Best protractor for aligning to cantilever

If you're using a Grado with a plastic body, I suspect (but I could be wrong) that you'd rather not drop the coin required for a WallyTractor.

Basic cartridge alignment isn't rocket science...it's actually 7th or 8th grade geometry. If you have a spare hour and an installation of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Visio, it's *very* easy to create and print your own protactor custom made for your tonearm. You'll need John Elison's Excel spreadsheet for the correct measurements.

If you have MS Excel / Visio and are using a Rega (or Rega-based) arm, PM me and I'll send you something ready to print and use. I could even send it to you in .pdf format if you'd like.

If you understand the basics of cartridge setup and alignment, you'll stop worrying about which protractor to use and if your setup is "correct". Until I went through this exercise, I wanted to try every damn protractor out there to verify my setup. Now I understand what is important (hint - it's the process for the setup, not the tool).

As for the question about the VPI setup, John Elison just posted an interesting article about that very subject over at the Vinyl Engine.

So who can etch something (and drill a hole in) a piece of glass mirror for us? Let's make a 12" round mirror and use the space to really make something useful. :)

Here are my issues with the Turntable Basics protractor:

1) The Turntable Basics protractor is made from a 3mm thick piece of Plexiglas with the mirrored surface on the underside. The silk-screening is on the top of the Plexiglas. This 3mm gap between the mirrored surface and the silk-screening creates a series of reflections that (IMHO) detracts more from the process than it helps. I feel like I'm looking at one of those '60's spinning swirls that is sucking me back in time.

2) The Turntable Basics protractor is (again, IMHO) another example of an alignment tool that "tells you the answer" without giving you a logical process to arrive at that answer. Think about it...what you are trying to do is create a triangle of *very* precise dimensions. The Turntable Basics protractor (among others) facilitates this by defining one fixed point (the spindle), guessing at a second fixed point (the pivot) and fiddling with a 3rd point (the overhang) until you arrive at "the answer". This is insane by itself, and then throw in a table that has an adjustable pivot-to-spindle distance. It will almost make you run screaming back to digital. Almost.

And here's why I like a paper protractor:

I have a Teres turntable, and due to the arm board configuration, my pivot-to-spindle distance is adjustable. My first challenge is to make sure my pivot-to-spindle distance is precisely 222.76mm. I print out my protractor, use a couple of pieces of clear adhesive tape to reinforce the 7mm spindle hole, and use an Exacto knife to cut out the spindle hole.

Since I'm using a OL Silver arm, the mounting hole in my arm board is 25mm. It just so happens that the outer diameter of a piece of copper water pipe is 25mm. I stick this small piece of pipe in the mounting hole to bring the 25mm mounting hole "reference" on the same plane as the platter (and spindle).

Again, I use a couple of pieces of clear adhesive tape to reinforce the 25mm mounting hole (the center of which is 222.76mm from the center of the spindle), and use an Exacto knife to cut out the mounting hole. I can now use my template to ensure an accurate pivot-to-spindle distance (no guessing or approximating) and I now have 2 fixed points on my triangle.

Next, I use some painter's tape to tape the paper protractor to the platter, and the platter to the turntable plinth / base. Since I only paid $0.02 for my protractor, I don't mind cutting away the part that extends to the arm board so I can remove the pipe and mount my arm. With the arm mounted, it takes a minute or so to set the effective length and the offset angle.

At this point, a Turntable Basics protractor does come in handy to verify the offset angle...and maybe that's the whole point of this thread. But unless the rest of your planar geometry is spot-on, it is really worth obsessing over offset angle?

Now, if someone could help me print my protractor on some sort of paper-thin mirrored piece of plastic, I think we'd be on to something.

If you're trying to sight down the centerline of an alignment grid, having two images makes it possible to get precisely lined up. The printed line and its reflection are either directly on top of each other or they're not. This degree of precision is impossible without dual images.

I spent some time with my TTB protractor today and I see what you mean. If the lines were thinner and they got rid of those concentric squares, I think it would be a better tool, though.

If using a universal protractor, absolute precision in pivot-to-spindle distance is unnecessary. That's the whole point of an aimable protractor and headshells with slots. Pivot-to-spindle is a hair off? No problem. The protractor will automatically produce a pivot-to-stylus dimension to compensate. If the stylus is square at both null points your triangle is correct, by definition.

ok...I get it. Finally. It only takes 6 or so times to sink in.

BTW, if you're using a Baerwald protractor with an OL arm, you may have better luck mounting the arm at ~220mm than the stock distance of 222.76. Regas weren't designed for Baerwald and some cartridges aren't long enough to reach the Baerwald null points with the arm mounted at the stock distance.

I know we've discussed this before, but I've never experienced this as an issue (Shelter 501 mk 11 and a Denon 103R).