"Making Mono" for checking Azimuth

You don't need mono... or test records.

Fact: inaccurate azimuth increases crosstalk between channels.

Fact: increasing crosstalk "fattens" sonic images, making instruments/vocalists sound wider or fatter than they should.

Fact: our ears are most sensitive to the directionality of upper midrange sounds.

Therefore: we can best hear azimuth changes in live instruments and voices (because we innately know how big they should sound) in the upper registers (the range our ears are most sensitive to).

So, choose records with a well-recorded female vocalist and/or prominent, upper-range acoustic instruments (flutes, clarinets, oboes, acoustic guitar, etc.). Listen for the tightest imaging. A vocalist should sound human sized. A flute should sound flute sized. A guitar should sound like a small, hand-held instrument, not a billboard.

Technical note: azimuth adjustments must be made in VERY TINY INCREMENTS, the smallest possible adjustments your tonearm allows. Start by making the stylus appear vertical when viewed from the front whilst playing, then listen for the above and adjust in tiny steps. Try both directions until the image sounds as tight as possible.

Peter,

I haven't used the SME and from your description I think truly fine tuning azimuth may be difficult. The adjustments needed are on the order of 1-2 degrees at most.

The easiest and most repeatable designs I've used are of two types:
- TriPlanar, Kuzma Airline: loosen two set screws along the armtube; adjust azimuth with a third, finely-threaded screw that rotates the armtube (1/24th of a turn makes an audible difference); retighten the set screws.
- Durand Talea: rotate a finely-threaded screw that moves a magnet toward/away from a second, fixed magnet that's located above the arm pivot; the opposing magnetic fields hold the armtube at a fixed angle, varying with the distance between the magnets.

The Talea's is the best I've used and unique. It's the only arm I know of that allows azimuth adjustment on-the-fly. This lets you hear exactly what you're doing, a great feature. It's a great arm generally, sonically head and shoulders above either the TP or the Airline IME.

Good technical advice from Almarg, as usual. I tend to avoid technical measurements if listening will do, since for me listening to music is more fun and I can perform most adjustments that way... but as always, YEMV (Your Ears May Vary!).

Cousinbilly1,

The styli on even the best cartridges may vary 2-3 degrees from vertical (per JCarr of Lyra, who once posted candidly about manufacturing tolerances). It wouldn't be surprising if cutting styli varied similarly.

Aren't you glad you have the ears and gear to hear the difference? Welcome to the Yellow Sticky Note Club! <:~)

By all means start saving for the Telos... and ship the Talea II to us for the extended evaluation it deserves. ;)

Agree I'm very lucky to have Paul, and red wine too!

***
My blushes, Almarg!

I concur with Stringreen, except to note that even the best cartridge manufacturers' styli may vary from vertical by 2-3 degrees (see above). Therefore, levelling the headshell for azimuith is somewhat like levelling the armtube for SRA: it's not an unreasonable place to begin but in a resolving system it's not the place to stop either.

When feasible, my own preference is always to adjust what matters, which is the attitude of the STYLUS in the GROOVE.

Lew,

I'll wager that guru made more pronouncements than cartridges. ;)

Yes, I've compared adjusting by listening vs. adjusting by measurement. I used to use a Wally Analog Shop (which allows measurement of crosstalk at the amp outputs using 1 KHz test tones). While using that, I learned that I could adjust by ear just as accurately and faster.

Peter,

Sorry for the thread-jackings and I wish I had something useful to suggest. Like Lewm's guru, SME's original tonearm designers tended to assume perfection in cartridges. Their arms lack the easy adjustability of all parameters that's typical of newer designs from other manufacturers. Build quality, finish and ease of use are excellent, but complete adjustability was evidently not a design priority.