Need advice from Triplanar mk.7 owners

Doug,

I spoke to Tri Mai already. Though I am not sure he has seen my pics, he mentioned that this "imperfection" is normal. Now I am confused...

Aha! Now I see the problem. Of course this explains why the azimuth adjustment pin needs to be angled so.

This shouldn't be acceptable in an arm at this price point.

I answered an email from Salavat before spotting this thread and suggested that if the arm is new he contact his dealer for warranty service. If the arm was bought used from a non-dealer he should contact Tri Mai directly.

Repair is undoubtedly a simple adjustment involving the piece Nandric described, but that's a job for Tri Mai. For an owner to torque the arm tubes and connectors would risk bearing damage and/or marring the finish.

Sorry for bad picks here are 4 more, clearly showing some vertical alignment off... BTW, I saw another Triplanar today and that arm was just slightly off...

http://img188.imageshack.us/i/73218330.jpg/
http://img188.imageshack.us/i/51703396.jpg/
http://img515.imageshack.us/i/90957690.jpg/
http://img515.imageshack.us/i/13508424.jpg/

Doug, it looks to me as if the entire pinch clamp is rotated on the arm stub toward the arm rest. The second picture shows this pretty well. If this is the case the pin could look to be closer to one stop or the other whether the AZ is perpendicular or not. It is hard to tell since the cart end is out of focus. Anyway, it does appear that there is enough movement to get AZ right.

Salavat,There is an black plastic cap on the block that connects the(front) armtube with the back-side tube. Underneath this cap there must be some kind of srew that
'allows' the 'centering' of the block on the backside tube.
Sorry for my 'terminology' but this is my assumtion. I had
a similar problem with my 'model VI' but was reluctant to
'correct' this myself. But my Triplanar (then)had an,say,very small 'deviation' from vertical.No idea if this
causes any functional problems but the most of ua,I assume,
regard this arm as a 'work of art' so I can undestand your even,say,'aesthetic worry'. If so you should,I think,return
the arm for 'correction'. I.e. one should be fully satisfied with this tonearm.
Regards,

The arm looks normal to me, though the user obviously hasn't centered the azimuth adjustment.

The first photo (when maximized on screen) clearly shows that the pin is adjusted to a position that's WAY anti-clockwise from vertical.

The threads on the adjusting screw are skewed in the same direction. It would be odd if they were otherwise. If the adjustment were changed to make the pin more nearly vertical, the threads would be more even (necessarily).

If this is really where the OP's setup needs to be for proper azimuth, which I doubt, the problem is with the cartridge, not the tonearm.

***
The antiskate tracks on the HiFi News LP are not tests you're trying to pass. They're SUPPOSED to create R channel distortion. Adjusting your rig to eliminate that distortion (if you could) would result in FAR too much AS and VTF.

The best use for that LP is as a Frisbee, preferably one that you throw once and never find again. Learn to adjust your rig by listening to the music you play, not with poorly designed test records that contain amplitudes your rig will rarely if ever experience with real music.

Hi, Mine is like Dan_ed's. Slight tilted outward.

Dan_ed,

Thanks for reply. What puzzles me that on fotos I found in the net that base looks exactly vertically aligned. No idea whatsofar.....

FWIW, my Triplanar is "off" but not to the same extent as yours. I mean, I can see with my naked eye that things are slightly tilted outward as is yours. Just not tilted as far as yours.
I'm not sure that it makes any difference in sound as long as you can get sufficient tilt to get az correct. It comes down to how much space is left on either side of the little post that sticks up on the arm and where the stops lay with this tilt. Maybe Doug or Thom will have a different take.

As for the HF test record. Just put that LP back on the shelf and forget about it for AS. Your results are pretty typical, and many have found setting AS with the test tracks is pretty useless. Just listen for mistracking in the right channel.

recommend you contact member Dougdeacn our resident Tri-P expert, but that sure does not look right to me.