What about Uni Din?
@mijostyn, Having looked at lots of stylus profiles under a microscope at various magnifications I think it would be exceedingly hard to confirm zenith angle to say 10 minutes. I'll side with Raul that even with the best tools setting the same cartridge up three times is likely to end up with three different alignments. At the scales we are talking about here the possibility for measurement error is large and even seemingly small errors can be consequential. dave |
Dave you are absolutely right. Under magnification ( I use a medical microscope with special lighting) The best you can do is confirm zenith relative to the cantilever then you have to get the cantilever parallel to the protractor lines all by eye. So, there are multiple sources or error some, such as the cantilever alignment to the coils are unseen. All you can do is hope to get close. I should have said, "dead on as far as I can see." Then next question is does it really matter? I use Lofgren B because it results in the lowest average distortion over most of the record. The reality is you can be a little off one way or the other and very few people if any would know it. So why even bother? I'll tell you why. It makes me feel better and my psyche will think things sound better. Perhaps I will limit record wear. |
I for got to mention that the way you do this micro a microscope is under high magnification you orient the stylus so that the long axis is perfectly horizontal. Then you back off to low magnification and the cantilever should be perfectly vertical. I have an eyepiece with a grid so I do not have to guess were 90 degrees is. Regular microscopes are not the best tool for this job. |
To these ears, Baerwald has a lot going for it. I find Lofgren B, Stevensen, Uni Din or anything that is more leading edge forward in the arm to actually sound that way - forward. Another interesting take on the process: http://www.vacuumstate.com/fileupload/GuruSetUp.pdf Using extensive target zone magnification, don't fall into the potential pitfall that cantilever grid alignment will yield optimal zenith - it won't unless you're running a conical stylus :-) |
