Feickert analogue protractor....Owners impressions

Stiltskin,

The Galibier protractor (not really, it was just one Thom Makris printed out to show people how an arc protractor works) did work. The difference, and I think you got this from what you read, is that the protractor Thom sent as well as the KWILLIS (that's the AA moniker to look for) are printed out on any home printer. The thickness of the lines and the inaccuracy of the printer does leave a larger margin of error.

The MintLP protractor is made for your tonearm. You provide the effective length and pivot-to-spindle distance specified by the tonearm manufacturer. (You also give the spindle hole diameter of your table.) So you are setting P2S and overhang very accurately when you use the protractor. There is really no need to use a ruler or anything to measure P2S. For me, the MintLP has been the best tool I've used to setup my cartridge. YMMV, IMO, IME, etc.

Dan ed, have you compared the Ken Willis to the MintLp to KNOW there is a difference? If you have I will have to consider buying a MintLp protractor. If not, Ken's protractor is a bargain at $55

Narrod,

I've compared the two. Ken's protractor is an excellent one to be sure. The MintLP protractor is the same essential concept, yet constructed on plate glass mirror (a big advantage for parallax reduction) and has extremely fine lines to better facilitate accuracy. While Ken's protractor will certainly get you extremely close, we're dealing with the LP groove here and ANY device that facilitates even better accuracy is worth it. I'd estimate the line pitch on the MintLP protractor to be about 5-8 times finer than those on Ken's unit - when microns are the unit of measurment, this can make a substantial diffference.

-Richard

Narrod,

I'm not trying to "sell" you anything. I'm just sharing my experience. Ken's protractor is fine, I'm sure, and if you are happy with it who cares what anyone, including me, says. Other people whose opinions I greatly respect and value are perfectly happy with their 2-point, one-size fits most, protractors. I do have a KWILLIS protractor file that Palasr sent me, but I have not printed and tried it out for reasons I'll explain below. If Ken would like to send me one that he designed and made for a TriPlanar VII I'd be more than happy to compare it to my MintLP protractor. ;-)

If a protractor is not mirrored there is a good probability of user error due to the parallax effect that Palasr posted about. If it is printed out on what ever printer one has to use, the thickness of the lines vary from user to user. This is another source of error. Perhaps Ken has a means to produce lines with a thickness of around .008". If so that would certainly boost the accuracy a user could achieve by using a protractor that he printed for them.

These issues also exist for the protractor that Thom sent around to some of us to try, which is also a printed out protractor. I doubt that Ken's is anymore accurate than what Thom designed. Perhaps Ken can print much more accurate lines. Even with these issues I was still able to get better results using Thom's printed protractor than with the mirrored protractor supplied with my TriPlanar. Still there is that parallax issue.

So for another $35 over the cost of a KWILLIS protractor, I chose to purchase a protractor that addresses both of these issues by offering more precise lines and a mirrored surface.

I see this as just a comparison between tools. I freely admit that this is getting into the realm of obsession over cartridge alignment. Even so, there is no disputing that the more accurately you can get the alignment, the more you will be rewarded from the sound from your cartridge.

My apologies to Stiltskin if I've helped steer too far off the subject of his thread.

Dan ed, I'm not challenging your opinion. I just want to know. I prefer Ken's to the Feikert. Both of which I bought. If the MintLp is actually, not just theoretically, better I will have to buy one. Most importantly, is there a difference in sound after a setup with each? $90 is a good price.