Cartridge Opinions - Sorry

@klooker   The Linn philosophy with regards to tonearms seems to be that the ability to adjust azimuth is not important. Your Ittok has limited adjustability in regards to a number of set up parameters. Linn seems to think that the cartridge manufacturer should have exacting manufacturing tolerances to make azimuth errors irrelevant. This is not something that I personally believe occurs. Unfortunately, the weak link with the Linn platform is the Linn arm(s),although no one connected to Linn will agree with me.

@daveyf I’m the last guy who’s going to defend Linn and their superior opinions.

So what adjustments does the Ittok lack besides azimuth? Besides overhang, VTA, twist/yaw, and anti-skate what is there? 

Oops, I just re-read your post and you said "limited adjustability". Using the Feickert protractor the cartridge seems to be right on within a fraction of a mm. It's hard to gauge the tangential alignment though.

Thanks

Dear @kennyc :  ""  it appears you’re confusing cartridge cantilever with tonearm. " 

how is that, can you explain it?

"  Second, I’m referring to manufacturing inconsistencies whose point you appear to miss. ""

Why?, as I said almost any one but new comers knows how to make the TT/LP/cartridge/set up on differents alignment parameters: P2S distance, off-set angle, overhang, VTF, VTA/SRA, Azymuth, cartridge loading, TT and tonearm leveled, tonearm mounting in TT, TT plattforms, TT mats, clamps and the like.

You posted too:

"""   “optimum” cartridge setup by others is rare. When you think about a stylus in the groove, is a very minuscule stylus/diamond tilt audible? Absolutely! ""

is " rare " for you and nothing else.

"" What complicates setup is that less than perfect stylus to cantilever mating is common, and occasionally the cantilever is less than perfectly mounted. Most will align using the cartridge body which doesn’t address this less than perfect mating/mounting. """

today all but new comers knows that is not the cartridge body whom must aligned in the protractor.

What is what you want to teach/show or share in this thread that no other true analog audiophile knows?

Your answer appreciated.

R.

Linn seems to think that the cartridge manufacturer should have exacting manufacturing tolerances to make azimuth errors irrelevant.

They are 100% correct. Too bad actual cartridges don't hold up to this ideal.

@rauliruegas
You could have simply Googled “turntable cartridge cantilever” then look at the illustrations/pics, but I’ll try to explain in words.
Generally, turntable cartridge is constructed with body (shell), coils, magnets, suspension (for cantilever), cantilever, stylus (diamond), and I guess adhesive. The cantilever is that stick on which the stylus (diamond) is attached with some sort of adhesive. 
The tonearm is what you attach the cartridge to on one side, the turntable to the other. Google “turntable tonearm”.

You’re still missing the point of manufacturing inconsistencies. 99.99..% of any manufacturing is NOT 100% consistently accurate- there’s always some variations. While computer tolerances can be controlled to get tighter/better tolerances (accuracy), one can never achieve a consistent 100%. This is common manufacturing knowledge. Also, it’s also common knowledge that computer controlled manufacturing is significantly more accurate that manual (by hand) manufacturing.

Imagine that a seasoned cartridge artisan is looking under a microscope fixing some adhesive (like a dab of glue), then placing the stylus (diamond) on top of the glue. Construction under a microscope is no easy task. The stylus is NOT mounted a consistent 90 degrees front to back AND side to side, there’s always some minute variation. Also, the stylus is NOT mounted perfectly parallel to the cartridge body and there are some left/right variations. With a large enough cartridge sample and a microscope, you can easily see these variations.

Google “turntable cartridge stylus microscope pics” - maybe this will help you to realize stylus to cantilever mounting can easily be less than perfect.
If you still don’t understand this, I can’t help you.

So, are these cartridge construction inconsistencies audible? Yes. These teeny tiny electrical signals are being amplified many times to line level (so a preamplifier can use) then multiplied many times again (amplifier) before hitting your speakers. The more transparent your system, the easier to hear these differences.

Are these cartridge construction inconsistencies important? That’s a subjective judgement question. As mentioned before, you can get good to great sound using the tools/methodologies mentioned, and for some/most that may be good enough.

But to “optimize” (get the very best sound) you have to get your specific cartridge’s “stylus” to be “perfectly” parallel to the groove, “perfectly” perpendicular 90 degrees from the front, and 92 degrees from the side.

When using a cartridge protractor you’re indexing (comparing) to either the cartridge body or the cartridge cantilever. This method “assumes” that the stylus is perfectly mounted parallel to the body/cantilever which is not the case because of manufacturing variations. It may be “good enough” but not “optimal”.

I’m not arguing that “P2S distance, off-set angle, overhang, VTF, VTA/SRA, Azymuth...”, is not important- it all matters. But if you want to “optimize”, you’ll have to spend considerable time/effort to go further.

Cartridge “optimization” is typically not known/performed by most, but for seasoned audio professionals like dealers, and seasoned audiophiles especially with Uber systems, or audiophiles trying to maximize performance, this is fairly common knowledge.