To LP Listeners: Fozgometer Experiences...


I am considering purchasing a Fozgometer V2 to verify/improve my cartridge’s azimuth.

Questions:

  1. Which Fozgometer do you own – V1 or V2?
  2. Did you find it easy to use?
  3. Which Test LP did you use (the AP “analogue Test LP” is recommended)?
  4. Did it make a meaningful difference in the set-up of your cartridge?
  5. Did it make a meaningful difference in the SQ of your LPs?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

 

 
 
inagroove

Since you haven’t yet made a purchase, I will offer the advice to save your money and to set azimuth so that the stylus tip sits symmetrically in the groove, which is usually such that azimuth equals 90 degrees, or no tilt with respect to the plane parallel to the LP surface. And you’re done.  This is why we survived so many decades without azimuth adjustment; it’s most often detrimental. Any azimuth angle above or below 90 degrees with respect to the groove walls results in aberrant wear on the stylus tip and premature damage to both stylus and LP. Surprisingly, one can live happily without equal crosstalk in both channels, which is the worst that can happen only if the internal structure of the cartridge is not perfectly symmetrical.

Not required with quality cartridges.  Many people assume that adjusting azimuth will improve channel imbalance.  Not true- usually the result of a worn stylus or defective cartridge. 

Bought V1 when it was first put on the market. It was easy to use but imo, not worth it.

Azimuth adjustment does not have much effect on channel balance, actually, and it is not good practice to adjust channel balance by changing azimuth. Azimuth affects crosstalk primarily, the amount of the R channel information that leaks into the L channel, and vice-versa.

I once experimented to see how azimuth affects channel balance, using my Triplanar tonearm and a Signet Cartridge Analyzer which reads out channel balance and crosstalk in db, and a proper test LP.  Results showed that the most extreme azimuth angle I could achieve, an angle you never would live with because it would obviously cause distortion, stylus damage, and LP damage, had a 2db effect on channel balance. Much better to use a balance control or to find out why you have an imbalance in the first place and fix that.