DaVinci tonearm and azymuth

Dear Dougdeacon, - nice link. It works very well indeed. It does not cure the cancer either, but it surely will prolong life and restore its level ( of performance ) into the high 90 percentage.

.. trust that biological yet fairly complex device inside our brain - the hearing.

The Danger Zone

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For clarity, I think we all agree that shimming is sub-optimal. The method Thom and I described and the link I posted are a band-aid for a problem that shouldn't exist, at least not on pricey tonearms. Shimming works for azimuth but it also has sonic side effects in at least two areas:

MOUNTING RIGIDITY
The more rigid the coupling between cartridge and headshell, the more accurately cantilever movements are translated into electrical signals. Looseness in the cartridge mount slurs transient responses, reduces amplitudes, adds overhang to every note and raises the sound floor - slop, slop, slop.

The solution is self-evident: if you must shim for azimuth, use a rigid, non-compliant material.

ENERGY TRANSMISSION
As Larryi already described.

The precise sonic effects of altering energy transmission between cartridge and headshell will vary with individual components. Nevertheless, inserting two new material interfaces increases the frequencies that will be reflected back into the cartridge. That necessarily raises the sound floor.

Shimming's a reasonable band-aid, that's all.

And what Syntax posted! ;-)

The Danger Zone... so true... arrggghhh!

Interesting about shimming because Yip of the Mint LP Tractor has the following in his "best tips for customers (down the page a bit):

http://mintlp.com/best/bestips.htm

:) listening,

Ed

Istanbulu,

Your link to the Mint site raises another consideration -- whether azimuth should be set to optimize electrical performance or to physically align the stylus perpendicular to the record surface. Imperfections built into the alignment of the stylus with the generating element of the cartridge may mean that both cannot be optimized at one setting.

I personally align my cartridge optically, as per the Mint site because I am more concerned with minimizing wear/damage to the stylus and to my records than getting the last iota of performance out of a cartridge. I use a pair of high quality magnifying glasses for that purpose.