Cartridge Alignment Protractors: Worth Buying?

I have a Technics SL-D303 with a Shure M75ED Type 2, I'm an occasional user and have good hear but not see myself as 'audiophile'. This means paying 200 or 300 bucks to align my cartridge is out of question.

The question is whether there is any difference between those free on vinylengine.com printed at home and those pressed in plastic or cardboard selling for 10 bucks on E-bay?

Given my cartridge, is there a specific protractor I need to be using in trying to address sibilance/distortion?

Thanks
Floyd

 

For me it's either get a real protractor which will be a lot more than that, or use the ones on vinyl engine. It really depends on how ofter you change carts and your experience and comfort level with it.

 

The thing about those printable protractors is you must be certain the "dot pitch" of your printer software is precise with regards to real world lengths. So you get what you pay for. I didn't start getting good results until I ponied up for the Feickert Universal Protractor. Sure, it's much more than $5-10, but it works really well and is easy to use. Oh, and it really is universal.

 

You guys were quick! I've made some changes to my question and added "I have a 'Shure M75ED Type 2' cartridge on my Technics SL-D303. Is there a specific protractor I need to be using in trying to address sibilance/distortion?". Thanks so much!

 

OK. I'm not that high-end! I have a humble Technics SL-D303 with a Shure M75ED Type 2, I'm an occasional user and have good hear but not see myself as 'audiophile', so paying 200 or 300 bucks to align my cartridge I won't be. Still, between those free printed at home and those pressed in plastic or cardboard, is there any difference?

 

The best thing you can do is learn how to use the Conrad Hoffman protractor program, which is free. If you want a fancier version of what that program makes at home, you can go to a copy shop and get them to print it on thicker paper, laminate it, etc.

 

some may think it's a waste of money but the free cardboard protractors only get you about 80% of the way to proper set up. Use the paper one first then use this to see how far off you were. This is the one I use to ensure proper overhang relative to the pivot.

 

For me it's Feickert or f*&# it!

 

We're talking about sub-millimeter accuracy to get the best alignment. Printing something at home without being sure that the scale is 100% bang on will produce less than stellar results.

 

That is why you measure the reference lines if you are unsure about the accuracy of your printer. Most decent protractors include a reference line of a specified length.

 

The drawback of tools like this is they rely on determining the precise location of the tonearm pivot point. If your tonearm lends itself to that, you should be able to get accurate results. If not, it will be off, because you're just eyeballing the pivot. So it's not a universal solution and not superior to printable protractors in all cases, despite what people want to believe.

 

I had to find this out the hard way. My tone arm bearing is concealed, making this protractor unusable. If you have an exposed bearing, or can locate the pivot point easily, this is a nice tool. I now stick with my hoffman printouts, and I verify the scale using calipers, I am able to get it with +/-.05mm

 

Measuring by eye to get sub-millimeter accuracy for something that comes out of a consumer grade printer is a fools errand IMHO. DIY paper protractors are worth what they cost

 

I don't disagree but that is the beauty of the tool is it's ability to triangulate the three points of spindle, arm pivot and stylus overhang against a tonearm pivot that does have to be determined accurately. The protractor provides a more precise method of measuring arm pivot to stylus. It's quick to use and you don't have to worry about off-center spindle holes and getting free paper protractors mounted on firm cardboard etc. To me it's a lifetime investment and invaluable for someone who swaps out carts and tonearms frequently.

 

Alignment does't have much to do with the cartridge. It's a geometry thing that is based on the the distance of the tonearm pivot to the spindle center. So just any protractor you purchase will be an approximation unless it was made specifically with these dimensions used to generate it. The Feikert positions the null points based on the distance from the spindle to the center of the pivot. I use a Wally Tractor that has the correct geometry for my Rega turntables. The Wally Tractor is no longer being made. But the Mint Ultimate Tractor is similar. It's not cheap, it's about half the price of a Feikert. The difference is that it specific to the geometry of the turntable.

You asked if the those on Vinyl Engine were different from the preprinted. The answer is yes they are different. But they are also approximations. The best you can do on a $10 budget is the Conrad Hoffman program. It allows you input the geometry and it generates the correct arc. You really can't tell what geometry is used with Vinyl Engine downloads unless your specific turntable is mentioned. And I do not see the SL-D303 listed.
http://www.conradhoffman.com/TemplateGen.zip

 

I understand the benefit of the Feickert protractor for those that want to spend money on one and have a turntable (or turntables) suited to it. It's not relevant for OP, because it's not in OP's budget. OP can get reasonably accurate results with the CH program, if certain precautions are taken re: printing.

 

Yep. People often fail to mention this caveat. So if you bought one and have a concealed pivot, you now have a $300 paperweight. Yet people still can't stop yammering on about how great this thing is and that everyone should have one, regardless of turntable or OP's budget.

 

The plastic ones are (or at least should be presumed to be) exact, durable, and convenient. Having said that, if you print the appropriate protractor at very high DPI on very dense paper, you are set. The nice thing about the ones on VE are that you can input any value for any variable, so once you measure your TT arm length and pivot and all that, you can be confident you're dealing with the right measurements.
My Technics came with an overhang gauge, and it was SO different than what I came up with using the protractor, I couldn't understand the difference. Both sounded fine, but I ended up going with the gauge - I figured the engineers at Technics probably know what they are doing.

 

Here you go..... Ortofon Cartridge Alignment Gauge

It's Baerwald alignment and made of plastic not paper.

 

Keep in mind this is primarily for azimuth. The way they're suggesting you can use this to set overhang is a laborious exercise in trial and error.

 

You are forgetting that your definition of accuracy is predicated on the (probably incorrect) assumption that the limiting factor is the protractor. You'd need to have measured your tonearm and spindle distance at least as accurately and taken VTA into account as well to blame the protractor as the weakest link. If two rulers don't like up, which one is wrong?
A final point I'd make is that ALL protractors seek to minimize unequal tracking at this point or that...and depending which method you prefer your stylus could be anywhere within an area many mm across. It's all relative, so absolute position is actually quite flexible in terms of overal sound quality.

 

I think perhaps you missed my point. I was simply pointing out that a printed millimeter might not equal a literal millimeter and the available tools (something like a ruler) might not have the granularity to ensure accuracy when adjusting the dot pitch to compensate. Again, protractors printed on consumer printers are worth what you pay for them.

 

Yes, I absolutely agree with you there. Having said that, if you scale the image properly and print at high resolution on suitable paper, there is no reason you can't get good results. You just need to actually measure the printed protractor with a good ruler to confirm if it's accurate.

 

Probably the best solution - tedious, but accurate.