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Setting Azimuth

Details:
VPI Scoutmaster
JMW 9 standard tonearm
Soundsmith Zephyr cartridge band new
Using a Fozgometer and Hi Fi News Test LP both also brand new
I'm measuring at the interconnects off the turntable.
I cannot seem to achieve a proper azimuth that will give even channel balance. The only adjustment on this tonearm is the counterweight which is weighted a the bottom so turning it side to side should effect azimuth. Only extreme changes are affecting channel balance. I changed the interconnects in case they were causing the problem, but I get the same results. The right channel is a few decibels louder no matter what I do to the azimuth unless I make an extreme adjustment which has the tonearm cocked to one side and obviously this is not correct.
arnold_layne
actusreus
733 posts
 
Stringreen,
The CI allows minute adjustments without disturbing the counterweight. As I'm sure you know, VTF and azimuth changes on a VPI tonearm can be quite painstaking as fractional adjustments are very difficult. You still need to dial everything in quite closely, but the CI makes it much easier to make that final adjustment, whether it's your initial setup or not.
tketcham
291 posts
 
Hi, Arnold; before you come to a conclusion about the Fozgometer you need to eliminate other possibilities. Have you tried switching the RCA leads from the CD player during the calibration test to see if the CDP has equal signal output? Switch RCA leads and set the meter to zero (with RW1) playing test tone track 1. Then, using test tone track 3 (to account for the reversed RCA connections) set the right meter to 20. If the CDP is correct and the Fozgometer is off, test track 2 should put the meter slightly below 20 as before. If the CDP is off the meter should read slightly above 20 since you calibrated for a lower output coming out of the left channel.

Regards,
Tom
arnold_layne OP
141 posts
 
What I'm going to do is let the cartridge break in. Then I'll attempt to fine tune the azimuth again. I've ordered the SS Counter-Intuitive as I've wanted one anyways. I agree it should make minute and repeatable adjustments possible. This arm also does not allow the rotating of the side weights for azimuth adjustment like some of the other JMW arms. I like this turntable, but the JMW 9 basic arm is frustrating. I'd love to put a 10.5 arm with adjustable VTA on it but not sure how if it could mount on this turntable.

STeve
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Agree with Actusreus re the CI. I own the VPI Classic and had always found adjusting azimuth and VTF nightmarish. But the CI changed all that. I believe that with the use of a tiny featherweight bubble level, I can adjust azimuth almost perfectly. Interestingly, VTF cnanges very slightly over the disc -- from outer edge to inner edge near the spindle. I suspect this is because of the timy force exerted by the tonearm wire twist used to make a rough justice AS adjustment.
lewm
13,787 posts
 
Wow! You got a lot of response in a short time. I am too lazy to read them all, but the answer, as far as I am concerned, is that azimuth is NOT a way to change channel balance, if you are talking about the output of each channel. Azimuth has very little effect on output, as you have discovered. Azimuth affects crosstalk, the amount of information in the R channel that leaks into the L channel, and vice-versa. And adjusting azimuth is done to minimize crosstalk. Period.
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