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Cart not parallel after Mint LP alignment?

Howdy,

So after reading about 1000 paragraphs on how good the Mint LP Tractor is - I purchased one and had a marathon session yesterday with my new SL-1210 M5G, AT440MLa and Zupreme headshell...

After all was said and done - the alignment itself took 90 hard minutes - I am finding the cartridge sitting about 5-7 degrees "right" of center. The actual cantilever and stylus are about as dead on as I wanna go with it for now.

Now a comment and a question....

Question: Is this non-parallel result in the headshell normal? It's making me think I may have a bent cantilever or something.

Comment: I have run 10-12 sides thru the rig so far and I must say - I have not yet heard the "revelation" that others have described when comparing their alignments to other protractors or even the white Technics alignment gauge. The rig sounds good...but...what I am missing here.

I must temper the above by saying I have changed phono stages frequently in the last month as well...I was getting nicely familiar with a Bellari VP-130 and then moved that for a Cambridge which lasted less than a week and I now have a Moon LP3 with maybe 25 hours on it...Even my AT440MLa might have 40-50 hours on it as well....

I am thinking that a whole bunch of stuff might need to "burn" in before the system starts to really reveal itself.

But I am very concerned with the stylus/cantilever on the cart...even with all the moves the Mint required...I expected the cartridge to sit straight in the headshell...perhaps expecting too much?

Appreciate any feedback.

Cheers!

VP
vocalpoint
vocalpoint OP
10 posts
 
All,

Thanks again for the all the feedback. I heard back from Yip - maker of the Mint LP Tractor and he did say that some degree of "twist" in the headshell "can" occur to obtain maximum alignment. He did not indicate in any way that it was "normal" however.

He also wants to see a phono of my setup to see how much "toe-out" is involved.

As far as the sound goes...after a number of sides that I am really familiar with - I am now starting to get a sense of a better blacker background etc.

I will continue to monitor this for the rest of the week but I agree with the "finicky" aspect of this and may attempt another alignment session on the weekend.
dertonarm
1,042 posts
 
Apparently the MINT tractor does use a different geometry then the one the designer(s) of your tonearm had in mind. If it works fine with you and does produce the sound you were longing for, I wouldn't care too much about the optical issue....
If it doesn't you may cross-check with other "universal" templates like a Dennesen or a Feickert. Maybe they will produce results more to your liking.
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
I don't know...I worry about everything. If the cartridge is not square in the shell, or leaning to me that means that the suspension of the cartridge may be "leaning". I wouldn't want my Porsche to lean in any direction at rest.. the suspension has to be perfect for me. I would send back the cartridge for inspection and repair, or get a new one.
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>04-19-10: Stringreen
If the cartridge is not square in the shell, or leaning to me that means that the suspension of the cartridge may be "leaning".<<

Not true.

All cartridges are not perfectly symmetrical.
vocalpoint OP
10 posts
 
If the cartridge is not square in the shell, or leaning to me that means that the suspension of the cartridge may be "leaning".

See that's my thing too. While I understand the possibility - whilst ever so slight - that a toe-in/toe-out may play into a setup - something still doesn't sound right...we are dealing with products here that are built to very high tolerance and precision.

After dropping x amount of dollars on headshell, cart, table, Mint etc etc...I expect - no actually - I demand perfection. If this was a 20 dollar cart in a 40 dollar turntable - I wouldn't care one way or another.

FWIW - I do not see any "leaning" - the stylus is making correct contact...but I was reading up on a few other forums that it may be a simple as the stylus assembly (the AT440MLa uses a removable model) has a bit of "play" to it and simple bit of "persuasion" in the right direction make clear it right up.

This "play" is not evident to the naked eye...but when you get down to the micron level with this Mint LP (Actually - I think Yip's real agenda here is to prop up the optics industry :)) - even the smallest bit of pressure one way or another can make a huge difference in how that cantilever lines up under 8x magnification.

I am also looking at getting a replacement stylus as well...because in all my alignment adventures - and I have had many - I have never ever had to "toe" a cart one way or the other. Could be the precision of the Mint but I still think something else is up here....

Cheers!

VP
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