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Multiple arms, multiple cartridges and geometry?

I have read the debates regarding the benefits of different tonearm geometries......Lofgren A and B, Baerwald, Stevenson etc....and I appreciate the benefits of choosing where, on the vinyl record, one wishes to have the least spread of distortion.
I also have read where certain arms seem to perform better with one or other of these geometries?

I have two turntables with three different arms on each one and I have a total of over twenty five different cartridges.
Four of those arms have removable headshells and twenty of my cartridges are mounted on their own headshells ready for installation into any of those four tonearms.
How then.......can I have different geometries for each arm if I don't wish to re-align a cartridge within its headshell depending on the arm in which its installed?
Surely......I must select a single geometry for all my arms so that the cartridges fixed to their headshells....are truly interchangeable?
128x128halcro
dover
2,262 posts
 
Henry, this reminds me of an experience with the Cello Pallette equaliser, where in the hands on a record producer it was a very good tool for poorly mixed records and did give more insight and enjoyment from the music.
I would have thought that if you find the optimum arm for each cartridge, then just switch those combinations - much less stress and dare I say it a move towards minimalism.
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Dear Henry, So far as I can overlook our members only Thuchan and Raul will really understand your effort. The rest of us can only repeat after Hawking ('History of time'): 'to many variables'.

Regards,
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Addition. With so many variables one can forget about the
constants. Why do you assume 'constant records' while the distance between the modulated inner groove and the spindle is variable? What is the sense of '0' point at an position on the record with no modulated grooves? I thought that
the different tonearm geometries are about those 'o' points. Ie we are supposed to have the choice among them. That is to say where on the record we want them.
My idea is to have Stivenson and Bearwald and then select
one of them by each LP depending from the mentioned distance.

Regards,
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,389 posts
 
Halcro,

No worse I suppose then me having to pick a room to listen in. I had in wall speaker wires run to 5 rooms and my deck when my house was built. Instead of swapping carts, I have to run downstairs and select the room on the speaker switch. I suppose we all appear to be nuts to most.

Now I also have two systems in two rooms, a table radio in a third, and a tablet device and two laptops connected to my music server. My wife goes nuts trying to figure out where the music is coming from at any given time and usually how to turn it down!
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Dear Nikola,
Thuchan and Raul will really understand your effort.
Now that you've pointed it out........I realise how in the minority I really am?!

But what is this....changing the geometry to match the record??!
When you are telling me that this is what YOU do.......then I might think about it?
On the other hand......no I won't :-)

But you once wrote a very telling post which I remember very well.........you said:-
If there are two 'null' points on every side of a vinyl record where the cartridge is in perfect geometrical alignment.......why don't we jump up and shout "Eureka" when we hear these two magical moments on each side?

And the answer is.............

Kind Regards
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