Executive Summary: HOLY MOTHER OF &#@$!!!
I couldn't wait for Saturday to "Mint" my setup, so I did it Friday night. We had the Olympics on and I spent the evening jumping between TV and TT. Not the most focused approach and certainly not the fastest. It took me 5 hours, but 4 of those were spent watching the athletes. If I'd been doing nothing else a half hour would have been plenty. I'll double check the setup today with the help of daylight.
I would have sworn on a stack of London bluebacks that my spindle-to-pivot distance was correct, but since this is critical with an arc protractor I double checked. Good thing I did, it was short by nearly a mm!?! I don't know if it moved over time or if it got nudged somehow, but it's easy to adjust S2P with a pivoting armboard and now it's cranked down pretty snug.
My old alignment wasn't necessarily wrong because of the S2P error, since I was using a universal Baerwald protractor (TurnTableBasics), but the Mint is far more precise so it's likely to produce superior results.
I found using the Mint easy and intuitive, no more tedious than any other protractor and far more accurate. I haven't used a Wally, but nothing else I know of rivals this. As Yip's text and photos explain, the ability to use parallax to be sure you're sighting *exactly* down the alignment line is critical. This was always the best feature of the TurnTableBasics and no non-mirrored protractor can provide it. The Mint just adds several orders of magnitude better precision.
For my eyes the illuminated 5X loupe was fine, though the optional 10X loupe gives a better view of whether the stylus is *exactly* in the center of the arc. It's tough to get the viewing distance right with the 10X loupe since the field of focus is so short. One trick: unscrew the clear base and use just the black part - that lets you get closer. Yip's Tips on how to work and think are excellent BTW. People who have trouble or get frustrated at any stage should review those.
So, how does it sound? WOW!!! I expected audible improvements, but nothing like what we got. Most of what I'd describe would repeat what Stringreen, Sunnyboy1956, Palasr, Tshulba and Dan_Ed have already reported so I won't bore you. I'll just emphasize their enthusiasm. As Palasr said,
I urge you to try a GOOD arc-based protractor custom cut for your arm. You'll scratch your head wondering why you didn't try it sooner.
One thing several of them mentioned which we didn't get is greater blackness between the notes. Frankly, we already had that and Minting didn't increase it. What it did do between the notes was ennable even lower levels of detail. Decays and soundspace cues are much better than before, giving more of the illusion of a live event.
The other major change we heard that was not previously described may be cartridge-specific. The UNIverse/TriPlanar combo is unique in our experience at keeping separate musical sounds separate. The compexities that make up the timbre of a particular instrument and the L vs. R channel information that produce stereo imaging are never "mushed" together. If zenith alignment is off, this great resolution of tiny differences can make a system sound analytical. The slight time shifts caused by tracking angle errors don't produce painful distortions, they just let us hear each tiny sound slightly time shifted, which picks timbres and images apart. A time shift between L and R channel information also reduces peak amplitudes, since the two sounds aren't leaving the speakers at *exactly* the same moment. Our system has always had some of that character. It made it easy to hear and adjust what was going on system-wise, but it could be more analytical than musical.
Minting our setup changed all that. Without losing (and in fact gaining) low level detail and subtle harmonics, these are now better integrated and sound more like real voices and instruments and less like a collection of "sounds". L to R imaging is better, peak amplitudes are WAY better and the soundstage expanded in all directions, including upwards. Bass response in particular is much stronger but with more articulation.
Four musical examples:
Ella sings Gershwin Songbook (1970's Verve reissue, white label promo copy) - Ella's voice was more fleshy and human, less diagnostic. The backup orchestra became even more amazing as musicians. We heard little vamps and riffs that were literally inaudible before. An incredible record got incredibler!
Vivaldi, Concertos #1-3 from 'La Stravaganza'. Hogwood and the AAM on L'Oiseau Lyre (impossibly talented musicians on a great label) - Original instrument performances provide some of the toughest system tests we know of. The Mint nailed everything while bringing the vivacity of 18th century Venice to living, breathing life right in front of me. That must have been one rockin' convent! Minting produced extraordinary improvements in the reality, energy and emotion of every instrument. Vivaldi was a genuine superstar, and this playback session made it clear why.
Poulenc, Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, Marie Claire Alain on a late issue French Erato (the best, from that label) - YIKES! The poor cats zoomed out of the room. They couldn't take the increase in dynamics AND clarity. This is a big recording of a big piece, and the improvement in soundstage stability laid out every instrument in a 3-D holographic presentation that could make you believe you were there. The big, complex organ and drum lines were clear as crystal even while rattling the house more than ever before. This was just scary.
Dark Side of the Moon - some reissue - We aren't frequent rock listeners and Swampwalker, Dan_Ed and Raul will all tell you our system isn't voiced for it. Until last night we agreed with them. The main issue was that tendency of our system to pick most modern recordings apart and display the pieces in their separate little bits, obviously recorded in different sound spaces and assembled in the mixing room. Post-Minting, we can still hear all that but it's no longer thrown in our faces. The huge increase in bass amplitudes and the better integration of each instrument into a whole now lets this record ROCK like it should. Hope the neighbors didn't mind, it was 2AM. ;-)
So, if you have a rig worth optimizing and provided it's Baerwald compatible, I can't recommend the MintLP protractor highly enough. As others said above, it's an amazing upgrade for a very low cost. Buy it. Use it.
