Azimuth observations and importance

If one had a voltmeter sensitive enough to measure voltage directly off the cartridge pins or tonearm wires then there would be no need to equalize voltage output across channels prior to measuring crosstalk.

I thought the reason for achieving (roughly) equal voltage output across channels by adjusting channel balance was to address voltage imbalances arising downstream from the pre-amp as known at the point where the voltage measurement is taken, eg at the amps output terminals.

Doctorcilantro didn't say that adjusting azimuth was about achieving balanced output channels. I understood his statement to say he would adjust channel balance prior to adjusting azimuth.

Of course this may all be moot if you believe one cannot measure channel crosstalk at a given frequency and adjust it using instrumentation.

Unless my understanding is off base (quite possible, thank you for your patience) and one can indeed not measure crosstalk and changes made to it by azimuth adjustment, then I'm inclined to believe that the 'ears vs instruments' debate is a false dichotomy and neither is an 'advance' over the other. I heard no one claim that use of an instrument assures better results than careful listening. Setup procedures are not a zero-sum game and ears and instruments are not mutually exclusive techniques.

Use your eyes too. Regardless of how 'good' you think it sounds, if your stylus (or even your cartridge) visibly is canted at an angle, something may be askew with internal motor position or elsewhere in your system. Attaining proper azimuth is also about reducing potential groove damage.

Heaven forfend our cochleae are not gain level neutral and constant from day to day. Regardless of one's golden capacity, I find instruments properly used tend to aid rather than hinder. They can also let you know if results achieved solely by listening are aligned or not with what measurement says. Once you've learned, maybe you no longer need them, but a second opinion rarely hurts.
Yours truly, Professor Pesto

I was wondering if anyone could give a succinct (if possible) tutorial on how to use an analog multimeter to adjust azimuth for someone with no engineering background (in other words, azimuth for dummies as it were). In the alternative, perhaps someone could point me to such a resource. I have Fremer's tt set-up DVD but it's useless in this regard. It would be greatly appreciated.

I think this is what it boils down to. Please anyone correct me if I am off base:
(1) You need a test LP that has a band where signal of a known frequency is recorded for one channel only. Lets say it's the R channel. Play the band and measure V in the R channel. Now play that same band and measure V in the L channel. That V represents crosstalk of R channel information into the L channel. The difference in V can be converted to db. Formulae are on the internet.
(2) Do the exact same thing, only this time play another band on your test LP that drives only the L channel at the same frequency,. Measure V in the L channel and V in the R channel and again calculate the difference in db.
(3) Adjust azimuth so that you get the largest possible absolute values of db for both sides. It's always a compromise.

Thank you Lewn. This certainly gives me a better idea. I am also confused with how and where to insert the leads in the system and DC vs AC voltage on the multimeter. Do I insert them in the amp's speaker terminals or in the speakers' terminals? Do I remove the speaker wire completely when doing this? Any risk damaging anything while messing with the leads? Moreover, I recall Fremer talking about low voltage and high voltage for each channel. I am a fast learner but need to master the basics first...

Thank you!

I have Fremer's tt set-up DVD but it's useless in this regard. It would be greatly appreciated.

I have not seen MF's video but I believe it comes with a .pdf file that describes the same technique you can read here. Recommended reading it is. At the end of the .pdf are forms from Wally Malewicz for recording your azimuth measurements in a logical way and converting them from volts to dB volts. You might want to print out those forms to use while making adjustments.

As noted earlier, set the volt meter for AC and 5 volts (or less). Measure from the amp's terminals. Remove the speaker wire from the amp when taking measurements with the voltmeter. (You can measure from the speaker terminals, but that means you get to listen to the 1kHz test tone while doing so - I'd rather set azimuth, then listen to music to refine azimuth.) Don't short across the amp's terminals; that is, keep the voltmeter probes separated without metal touching both terminals at the same time.

The needle or digital readout on the voltmeter can jump around a bit, so you'll want to gauge an average - the devices you can purchase such as the Wally azimuth box, and possibly the Fazgometer (?) include a high and low-pass filters to help eliminate this.

Once you get used to playing the tone for each channel, reading the voltmeter and recording your measurements, you'll find it makes sense. Take your time making the azimuth adjustment in v. small increments, followed by a set of measurements to see the result of the adjustment. It may take a couple attempts to gauge that you're adjusting the stylus so as to diminish crosstalk. Once you get to a sweet spot you should hear what the guys are saying to listen for when adjusting by ear. Then you can tweak by listening. Going forward, your ears will know what proper azimuth setup sounds like. Some cartridges are more rewarding of the effort than others. On my Transfiguration cartridge careful attention to azimuth reduced smearing and made a significant improvement in focus. Take it slow and have fun dialing in your rig!