New Maplenoll Ariadne owner needing advice

Piedpiper :

According to George M. Graves , "Stereophile", Vol 9, #2, issue 80, he believed that all Maplenoll's (leaving the factory) should be dealer installed .

It was Graves belief that most times fine-tuning was incomplete at the time of manufacture ,therefore, either the buyer or the dealer must complete the job. Graves remarks suggest that the AB Arm on the 'Noll is sometimes not square (in a construction-sence) of the word.

Essentally, the arm is a L configuration , that is supposed to be in tangent ( @ 90* ) to the center of the lower-bearing plate hole. The Air Manifold itself secures the L portion of the arm in the proper position (tangent) as to be square . The Air Manifold is secured to the table by two oversized holes . Under the table are two bolt heads. Those bolts actually run thru the oversized holes screwing into the manifold. Should the manifold be ever so slightly "cocked" either to the left or right , the tangency and adjustments you mentioned are affected.

A perfectly squared tone-arm means that when installing a cartridge the stylus tip should run perfectly in the center of the line located on the overhang adjustment guide. Often that is not the case for the entire line of 'Noll Tables. Should that key factory setting be a faction of a fraction of a degree off, it contributes to phono "dancing/wobbeling" in the grooves. Graves solution was to loosen the bolts readjust the manifold and WHA-La!

Have I made my explanation more clearly understood or am I missing something ?

Piedpiper, my appology for not providing a fuller explanation. I have aquired stacks of doctuments that dribbel out gem after gem of info . My problem is figuring how to release the gems and not the slush. My attempt was to be brief not vague.

I believe I got you the first time but it still doesn't follow for me. If you don't use the pin to lock in the position of the overhang adjustment guide, anchoring the guide only at the platter spindle, overhang remains your only adjustment that effects tangency so long as you adjust the guide to the appropriate angle of the arms traverse. By definition, tangency is defined only by arm traverse and overhang.

BTW, Bob was famous for his casual approach to details of execution. I have done quite a bit to clean up my 'noll, as you know.

The use of terms is whats mudding up the water. So lets drop them all . What Graves was relaying is simply:
What adjustments you make at the end of the tone-arm are dependent on on weither the manifold is square to the table. A fraction of a degree off presents significant challenges. Graves is one of many reviewers who made similar observations.

Thanks for your input. Perhaps I would do better to put out a E-Book complete with pics, history , reprints , manuals, Q&A, etc. and of course input from folks like you--What do you think ? The only problem is that so few 'Nolls were manufactured. Mr. D is quoted @ 1,700+ about 18 months before production stopped I doubt the effort is worth it.

The operative here is how you use the overhang adjustment guide. If you use it the way I do, only in relation to the arm traverse and spindle, the issue you're talking about becomes irrelevent, in that the only thing that matters is whether the cartridge is aligned with the arm traverse and the spindle, not to the plinth.

Piedpiper :

Lets re-think.

For visuals look at your owners manual page 7 , fig 6. , Tonearm/Spindle Layout. All Graves reported is that if your air manifold that holds the spindle is ever so slightly cocked to the "northerly" ( to the top of the page) or southerly ( to the bottom of the page) , the Tonearm/Spindle's relationship to the alignment guide has changed.

In a cocked position , the tonearm's relationship to the fixed position of the alignment guide is off, thereby, all other adjustment's are subject to error. Bring the manifold into proper square in relationship to the plith changes the tonearm's-headleshell's relationship via the fixed position of the alignment pin, thereby, all headshell cartridge adjustments made are now more accurate with less a chance for error.

Less error , less distortion, less cartridge wiggel more music. A fraction of a degree change in the position of the arm manifold ( ie squared) is the key to extracting the last ioda of sound from the 'Noll.

Graves noted that this and other adjustments need to be re-checked. A protractor/ruler or a T a square make the job a breeze. One can even "eyeball" the adjustment.

The challenge is getting access to the bolt-heads on the underside of the plith that usually means breaking the table down to make the adjustment easier to complete, re-assembleing the table before the other adjustments pages 8-15 can be completed.