Cartridge alignment

A K Bhattacharjee

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May 24, 2018
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Ranchi, India
Hi
Recently I purchased AT95e cartridge factory fitted in a headshell. After connecting it to the tone arm, I found that cartridge body is not square to the lines of the protector (Shure). Pl guide, shall I re-align the cartridge or leave it.
 
Id you are having the right protractor for your arm with the correr inner and outer null points then align them atleast for one of the inner or outer null point. An aligned cartridge gives less inner groove distortion and has tight bass IME. Also the records life will increase due to correct tracking of your stylus through your grooves without too much of scratching them.
 
Hi
Recently I purchased AT95e cartridge factory fitted in a headshell. After connecting it to the tone arm, I found that cartridge body is not square to the lines of the protector (Shure). Pl guide, shall I re-align the cartridge or leave it.
is your arm S shaped?
 
You get free printable protractors(PDF) here: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=s.....69i57j0l5.5016j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Choose the one suitable for your tone arm and make sure you print actual size.

To check which protractor is most suitable to your tonearm you can refer this guide https://www.vinylengine.com/protractor-user-guide.shtml

Print out and align to null points as per Hari Iyer's instructions.

If you have a Technics turntable with S shaped arm you can use the Technics Arc protractor. This works best for me.
 
Align with the Protractor you have, though Shure Protractor will be a generic one.

But the best of course is what Hari suggested.
 
If it's Technics player and If you do have the Technics overhang gauge, the alignment will be perfect. Afterwards you can double check with the protractor.
I used to use the overhang guage, but found the arc protractor better for minimizing inner groove distortion.
 
I have an Akai AP007 direct drive TT with an S arm and an Akai headshell with an AT CN2398 cart. I'm trying to align it using a Conrad Hoffman arc protractor. I measured the Spindle to Pivot distance and put in the values to get a TT specific protractor. Now for the kicker! I'm on the wrong side of 40 (45 actually) and use progressive lens. To place the stylus on the null point crosshairs, I have to take off my glasses and close one eye and strain quite a bit. (I have just discovered that my right eye doesn't shut properly and flutters quite a bit. I got worried and checked with my wife and she has the same problem. Have to check if this is normal or a sign of something big. There I go being hypchondriacal.) But try as I might, I am not really satisfied. I finally gave up after what I think is a decent job but I can't be certain. This is also because my eyes are killing me, my back is killing me and it is such a bitch of a job to do. Does anyone, O sainted souls, have any suggestions to make this better and more certain?
 
A beautiful, well-constructed speaker with class-leading soundstage, imaging and bass that is fast, deep, and precise.
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