Mint Protractor. A Pretty Nice Alignment Tool

IMHO, Wally Tools is the best place for turntable set up training and tools.

I have them all and based on my experience, their system (especially the cartridge evaluation service that results in near perfect zenith or, in some instances, exposes an incorrectly built cartridge).

I have a couple Mints and although well made, each is made for a specific analog front end whereas the Wally Tools are universal and allow for all three alignments.

The SMARTactor is also an excellent alignment tool based on owning and using one of these also.

WallyTools Analog Setup Tools

@chayro At the Mint site there is no longer an email link, the one there takes you to an order page is all. Also the order and associated shipping schedule stops at February of 2022. I find no threads of where anyone has purchased one past 2022. All indications are something has happened with Mint, and they may no longer be obtainable. Hope I am wrong, but it seems that way.  

There is something to be said for using the alignment algorithm (Stevenson, Lofgren, etc) for which your tonearm was designed. Because deviating from one to another requires twisting the cartridge in its headshell which can create aberrant force on the cantilever. 

Dear @neonknight : " The Mint protractor is built specifically for this arm. "

NO, that’s where you misunderstood strated and belongs because the MINT LP protractors were made not for an specific tonearm ( this does not matters. ) but for an specific P2S distance.

Look, the name in cartridge/tonearm alignment is accuracy and the MINT LP protractor is totally accurated for that specific P2S distance that each owner ask for.

Example of that accuracy and your misunderstood, differences in the alignment A and B in Lófgren are this way:

same linear offset for both A/B, different null points at each one, same offset angles, different tracking distortion and error levels and different overhang by only 0.8 mm and obviously different P2S distances.

Compared any of the A/B Löfgren alignments with Stevenson all parameters are way different ( this is the worst kind of alignment but one choosed by tonearm japanese designers. )

R.

I ordered two Mints from Yip way back in the day when I was using VPI decks. As Raul has noted, P-S was a critical measurement for Yip. He would not provide his custom protractor without it. He also needed to know the ID of the tonearm.

Now that said, is the Mint "pretty nice"? Well dayum, "pretty nice" describes a lot of things, even the mediocre. The Mint is very difficult for those with so-so vision or who have brains that for whatever neurological reason do not perceive paralax very well. And all for an alignment method that favors classical music with crescendos at the innermost grooves.

I’ve said this so many times that I am embarrassed to say it again. One can literally slam the cartridge to the very front of the head shell and if you nail the tracking force, VTA, and zenith you will get very good sound. With microline and similar stylii there is a fair bit to be gained by further optimization. The point of this is that minimizing arc-induced distortion is so incredibly overrated-it is like how you choose to set your broken watch so that at least it’s right two times a day.