Soundsmith cartridges are notorious for uneven channel balance. Fremer wrote about it in his Analog Corner a while ago. A friends of mine had a similar issue with his Soundsmith cart a few years ago. Apparently, Peter does not share the same opinion regarding channel balance in cartridges as many others do, i.e., he does not consider cartridges defective even if they exhibit differences in channel balance that many would consider unacceptable. I also have heard of problems with Fozgometer accuracy, but it just might be your cartridge.
Setting Azimuth
Details:
VPI Scoutmaster
JMW 9 standard tonearm
Soundsmith Zephyr cartridge band new
Using a Fozgometer and Hi Fi News Test LP both also brand new
I'm measuring at the interconnects off the turntable.
I cannot seem to achieve a proper azimuth that will give even channel balance. The only adjustment on this tonearm is the counterweight which is weighted a the bottom so turning it side to side should effect azimuth. Only extreme changes are affecting channel balance. I changed the interconnects in case they were causing the problem, but I get the same results. The right channel is a few decibels louder no matter what I do to the azimuth unless I make an extreme adjustment which has the tonearm cocked to one side and obviously this is not correct.
VPI Scoutmaster
JMW 9 standard tonearm
Soundsmith Zephyr cartridge band new
Using a Fozgometer and Hi Fi News Test LP both also brand new
I'm measuring at the interconnects off the turntable.
I cannot seem to achieve a proper azimuth that will give even channel balance. The only adjustment on this tonearm is the counterweight which is weighted a the bottom so turning it side to side should effect azimuth. Only extreme changes are affecting channel balance. I changed the interconnects in case they were causing the problem, but I get the same results. The right channel is a few decibels louder no matter what I do to the azimuth unless I make an extreme adjustment which has the tonearm cocked to one side and obviously this is not correct.