Cartridge alignment, WallyTractor, SmartTractor, oscilloscope and Analogmaigk.


I am building my new system in my second home in the US which I use only when I go to the US to work, and I will not have the benefit of having my partner and analog guru with me when I set up my table there. 

To be clear she much rather have a new cartridge, tonearm, table or phono amp than nice jewelry, shoes or dresses, and 2 of the best hifi stores in the area are always asking for her opinion and sometimes to set up tables. 
Until now, all I had to do was to put my record on the table of her choice, and enjoy the music. 

 During our dinner with her, we were discussing,  what should I be doing and what tools to bring with me. I am an a mathematician  and work with electrical engineers so I understand numbers so I like the idea of an oscilloscope and Analogmagik and I have done quite a few setups with the WallyTractor before I met her, but she swears by the SmartTractor and claims that the SmartTractor is more accurate, simpler and flexible.

My question then is, what is your opinion on the 2 protractors?
Please do  not add another different one, I am not going to buy another one. :) 

In her opinion the  UNI  alignment is superior to the new record in the Wally, and since pivot to spindle is never identical, the SmartTractor does a better job as it actually takes into account for those imperfections/discrepancies in the spindle to pivot distances, while the Wally does not. 

If I am going to face the firing squad, I want to have some good different concepts.

I apologize for my English, until a few months ago I never discussed Hifi in English. 


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Showing 3 responses by millercarbon

That protractor is one seriously impressive looking piece of kit for sure.

Now stop and think a moment about what it is doing. 

The hole on the left centers and fixes it on the spindle. The arm with the vertical rod precisely aligns the grid with the arms pivot point. This assures both precise overhang (axial mark) and alignment (tangential marks) with the extra parallel axial marks also aiding in setting alignment.

Okay. Great. Do this and you are perfect. No doubt about it.

But, wait! Why are there only these few alignment grids? Well, because the arm pivots. It swings on an axis. One degree left or right, everything changes. All your expensively and painstakingly acquired alignment goes right out the window!

This strikes me as an awful lot of bother for something you will only hear for those few seconds per side when the stylus crosses those null points.

Still, it would be totally worth it - if it made any difference we could hear. If we put on a record and it sounds funny, then better and better until right at the null point it sounds great! But then it gets bad again.... You get the idea. This never happens. Nobody ever in the history of playing records- we're talking millions of people, over a hundred years- not a one ever complained about hearing this.

Well, the tangential arm guys sometimes talk about it. They are so proud of their having a whole different set of problems! But even they never really complained about hearing the sound vary across a record. No one does.

I've tried. The velocity at the outside of a record is greater than at the inside. Higher velocity results in greater clarity, better detail. Always. This I can hear. Miniscule changes in cartridge bolt torque? This I can hear. No problem. Side bias? Yes, when it is dialed in the image is more solid. This I can hear. 

Tracking error changing the sound across the record? This I cannot hear. 

Can you? Would love to hear about it. While you're at it, would really, really love to know why you kept this a secret for so long?

The trick to dynamic SRA is to listen. Only way.

A rack that massive, the mass itself is so much inertia it will not move very fast even if the floor does. Mine is about that massive and I have seen it. Before when it was on cones I could stomp on the floor and the rack would move fast, sometimes enough to skip. Now the whole rack on Pods will sway so slowy, it is like 1Hz, so slow that even if large amplitude (like 1-2cm) records play just fine. My Origin Live Enterprise arm has a side bias weight that dangles on fishing line. It is spooky to see the rack swaying back and forth while the side bias weight hangs straight down not swinging at all because the motion is so smooth and slow.

 

 

Honestly, seriously high quality cartridge alignment can be done with a free download found on-line printed on a piece of paper. The only thing you will then be missing is the paper is thinner than a record. So you tape the paper on a record. 

 

I am not kidding. This is exactly what the MoFi Geo-Disk is, only the MoFi is the right thickness and includes all the sight lines and directions printed right on it. I have used mine several times on 3 different arms, three different tables, and 5 different cartridges, always resulting in beautiful imaging, which is the key benefit of quality alignment.

 

Unfortunately no one who has spent a thousand dollars is ever going to admit the paper is just as good. Also no audiophile worth his salt is ever going to let on that turntable setup is really not that hard. So I know this will fall on deaf ears. Especially your guru. She will give you the most withering look, I just know it. 

 

So since I know you will disregard this sage advice here is what I recommend, if you are up to it. Print the alignment paper and hide it away somewhere. Then when you are done fiddling and twiddling and agonizing over the scope and test records, everything at last is perfect, pull out the piece of paper.

 

Place it on the platter. Set the stylus down on the mark. Notice how it falls exactly where it should. Because no matter how complicated you make it, if done right it will always be just like this.

 

We now return you to our regularly scheduled program.