DaVinci tonearm and azymuth

Hello Ebalog,

0.5 degrees is FAR too coarse of an increment for setting azimuth. I don't care what the numbers tell you. Now, you could get lucky and effect an improvement (say for example that you're off by 0.7 degrees and reduce the error to 0.2), but the odds are against your geting your azimuth dead-on.

If I recall, Wally used to make a device that mimicked one of the Ortofon(?) cartridges - essentially, a knife edge pivot that runs longitundinally along the cartridge body and between the two mounting screws.

The idea is to tighten one screw and loosen the other in order to induce a tilt - with contact between the cartridge body and headshell consisting of the two screws and the knife edge.

Now, the obvious problem here is that you're introducing another material interface between cartridge and headshell. You're also changing the contact surface area. Either change could have an overall deleterious effect on the sound ... or not (not even considering azimuth changes).

You might try experimenting with various materials and actually improve things from an energy transfer perspective. You never know where you're going to end up in this ballgame when it comes to material interfaces, and keep in mind that what works for a titanium cartridge body may well not work with aluminum, coral, ebony, etc.

Try a thin strip of copper. It's easy to cut with a pair of scissors. You should be able to find it in a hobby shop, or alternatively, over here: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Shielding.html.

You might also try aluminum foil.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Listen to Doug and Raul, and while you're at it, learn to play a musical instrument or to sing. This will help you to trust the most important component in your hi-fi system - the "ear-brain"

I spend more time in my conversations with customers on this topic of musical appreciation and how you approach setting up your system.

Most mainstream dealers/manufacturers would pose the following question to you: "who are you going to trust - the reviewers (and the specs) or your lying ears?".

I vote for training your "lying ears".

Take some basic music lessons. For the price of an interconnect, you can buy a keyboard or an imported guitar. A harmonica is even cheaper.

This will open up entire new worlds of musical enjoyment as you learn to understand how musical patterns unfold.

This azimuth thread is a prime example of my experiences of demonstrating azimuth setting to customers.

I'll demonstrate the process using a mono Ella Fitzgerald record. One particular cut I use is her version of "I Love Paris".

When everything is dialed in right, the distortion drops away, the bandwidth increases, AND her body takes on a robust, 3-D image - instead of sounding like an isolated cardboard cutout in space.

There's a sudden physicality in the performance when everything snaps into focus.

Some folks I demonstrate this to get it immediately.

Others (poor souls), notice an increase in surface noise, and think that the setting is off.

Guess what? You're picking up the noise from both groove walls, and yes ... a correct azimuth setting is ultimately about getting the stylus aligned orthogonally with the record.

The technical treatment of azimuth by Victor Khomenko is absolutely correct, and I even link to one of his Vinyl Asylum threads in the Tri-Planar section of my forum, but I'm having doubts about leaving that link in place.

Drawing attention to the theory runs the risk of taking people's focus away from what they're trying to accomplish. It serves those of us who are technically inclined, but most people begin to trust themselves and their ears less.

In your hi-fi travels, if you listen with musical values, you'll be a happy boy.

If you listen like an audiophile, you're doomed to misery.

You get to choose.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier