Uni-Protractor Set tonearm alignment

Dear all, I dearly hope moderators allow me this lengthly post to clarify a few topics.
Some spare moments so I would like to take the chance set some things straight.
The UNI-Protractor is the off-spring of my own "need and want" to have an instrument at hand which suits each and every tonearm I have encountered (many ....) and ever will come across in the best possible way.
I focused on true universality, exact positioning and repeatable precision in every alignment.
I agree with everyone that a printed paper template might be enough.
It is just not for me.
We are playing with top $ cartridges and tonearms (not to mention phono stages and the rest of the pack ...) and I for one want the best possible from these 2 front-line devices of the analog chain.
In tonearm alignment we are facing one of the very few true geometric and mechanic "fields" in audio.
Here nothing is about taste or like/dislike.
Here everything is about putting the stylus and it's cantilever in a position where the stylus' trip through the groove will produce the least errors and thus the best possible result.
For those in doubt that real precise alignment is king, I recommend to visualize the dimensions of the tonearm, stylus and groove.
If you amplify all dimensions of the tonearm’s length and the polished contact area of your stylus by 1000x, your average tonearm is anywhere between 250 meter and 300 meter long.
Your stylus’ contact area is still only about 1.5 cm x 5 cm .......... hanging at the top of a tonearm longer than 2 football fields .....
The 0.5 mm error you may have had in your alignment is now half a meter off the line.
I think the message is clear.
Precision is king - nowhere in the audio chain more important than here: at the very start.
What you loose here to less than best possible alignment can never anywhere in the cain be recovered.
It is about positioning the polished area of your stylus in the most perfect way in relation to the groove's walls - and that for it's whole journey and on every record.
This is setting the horizontal plane once and for all - and for all the records you are playing. VTA is setting the vertical plane and that is a question of groove-compliance.
But the alignment of the zero (points) is the raw basic on which everything else builds.

Now about my "geometry" and a few misunderstandings floating around:
To me Baerwald, Löfgren and Stevenson - DIN or IEC - are certainly not the only suitable alignment curves.
That there is no generalization like “Baerwald/Löfgren is always best” suitable for all tonearms
This first came to my attention about 25 years back when I struggled to get the best possible sound from my Fidelity Research FR-64s. The manufacturer’s specs were sub-optimal and so were all alignments following any of the above mentioned “big 3”.
And all the templates I had - and I had all ever put to the market - suffered to optimize the FR-64s (most if not any were following Baerwald IEC of course) due to it’s “special” geometry.
There are a good many tonearms out there which do produce better results with an alignment not following Baerwald or Löfgren - as their geometrical design calls for different calculation to bring out their very best.
Another great example is the SAEC 506/30, which geometry indeed is optimized by it’s designers to play 10” records and singles !!

So - there is not “secret geometry” here, but I have indeed calculated some individual templates with a geometry different from their manufacturer’s specifications ( which I’ve found to be not correct or sub-optimal) and different from Baerwald, Löfgren or Stevenson calculations.
Not all, - but a good few.
This includes templates for the Talea 2 and the Reed 3Q.

One should always keep in mind, that every arc calculation is always a compromise. It is always a question of where to put the focus of attention.
IMHO it is quite important to focus the attention on the last 1/3rd of the groove.
There is good evident reason for this: most climax in symphonic music is towards the last minutes of a movement and thus most likely situated towards the inner label. Very vulnerable to distortion and miss-tracking - I guess many here have had their experiences and know what I am talking about.
Furthermore the radius of groove curve gets smaller towards the inner label - as such the “environmental conditions” for the stylus alignment towards the groove wall gets tougher by nature.
In other words: low distortion figures in the first 1/3 of a record is less important than in the last 1/3.
Most of my personal calculations do result in falling in between Baerwald and Löfgren B.
Each templates for the UNI-Protractor do come with a leaflet describing the individual calculation and it’s pro and cons for the user and gives clear recommendations what calculation to use what what tonearms and which purpose (old jazz-LPs, symphonic recordings and pressings from the 1950ies to 1970ies, records cut in what period et al).

The UNI-Protractor is an engineer’s approach and device to ensure for the user - with ease and easily repeatable precision - an optimized alignment. Easy, swift but reliable and universal by all means.
There will soon come 2 very nice options to further widen the possibilities and options of the UNI-Protractor which will go far beyond anything we have ever had before.
Stay tuned.
And I look forward to the first reports by fellow Audiogoners about the UNI-Protractor.
I for one will continue to supervise the production and the quality control of the UNI-Pro.
My own tonearm design is almost finished and will go into production in June 2011.
Cheers,
D.

Dear Nandric, dear Mesael, everybody actually holding the UNI-Protractor in hand and see and feel it's build and parts quality will agree, that the price-value ratio is rather one of the very best in audio. The production costs are serious and this is not made in China..... but in Germany. And the linear stage drive is a custom production - nothing off any shelf or catalogue.
Now does it pay off in terms of sonics?
Oh yeah.
Cheers,
D.

Dear Dertoarm, no complain on the pricing, but maybe you can extend the introductory price. I believe that most of the members here are on the state of "wait and see".

Regards,

.....it is quite important to focus the attention on the last 1/3rd of the groove.
There is good evident reason for this: most climax in symphonic music is towards the last minutes of a movement and thus most likely situated towards the inner label. Very vulnerable to distortion and miss-tracking ...

That's what's all about...in the last 10 years I had so many discussions from owners who had problems with distortions, sharp "S" vocals in voices and some of them found their peace with Arms which have huge deficits in the reproduction of the full swing. I never had that, I never thought about that because I always had the right adjustments. Much later when I thought about "these" problems & listening to originals from the 50's+60's AND reading a lot of information how they were recorded, mastered, I knew, there are the differences. We also have differences in Tonearm Geometry, most Buyers think, when they pay for it, they get a perfect calculated and designed product. Some are really great and some are different in Performance from day to day. Anyway, it was necessary to think about a product which serves well for a majority of Audiophiles who are really interested in a better analog performance. Independent from price, a good alignment is also mandatory for a Rega RB250 as well as for Davinci user, when he wants to listen to old records which ARE the Golden Age of Analog. Listening to 80gr Records from 1995 won't show big differences, but when going back with the proper alignment and you will listen to LSC-Pines of Rome, you will hear what's the differences in Tonearm Design. It is a time jump into a recording session made lots of years ago. This is probably a better investment than swapping cartridges, which won't show us anything new (at the end of day).
More important is, we spend our time after working to "listen". Maybe one or the other will listen to his records and they will "tell" him something completely new...

Good sound (or analog Performance) is sometimes based on a very simple Principle: Knowledge about >>what is responsible for what<< and Precision.

"Joel had considered the idea of providing a Mint protractor with the tonearm, but we see examples above of individuals who cannot relate to this wonderful tool."

I certainly can relate to this tool. I also can relate to the fact that with the supplied 10x loupe, with my cartridge, it is not practical as I can't get a good view of the cantilever. So it doesn't matter how accurate Mint may be. Of course with another type of loupe, it might work beautifully.

If Dertoarm's allow for easy view and the alignment is precise, I think it will be a hit. Plus, I've been wanting to try out Lofgren.