot com.

tom
 
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