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Azimuth and the Fozgometer

Finally received the Fozgometer after a 2 month backorder. In the past I have always used a loupe and a front surface mirror to set the azimuth on my Tri-Planar with Dynavector XV-1S cartridge. According to the meter, I was very close to a correct azimuth. I wasn't prepared for the effects that a very slight adjustment would make. Nailing the azimuth has brought my soundstage into tight focus. I have never experienced this kind of solid imaging in my system.
I know that the $250 price tag is a bit steep for something that won't get a lot of use, but this is not a subtle improvement. There are other ways of measuring azimuth, that I am not very familiar with, but I would doubt that they are as easy to use as the Fozgometer.
czapp
tketcham
291 posts
 
Madfloyd: You will probably have to wait like the rest of us. It appears that the demand for the Fozgometer is still outpacing the supply. But the wait time should be far less than it was a month ago. Order up and it will arrive in due time. :-)

Tom
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Sure glad I bought a Talea. Getting AZ right could not be more simple, and it is correct. Not some educated guess by someone's eye or some gadget. Just my own two ears.
pryso
1,968 posts
 
Madfloyd, I picked one up Friday from Audio Revelations and Jay had at least one remaining in stock. Check with him -

http://www.audiorevelation.com/cre/index.php
tketcham
291 posts
 
Dan: Nice! The Talea is a unique tone arm. It would be great if more tone arm designers and manufacturers began treating arm height and azimuth adjustments with the same importance as they do tracking force (counterweight) adjustments. With so many tone arms, arm height and/or azimuth adjustments are either lacking entirely or crudely implemented. On-the-fly adjustments may not be a priority but at least they should be easy and fairly quick adjustments.

I still think the Fozgometer offers a good starting point (an easily repeatable reference) for fine-tuning azimuth adjustment, even for tone arms like the Talea.

Tom
lewm
13,473 posts
 
I don't quite understand your post, Dan. It would seem that if you own a Talea or any other tonearm with easy, accurate, and repeatable azimuth adjustment (Triplanar, Reed), then the usefulness of a device that provides an electronic method for setting azimuth is all the more merited. This is not to say that the Foz is the one and only good choice for this purpose. Once you get it electrically "right", you can fine tune by ear. IOW, I agree with the last sentence of Tom's post, in essence, altho I'm still in the dark re the Foz per se.
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