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Feel Silly Asking This Question Alignment Parameters

I feel silly asking this question, but here it goes. Most of the arms I have owned over the years have came with proprietary protractors, and certain ones like the SME are really just overhang gauges. For other ones I have bought custom generated arc protractors for the specific arm. I will probably do so again with this Origin Live arm. However in the mean time i decided to set up using their provided protractor. 

When I went to install a cartridge on the table, I found I was not wild about using their protractor, so I decided to generate a Conrad H arc protractor till I made an order for an Accutrak one. What I found odd is that Lofgren A had the longest overhang at 16.8 mm and  Lofgren B at 16.3mm. The Origin Live shows 17.5 mm. Is the Rega type alignment that much different than Lofgren or Stevenson? I also noticed with the OL alignment that cartridge offset in the headshell was noticeably greater. 

What is also noticeable is the sonics of each alignment is different. To be honest, I like the overall sound of the OL alignment, but I also have this nagging feeling that it does not track as well. 

 

I always felt at this stage of my audio journey I knew how to align a cartridge. I have been doing it since I was in my 20's! Now I have a large degree of uncertainty of which alignment to choose, and what the implications are if i choose wrong. This arm is a long term keeper for me, so its a matter of wanting to get this set up optimized. 

 

Any insights you might pass along is greatly appreciated. Do have a good chuckle at my expense as it seems that I get into these moments of self doubt, and trying to find the way out of the forest of audio can be quite comical. 

neonknight
dover
2,247 posts
 

No it’s not wrong because OL says a margin of +,- 2mm. In the other side we can change those numbers with out any negative consequence because 225 means longer EL and les distortion.

This is poor advice.

The OP expressed the desire to use an Arc Protractor.

Anyone who professes to be an expert in tonearm set up would know that an arc protractor is designed for a given mounting distance and you’re not supposed to use an arc protractor designed for a given mounting distance with another mounting distance.

If you are going to use an arc protractor, the mounting distance must be absolutely spot on.

 

dover
2,247 posts
 

Who is way wrong with the numbers is not only you but OL too because 222 + 17.53 is not 239 or 9.5". One of my options that I posted puts the best number nearer to that 239 with a difference of only 0.1mm instead 0.3mm.

Anyway, numbers just do not coincide.

Neither I nor Origin Live mentions 17.53

Please read my posts more carefully as I do not appreciate being misquoted.

Apparently you think its fine to set up tonearms with an accuracy of +-0.3mm despite and wrong offset angles despite claiming in your other posts that unless the phono stage used is accurate to +-0.01db over the audible frequency that the phono stage is not up to par.

I think you should rethink your priorities in how to get the best out of an analogue system.

 

Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,066 posts
 

Dear @mijostyn  : That's not the issue. Again starting ( no matters what ) the second null point the cartridge tracking task goes harder to tracing as at the begening/medium distances in the LP grooved surface and for that reason Löfgren choosed that in the last third part of any LP the tracking distortion gone lower and that is why he named to the A solution the Optimal Optimization that's a better alignment that his side line solution B.

 

@lewm   " to the point where the stylus has difficulty tracing the groove accurately. "

Something like that, thank's.

 

R.

Post removed 
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,066 posts
 

@dover  : No, that was finger error.

Even that the calculations for the P2S 222mm shows at that firstlink I posted and the EL calculations shows 239.3 for that P2S. Numbers says that's the correct EL not 239mm., numbers are numbers/mathematics.

 

OLsays in his site:  " Centre of mounting hole to centre of platter should be 222mm (plus or minus 1mm tolerance). "

It's not talking of overhang.

Now, if the P2S distance change to 221mm or 223mm over calculations at the same time changes the overhang and offset angle and the main target for any tonearm owner is to make the tonearm/cartridge/TT alignment with Accuracy and this is what I'm talking about.

Anyway, that 239mm or 9.5" stated by OL can't be achieved with the OL information.

So other that my finger error I think I'm not wrong.

Maybe what created some kind of confusion in my posts was that my " error "I wasthinking that the OPwantsit 17.5mm as overhang.

 

" Apparently you think its fine to set up tonearms with an accuracy of +-0.3mm "

 

You did it not me,so don't put words in my mouth.

 

R.

 

 

 

 

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