Aligning Tone Arm

Managed to get my tonearm horribly out of adjustment. The cartidge is properly aligned in the headshell. The manual arm lifter is not an issue.

The problem is the height of the arm. It can slide up and down and pivot left and right. I don't see the pivot being an issue, as long as the arm is able to move freely on either extreme (centre groove or resting in lifter).

I've heard that the arm should be parallel to the record's surface when playing. Is this true and , if so, how does one level it? Am I on the right track (no pun intended).

Systemdek II with Grace 707.

 

First of all, if you get this adjustment wrong, relax. It won't hurt anything.

For the best sound you need to have it aligned so that the "rake angle" (VTA) of the playback stylus matches that of the groove. Unfortunately despite attempts at standardizing this, records will not all be the same. You'll just have to use your ears, if it matters to you.

To my ears, it does make a difference, but it's subtle enough to be difficult to adjust. Having the tonearm parallel to the record surface is a good starting point.

 

Thanks Steve,

Have also found useful info at www.vinylengine.com including a downloaded copy of the G707 manual, something I've never had. From what I'm reading cartidge alignment is the most critical.

BG

 

The Wallytractor is THE best cartridge alignment device I've ever used and I've tried just about all of 'em. HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended. Wally also has quite few alignment tools for various needs.

 

A few notes.
Lots of things need to be in alignment - one of the things I miss with CDs.
1. start with the tonearm level with vinyl surface.
2. Before you start this step, DON"T FULLY TIGHTEN/LOOSEN ANY CARTRIDGE SCREWS WITH THE ARM ON THE TURNTABLE - REMOVE THE ARM FIRST. Loosen cartridge screws slightly to allow slight cartridge movement. Align the cartridge in the headshell with a cartridge protractor - this will help you align it front to back, and rotationally in the headshell. It takes a long time to get this just so. The Mobile Fidelity Geodisc was good for this also. Can the 707 headshell be twisted on the arm tube (check manual) If so, the stylus cantilever should be perpendicular to the vinyl surface when viewed from the front.
3. Correct tracking and antiskating forces (I would suggest the maximum initially, and possibly reduce a little later when fully aligned).
4. Arm height adjustment usually needs slight correcting around parallel. Moving the tonearm pivot slightly up usually brightens the sound, down dulls it. At one point, the soundstage will snap into focus and tonal balance should be just right - this is the correct height for that cartridge (and varies according to the stylus cantilever angle.)
Remove tone arm from table and tighten the cartridge screws tightly.
The above steps should be repeated until they are all optimised. Lots of precision work, but fun. Take care of the stylus. DO IT SLOWLY. Work with bare arms, not fabric (sylus remover)

 

Er, fun? Maybe when you're younger!
Comes a time....

 

Jim Ricketts wrote:

The Wallytractor is THE best cartridge alignment device I've ever used .


I reply:

Absolutely! The WallyTractor makes alignment pretty simple. And the distribution of them is now much better than it used to be. Red Trumpet is the distributor these days.

However, I don't think that Wally has them "made up" for the Grace 707 since most of them have been long-retired. There may be a wait to get one.

The alignment tool that I was NEVER able to get working was that MoFi GeoDisc. It depends on you being able to find the absolute center of the arm bearing, something that I was never able to do on my tonearm.

 

Unless your arm had an offset gimbal bearing (like the Australian JH Audiolab gimbal arm), aim for the vertical post supporting the gimbal (Breuer and Grace arms should be easy). Even with the Linn arms, you could aim at the tonearm wires coming down through the centre of the bearing. It was a lot easier than the 2 point protractor method, although that worked very well also, if time consuming.
The ridge also made it easy to start with an arm parallel to the disc surface.

 

IIRC, with a "classic" Grado cartridge, if you aligned all of the right-angled surfaces correctly, the cartridge would be properly aligned. In other words, if the front and sides were at a perfect 90 degree angle to the vinyl, then it was installed correctly.

My Shure V15V-MR came with a protractor that worked with the stylus assembly removed. The cartridge body fit into a plastic "pocket". Worked well!

My protractor is now over 20 years old (!)--it was made by Dennesen, and was called the Soundtractor, if I recall. I'd bought the plastic $35 model, not the $100 all-metal model the dealer used.

As for arm height, my V15V also came with a plastic alignment piece you put in place of the stylus, to make sure the cartridge was properly shimmed. The headshell on my Grace G707II is slightly off, but hard as I've been daring to try, I've never been able to rotate it on the shaft. (The shims under the mounting flange of the cartridge did the trick.) While this plastic piece is inserted, I believe you put a bubble level on top of the tonearm and level it out at that height.

Shure definitely went to great lengths to make that model easy to align. It's an early 80's model, so I have no clue if the revived V15V model ships with the same setup aids.