Using a mirrored protractor for cartridge alignment

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Tyler, Aug 18, 2017.

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  1. Tyler

    Tyler Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hawaii
    I purchased a mirrored protractor from sleeve city to align my new Ortofon 2M blue cartridge. Is it necessary to place the stylus directly on the protractor's null points, or does the parallax effect let you align just by looking at the bottom? I lowered the stylus of my existing cart onto the protractor and it slid right off the surface.

    This is my first attempt at swapping cartridges, I've almost always had the dealer do the installation.
     
  2. Davey

    Davey NP: Portishead ~ Portishead (1997)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Make sure anti-skate is turned off when you align cartridge to prevent movement. Yes, you need to align at the null points by adjusting both overhang and offset angle. I generally just use the free http://conradhoffman.com/TemplateGen.zip generator and print my own arc protractor for each tonearm/turntable, you just need to know the pivot to spindle distance in mm, makes it a lot easier since overhang and offset are separated.

    Here's a picture of one I just aligned, this a Clearaudio Satisfy tonearm using Lofgren A alignment, adjusted the overhang until the stylus followed the arc, then set the offset at one of the null points ...

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2017
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  3. Tyler

    Tyler Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hawaii
    It's the anti-skate that caused the stylus to slide, not the mirrored surface of the protractor. I'll make sure that's reset to zero. The protractor I'm using is a Baerwald, I bought one with the hole pre-drilled because I know I couldn't get the spindle hole perfectly centered from any paper protractor.

    Thanks for the tip!
     
  4. Davey

    Davey NP: Portishead ~ Portishead (1997)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    What you do for the spindle hole is just to use a sharp object like a sewing needle and punch closely spaced holes around the hole circumference on the printed line, then the center just pushes out with near perfect alignment...

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2017
  5. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    Nice idea, and ... You know that your anti skate works.
     
  6. Lenny

    Lenny Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Aligning with a simple two point protractor only is a very time consuming process. Better to have purchased a turntablebasics.com, or similar, mirrored protractor that has you first setting overhang (by moving the cartridge back and forth) before you set the null points by twisting the cartridge. Using your protractor, if you know that your protractor is Lofgren, for example, perhaps you can print out a Lofgren protractor with an overhang setting function, for which you do not need the mirror, and then turn to your protractor to set the null points, for which the mirror is a great help.

    That having been said, to set the null points with the mirrored protractor you should align 3 things at once: the cantilever, the line on the protractor and the refection of the cantilever.
     
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