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Cart not parallel after Mint LP alignment?

Howdy,

So after reading about 1000 paragraphs on how good the Mint LP Tractor is - I purchased one and had a marathon session yesterday with my new SL-1210 M5G, AT440MLa and Zupreme headshell...

After all was said and done - the alignment itself took 90 hard minutes - I am finding the cartridge sitting about 5-7 degrees "right" of center. The actual cantilever and stylus are about as dead on as I wanna go with it for now.

Now a comment and a question....

Question: Is this non-parallel result in the headshell normal? It's making me think I may have a bent cantilever or something.

Comment: I have run 10-12 sides thru the rig so far and I must say - I have not yet heard the "revelation" that others have described when comparing their alignments to other protractors or even the white Technics alignment gauge. The rig sounds good...but...what I am missing here.

I must temper the above by saying I have changed phono stages frequently in the last month as well...I was getting nicely familiar with a Bellari VP-130 and then moved that for a Cambridge which lasted less than a week and I now have a Moon LP3 with maybe 25 hours on it...Even my AT440MLa might have 40-50 hours on it as well....

I am thinking that a whole bunch of stuff might need to "burn" in before the system starts to really reveal itself.

But I am very concerned with the stylus/cantilever on the cart...even with all the moves the Mint required...I expected the cartridge to sit straight in the headshell...perhaps expecting too much?

Appreciate any feedback.

Cheers!

VP
vocalpoint
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
I don't know...I worry about everything. If the cartridge is not square in the shell, or leaning to me that means that the suspension of the cartridge may be "leaning". I wouldn't want my Porsche to lean in any direction at rest.. the suspension has to be perfect for me. I would send back the cartridge for inspection and repair, or get a new one.
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>04-19-10: Stringreen
If the cartridge is not square in the shell, or leaning to me that means that the suspension of the cartridge may be "leaning".<<

Not true.

All cartridges are not perfectly symmetrical.
vocalpoint OP
10 posts
 
If the cartridge is not square in the shell, or leaning to me that means that the suspension of the cartridge may be "leaning".

See that's my thing too. While I understand the possibility - whilst ever so slight - that a toe-in/toe-out may play into a setup - something still doesn't sound right...we are dealing with products here that are built to very high tolerance and precision.

After dropping x amount of dollars on headshell, cart, table, Mint etc etc...I expect - no actually - I demand perfection. If this was a 20 dollar cart in a 40 dollar turntable - I wouldn't care one way or another.

FWIW - I do not see any "leaning" - the stylus is making correct contact...but I was reading up on a few other forums that it may be a simple as the stylus assembly (the AT440MLa uses a removable model) has a bit of "play" to it and simple bit of "persuasion" in the right direction make clear it right up.

This "play" is not evident to the naked eye...but when you get down to the micron level with this Mint LP (Actually - I think Yip's real agenda here is to prop up the optics industry :)) - even the smallest bit of pressure one way or another can make a huge difference in how that cantilever lines up under 8x magnification.

I am also looking at getting a replacement stylus as well...because in all my alignment adventures - and I have had many - I have never ever had to "toe" a cart one way or the other. Could be the precision of the Mint but I still think something else is up here....

Cheers!

VP
vinyladdict
164 posts
 
This is as I would expect it to be - the cartridge slightly twisted in relation to the headshell - using the Mint Protractor.

Yip makes the Technics protractors using the Stevenson alignment geometry. Stevenson null points are 60.3mm and 117.4mm whereas the Technics null points (that will result in the cartridge being close to square in the headshell) are 58.8mm and 113.5mm respectively.

It's a common misconception that both Rega and Technics use the Stevenson geometry as stock, but it's simply not the case.

Long story short - everything you're describing in regards to how the cartridge is positioned in the headshell is precisely as I would expect it to be using the tools you're using. If you were to align to something like Baerwald, I would expect the cartridge to be rotated even further with respect to the headshell.

BTW, let me know if you decide the Mint protractor isn't your cup-o-tea and I'll buy it from you. I've got a family member who would like it instead of having to borrow mine all the time!
markd51
763 posts
 
+2 to what vinyladdict has said, I'm betting this is the culprit. Mark
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