auliruegas... what needs to be straigth aligned with the lines in the protractor is the cantilever it self not the cartridge ... Agreed! That's why I think the use of a mirrored gauge is necessary for best results - using a reference mark on the gauge and the reflection of the cantilever itself to achieve tangency.
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yogiboy
What is your opinion about this statement from another audiogoner that was posted last year?
... the quality of the drive unit,
the quality of the tonearm, the quality of the cartridge and phono stage
and compatibility/setting of all these things (other than setting
overhang) and the setting of proper VTF, VTA, SRA, and azimuth are far
more important than worrying about how much arc-induced and overhang-
induced (the two are related) distortion one has. I learned this the
hard way. I will not go into details but please trust me ... Without some details, it's difficult to respond. I have experimented with simply
slamming a cartridge all the way forward in the headshell, placing the
cartridge mid-way along the headshell slots, and slammed all the way
back, each time re-setting VTF, VTA, SRA, and azimuth.
I would defy
anyone to pick out the differences.
Perhaps "slamming" is just a figure of speech here. I have 30K of tube separates, a
Manley Steelhead, and DeVore O/93’s. I submit that any differences in
distortion due to sub-optimum arcs and deviations from the two null
points and where they are located (those peaks in distortion) are masked
several times over by distortion imposed by my tubed gear and my
loudspeakers. Maybe he's right. I haven't heard his system. My point is that getting perfect
alignment is often, not always, like putting lipstick on a pig ... the answer had to be in perfect alignment when it was clearly
everything else but. You can measure the distortion caused my an improperly aligned phono cartridge and it can certainly be audible, although more with some LPs than with others. It's especially noticeable in the higher frequencies. But regardless of that, it's important to have proper alignment if you also seek minimum wear on the both the stylus and your LPs. |
rauliruegasBtw, @cleeds :
Overhang is the distance between the center of
the TT spindle and the stylus tip settle by the protractor. It's that
small distance in between. Fair enough, although I think neither of us stated it perfectly clearly. ; |
Overhang is the small distance (about 16mm in the OP's case) that the stylus point "overhangs" the spindle. As I noted, the purpose of overhang (combined with offset) is to reduce tracking error.
Oddly, there are "underhung" arms, which while subject to greater tracking error, do minimize antiskating problems. Some users report excellent sound from them. I've never heard one, but I admit I'm curious.
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millercarbonOverhang is the distance from the tip of the stylus to the vertical axis the tone arm pivots on. That’s completely mistaken. What you’ve described is the pickup arm’s effective length. Overhang is the distance between pivot and spindle, plus the amount that the stylus point actually "overhangs" beyond the spindle. The use of an overhung arm with a phono cartridge offset angle reduces tracking error and those two angles are the basis for the two null points. Your protractor will set overhang as it sets those null points. An overhang of around 16mm is common for a 9-inch arm. |
