To LP Listeners: Fozgometer Experiences...

No human eye can accurately set a stylus perfectly at 90 degrees inside a record groove. You can get close visually, but there will always be microscopic deviation. And that tiny deviation matters far more than many people realize.

One of the posters here correctly mentioned that azimuth error does not simply shift channel balance. The real issue is microscopic crosstalk between channels. Information from the left channel slightly bleeds into the right, and vice versa. You usually cannot “fix” this with amplifier balance control because the problem is not balance — it is loss of focus.

The easiest way to hear it is on drums and rhythm sections. When azimuth is precisely adjusted, drum hits become sharply focused, bass articulation improves, and the entire rhythmic structure gains clarity and precision. Even a tiny stylus deviation can soften this focus.

The best analogy is camera focus. If you take a DSLR and achieve perfect focus, then slightly rotate the focus ring even by a tiny amount, the entire image immediately loses sharpness. Vinyl playback behaves in a very similar way.

The problem is that visual alignment is not enough. First, the eye simply cannot accurately detect such tiny angular deviations. Second, even expensive cartridges often do not have the stylus mounted perfectly relative to the cartridge body itself. The body may appear visually straight while the stylus is microscopically off-axis. And don't forget: the important thing is not to place the stylus properly, but to place the needle in the groove.

This becomes especially interesting on tonearms without azimuth adjustment. Even famous high-end tonearms such as the SME V assume ideal manufacturing tolerances: a perfectly mounted cartridge, a perfectly machined tonearm, and perfect geometry. But in real-world conditions, microscopic deviations still exist.

I personally had a case where a Lyra Kleos cartridge measured noticeably off during AnalogMagik calibration. The correction ended up requiring an extremely thin plastic shim under one side of the cartridge mounting screws — something that looks almost ridiculous on a serious high-end setup. Yet the improvement in focus and articulation was dramatic enough that the client was genuinely shocked.

That is why tools such as Fozgometer and programs like AnalogMagik are so valuable. Today, AnalogMagik has largely replaced older Fozgometers, but the principle remains the same: proper azimuth calibration cannot be done reliably by eye alone.

And BTW - Fozgometer itself needs calibration too.

I have a dedicated thread on this forum where I discuss analog setup techniques, cartridge alignment, turntable calibration, and various topics in vinyl playback optimization. Feel free to ask questions there.

Audiogon Discussion Forum

@colossalsound 

"No human eye can accurately set a stylus perfectly at 90 degrees inside a record groove. You can get close visually, but there will always be microscopic deviation. And that tiny deviation matters far more than many people realize."

Doesn't matter, you can do it visually with a $15 tool and it can easily be verified with a fixed frequency LP test track with each channel recorded out of phase. Simply throw your preamps mono switch and if the azimuth is correct, you'll have a complete "null" or silence. A bayonet head shell usually has enough play once the collar is loosened to make the necessary adjustment. Other tonearm designs with fixed head shells usually have a set screw at the back of the arm near the gimbal so it can be rotated slightly to make the adjustment. You don't really need to over think these things or spend!

I'm quite surprised at some of the responses here. I have to agree with @colossalsound 100%. Oddly enough I also setup my Lyra Kleos with a fozgometer and test record (after assuring perfect alignment with a MintLP protractor and a USB microscope) Johnathan Carr himself has instructed that Lyra cartridges are sensitive to even the slightest adjustments. I found also that the instruments came into better focus in the soundstage and the center image was locked as if there were three speakers in my two channel setup. Friends who have listened to my rig swore that there was a speaker somewhere in my audio rack located between my speakers and actually got up to investigate. Pretty comical.

If you look at the meter on the foz when measuring each channel separately it is obvious when the azimuth is not set correctly. Using a cheap tool to align the head shell or the cartridge body to the platter is far from accurate due to manufacturer tolerances as slight as they might be.

That's my experience anyhow.

I will cut to the chase

get the v1 or v2

this device is critical if you want the same level of information extracted from the left and right channel and you want the stylus tracking in the center of the groove 

I use the Analog Productions test record 

Works perfect and an easy way to check your alignment from time to time

I have the Lyra Kleos SL installed at the moment 

Good luck

@colossalsound 

"The best analogy is camera focus. If you take a DSLR and achieve perfect focus, then slightly rotate the focus ring even by a tiny amount, the entire image immediately loses sharpness. Vinyl playback behaves in a very similar way."

This a very good analogy for the effects of azimuth adjustment. It brings everything into focus, often in a way that you had no idea could even happen. 

I suppose one could say that it is "Not required with quality cartridges." But what, if any, of the goofy things we audiophiles spend our time doing is "required."

The whole point is to get our records to sound as good as they possibly can, is it not? To that end, not only is setting azimuth properly "required," it's absolutely essential.

I'm not a fan of using a fozgometer and a test record, or at least not the test records specifically made for this purpose. Instead I recommend using a well-mastered, well-pressed classical record and your ears, which are way more sensitive to changes in the sound that these tools.

Concertos are especially helpful in this regard as getting the azimuth set better will improve our ability to hear the soloist and the orchestra equally well.

colossalsound is right that when the azimuth is better set the bass improves, even increases actually. In fact, I've fixed a lack of bass on systems simply by adjusting the azimuth.

As for an increase in stylus wear as a result of adjusting azimuth, that doesn't make any sense as getting the azimuth adjusted properly aligns the stylus more accurately in the record groove, and that means the stylus will wear more evenly.