shibata or microline, pls respond ONLY if you specifically have tried both.

as for comparing micro line and shibata, this can now be done with JUST the shaped diamond stylus itself being the single differential, for proper single cause analysis.

that is in the VM95 series of cartridges and styli from audio technica.

If one buys the shibata version and the micro line version, this single cause analysis can actually be done. It’s not perfect as tests go, but it is as good a single cause test that you’ll ever get to. In this audio technica example set, the single difference is the diamond. The motor, the mounting the gluing the cantilever the suspension, etc, all the same.

I’ve got both right here and have done exactly that, but have additionally owned and used multitudes of each type stylus as equipped on various cartridges, over the years.

lewm

... If you rotate the whole tonearm back near the pivot, you are not only changing azimuth; you are also changing zenith (too complicated for me to explain here). My Triplanar is guilty of that minor sin; azimuth is adjusted by rotating the arm wand back near the pivot, so when you do make an adjustment, it also affects the angle of the plane to which the cartridge should be perpendicular (zenith).

I don’t understand what you’re saying here. When you align azimuth, the goal is to have the stylus/cantilever assembly perpendicular to the groove, which is essentially in the plane of the record. Whether you make that angular adjustment by rotating the headshell or the pickup arm, it’s the same adjustment and objective. In this context, azimuth and zenith are the same thing.

if you think I’m mistaken, please explain how the "zenith" - as you call it - would be measured independently of azimuth, and how those two angles could possibly be different when measuring a single cartridge on a single pickup arm.

Cakyol, with the Linn, the armboard and platter (record surface) are mounted to the same suspension platform and those should be parallel AND level.  Not sure why your armboard would not be parallel with the platter.  I am assuming your use of the term arm plate is synonymous with armboard.  Please disregard if this is not the case.

Hi JC,

Thanks for writing.
Yes, on the Linn, those SHOULD be absolutely parallel. But as you know, since the armboard is not an integral part of the suspended sub chassis plate which has the main bearing, due to some anomaly, those are not absolutely flat in my case. There is about 1.5 mm warp. And as a result, I am not able to balance the table perfectly. It may be a defective sub chassis.

I may upgrade to an ’integral’ unit where both the armplate & the bearing plate are just one machined piece, like the Keel or something cheaper.

cleeds, "Zenith" is not something I made up.  If you have a pivoted tonearm with headshell offset, and if you then alter azimuth by rotating the arm wand back near the pivot (BEFORE the headshell offset angle is introduced), then the headshell itself not only rotates in the vertical plane described by azimuth but it also changes angle in a second plane which would alter the horizontal.  That affects VTA and probably affects the contact patches between stylus tip and groove in ways not favorable, slightly.  For example, if you rotate to the right or to the outer grooves of an LP, to change azimuth in that direction, then the rear of the headshell dips downward a bit with respect to its leading edge.  That action is changing zenith.  How important this is, I would not care to say, but it's real.  From a purist point of view, it's best not to change zenith while changing azimuth.  This can only be done if you rotate the headshell about its own longitudinal axis, without changing position of the arm wand.  I didn't intend to make a big deal out of this, but it is real.
You apparently subscribe to the physical definition of perfect azimuth, making the stylus square to the groove walls above all else.  Some others do it electrically, which does not always leave the stylus tip square to the groove.  I am actually coming over to your way of thinking after years of doing it electrically (least measured crosstalk being the electrical goal).