Turntable cartridge alignment

muncybob

I took my tt to a local dealer to have the cart set up. I was going to do this myself but since I don't plan on swapping out carts I figure for the small amount he was to charge why buy the protractor and scale. To my surprise he didn't use a protractor but had an old "album" from MoFi called a Geo Disc. I had already printed out one of the online tools to use and got the cart in the ball park and he hardly made any adjustment from there although the weight was better calibrated using the scale. I just don;t see how the Geo Disc can be as accurate as a protractor as it relies on line of sight to the pivot point and even being off just a fraction there changes things. Anybody ever use one of these?

Msabot1

Those work pretty well..MFSL came out with them better than 20 years ago..follow the instruction on the disc and you will do fine with it...still better to use a tracking force scale to set proper weight...

muncybob

Yea, he used a digital scale. Time now to decide how to clean my neglected records.

gfong

Paint brush, dish soap, sink with 1/2 inch warm water. Keep the water off the label. i do this for everyday records and it works great. Put them in the dish rack once rinsed off and towel dry with soft cloth.

thsmith

I am ocd and use a usb microscope, custom made tractor, test record, fozgo meter and digital scale. Even though my ears are my final instrument it removes doubts.

hochpt21

Just get a vacuum rcm.

Best vinyl investment you'll make.

PolkieMan

Spin Clean if you have less than 200. I got a Vp-16 now, but only cause I won it.

dkg999

The MFSL Geo-Disc works amazingly well to set up a cartridge! You just cannot over-think it.

SCompRacer

Our eyes can do line of sight pretty good. The Geo-Disc is a great tool. Most protractors don't have the reference line to use line of sight to eyeball center of arm pivot. The best protractors to download will have a scale to measure to ensure they printed to the correct size. Most important thing is using the proper protractor for your table. The two most popular methods are Baerwald and Stevenson. Just different math to reduce IGD (inner groove distortion) as the tonearm gets to the inner tracks.

I use a HiFi News Test LP that is supplied with protractor. It offers 3 different alignment techniques to use.

I still have a first gen Feickert alignment tool which had a point to center above the arm pivot. It came in handy for all the tables I tried that never seemed to have the protractor included.

nspindel

I have a Geo Disc, it is included with the MFSL Sinatra box set that I own. Quite frankly I found the directions a bit confusing and have not tried it. Anyone know if there's a video out there somewhere demonstrating how to use it? I tried looking for one and couldn't find anything.

voltz

not sure but doesn't "21st century Vinyl" Michael Fermers Practical guide to turntable setup so how to use it?

leftwinger57

I don't know a thing about aligning a cart but I do use the Dawn warm water treatment for really filthy garage sale LPs. Instead of rack drying I set them up for a fan to blow them dry. It does work. Finding scratch free LPs is fairly easy but pops and crackles not so much.

nspindel

Actually I gave the directions another read on the Geo Disc and used it to check my cartridge alignment, it's pretty straightforward. And my cartridge is perfect!

dkg999

I use my VPI 16.5 RCM to suck dry the records I have run through my Spin Clean. I've got super quiet vinyl now, best method I have tried yet to reduce the ticks/pops.

skrol

http://www.vinylengine.com/tools.shtml has some great info and tools for alignment. I had used one called "Arc Template Generator" to create custom templates for my TTs. I carefully scaled them for my laser printer then finally printed them on clear plastic viewfoils. I used the Löfgren A (Baerwald) alignment and wit very good results.