@dogberry
I’d considered buying one of several “pricey” alignment jigs(protractors, gadgets) while using an SME 3009 S2 tonearm with several cartridges..,
I was using basic Hudson HiFi (my dog’s name is Hudson - seemed like a no-brainer) tools and then bought a paper Tracking Wizard protractor from a guy in Poland (IIRC. Ebay anyway) which worked well.
I use my eyes, ears and Ortofon test record and was pretty happy with the setup but wanted better.
I finally went ahead and bought an SME V about a month ago in original box with tools and hardware and, using the alignment tools provided and instructions seemed anticlimactic at best, total time involved after mounting cartridge and arm - about a half hour.
It’s now with SME tonearms in Canada awaiting rebuild, rewiring (1.2m continuous Cardas wire from cartridge clips to RCA jacks recovering several dB signal insertion loss along the way) and with any luck I’ll have it back by Christmas.
New Year’s then…
So I saved a couple hundred bucks in alignment tools by buying a tonearm that cost ten times as much as the tools.
A once in my lifetime investment.
YMMV.
BTW 3009 tonearm is listed on ePay now.
