2. analog
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Cartridge alignment, WallyTractor, SmartTractor, oscilloscope and Analogmaigk.

I am building my new system in my second home in the US which I use only when I go to the US to work, and I will not have the benefit of having my partner and analog guru with me when I set up my table there. 

To be clear she much rather have a new cartridge, tonearm, table or phono amp than nice jewelry, shoes or dresses, and 2 of the best hifi stores in the area are always asking for her opinion and sometimes to set up tables. 
Until now, all I had to do was to put my record on the table of her choice, and enjoy the music. 

 During our dinner with her, we were discussing,  what should I be doing and what tools to bring with me. I am an a mathematician  and work with electrical engineers so I understand numbers so I like the idea of an oscilloscope and Analogmagik and I have done quite a few setups with the WallyTractor before I met her, but she swears by the SmartTractor and claims that the SmartTractor is more accurate, simpler and flexible.

My question then is, what is your opinion on the 2 protractors?
Please do  not add another different one, I am not going to buy another one. :) 

In her opinion the  UNI  alignment is superior to the new record in the Wally, and since pivot to spindle is never identical, the SmartTractor does a better job as it actually takes into account for those imperfections/discrepancies in the spindle to pivot distances, while the Wally does not. 

If I am going to face the firing squad, I want to have some good different concepts.

I apologize for my English, until a few months ago I never discussed Hifi in English. 


128x128astolfor
jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller
1,361 posts
 

I have the Feickert.  It's a nice machine. 

However, setting the pivot to spindle is not so easy on my Technics 1200 GAE.  It's kind of tricky to get the thing to hit and stay on the very dead center. 

Interestingly, if I ditch the Feickert and just use Technics overhang gauge (that cute little guy they give you with their tables), and then I use a basic paper protractor from Hi Fi News & Record Review setup disc, things sounds just as good.  

So MillerCarbon may have a point--at least to me. :)

yeti42's avatar
yeti42
287 posts
 

I have a Feickert and a Smartractor and have numerous printed and cardboard protractors. It’s the Smartractor that gets used, along with a cheap perspex azimuth/VTA gauge. This latter is a starting point for final adjustment by ear. Bias is set initially with the blank track on The Enjoyment of Stereo from EMI and confirmed with the Hifi News test disc. Having tried UniDIN for several months I’ve reverted to Berwald DIN. 

audioquest4life
727 posts
 

Lot’s off good advice here. Do not overcomplicate it for sure. Your best bet is to use a tool that you are very familiar with and enjoy...well, who "likes" spending time, lots of time worrying about very minute micro-millimeter variances in some setup, when you cannot even hear it. For sure, I would rather spend time listening to music too, but this setup is a necessary evil.

These are what I have used over the years: I have used Avid (SME V), Auf Deutsche, Die Schön-Schablone ist der Klassiker unter den Tonarm-Meß und Justierschablonen, sowie das Standardwerkzeug zum Einbau von Tonabnehmer und zur Kontrolle, MOFI Geodisc (My go to for quick and rough setup...but, it usually works well with an SME V tonearm and any cartridge I needed to setup), and lately, the Wally Tools WallyTractor Universal v2.01. I set it up on the newer record setting with an Air-Tight Opus 1 which now has about 15 hours on since I installed. Once you align the Wally Tractor under the cartridge at point 1, outer edge of LP, and then move to inner groove check of the Wally Tool, and if necessary, make changes to HTA (on SME V, this is so easy), then start again. I have the Wally video up on youtube when I did this. Now, I know what I need to do for other setups...which will happen again when I receive my Transrotor TRA9 tonarm. I did use my Geodisc, just to see how it looks....well, looks good.

 

Link to my setup at Whats Best: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/air-tight-opus-1-arrived.22776/post-773980

Your handle is familiar. Deutsche Forum?

 

Good luck.

 

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