Fozgometer

TKetchum...you evidently got a good one, or mine was made on Friday, just before a holiday. The first week I had the car, the exhaust system fell off....I found a wire hanger and crawled under the car and wired it in until I could get it to the dealer. The hood was designed (or not, but this did always happened) ...when taking it out in the rain, water would splash under the car and be routed into the 4 deep spark plug recesses, which would ground out the electrical system, and the car would stop. I had to carry a turkey baster to suck out the water..would be good for a block or 2....also, my car had brakes made from components from Girling and Bendix which didn't quite fit...it would suck air every time you stepped on the brake. I remember riding to NJ from Lime Rock Connecticut using only the hand brake. I could go on..but you get the idea.

The fozgometer is a PIA to use, and so is setting azimuth by ear.

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?9097-Azimuth-adjustment-the-easy-way

Optimizing Arms are a PITA no matter what approach, but the
end result should be pleasing to YOUR ear!

VTA/SRA and azimuth optimum setup tools only go so far, best to fine tune by ear in the end. IMO YMMV!

I believe the Foz is a very worthwile tool, even though it hit the fan recently with negative reviews. The difference when properly done to eyeballing, or setting by ear is quite large.

The Feickert software is hassle free and you can see the relationship between crosstalk and phase and have the choice to align to either.

If minimal crosstalk is your goal and you don't have either a mono switch or special test gear, and you don't want to accidentally break your cartridge tags by trying to invert one channel, try this technique for fun.

Use ONE of the -20db pink noise test tracks from the HFNRR disc (or a 1KHz Xtalk track from the Ultimate Analogue Disc).

Listen only to one of those tracks but first disconnect the I/C for the "active" channel so that you are only listening to the "crosstalk channel".
One of the good things about your ears is that unlike test gear they can easily discriminate between random noise, surface noise & pink noise so gauging the level of the crosstalk signal is not a problem.
Crank up the volume of the silent channel until you can hear the crosstalk clearly then progressively adjust by ear for minimum cross-channel bleed.

One thing you will notice is that surface noise on the 25 second test track will become eerily quiet when you hit the sweet spot. (At least in the case of a line contact stylus)

If you try this method with headphones you may have to crank the volume up quite a bit before you hear any crosstalk at all. It can be done with both channels driven but not quite so easily. A useful side-effect is that you will notice the volume or presence increase on the active channel (yes, even with pink noise) when it hits the sweet spot, coinciding with a minimum in the other.