Feel Silly Asking This Question Alignment Parameters
I feel silly asking this question, but here it goes. Most of the arms I have owned over the years have came with proprietary protractors, and certain ones like the SME are really just overhang gauges. For other ones I have bought custom generated arc protractors for the specific arm. I will probably do so again with this Origin Live arm. However in the mean time i decided to set up using their provided protractor.
When I went to install a cartridge on the table, I found I was not wild about using their protractor, so I decided to generate a Conrad H arc protractor till I made an order for an Accutrak one. What I found odd is that Lofgren A had the longest overhang at 16.8 mm and Lofgren B at 16.3mm. The Origin Live shows 17.5 mm. Is the Rega type alignment that much different than Lofgren or Stevenson? I also noticed with the OL alignment that cartridge offset in the headshell was noticeably greater.
What is also noticeable is the sonics of each alignment is different. To be honest, I like the overall sound of the OL alignment, but I also have this nagging feeling that it does not track as well.
I always felt at this stage of my audio journey I knew how to align a cartridge. I have been doing it since I was in my 20's! Now I have a large degree of uncertainty of which alignment to choose, and what the implications are if i choose wrong. This arm is a long term keeper for me, so its a matter of wanting to get this set up optimized.
Any insights you might pass along is greatly appreciated. Do have a good chuckle at my expense as it seems that I get into these moments of self doubt, and trying to find the way out of the forest of audio can be quite comical.
I don't know why you folk don't read the manual. @neonknight Origin live Agile ( standard 9.5" arm 239mm ) has a recommended pivot to spindle distance 222mm. Overhang for Baerwald A is 17.3mm - offset 22.99 Overhang for Baerwald B is 17.75 - offset 229.94 If you have mounted your arm with a different pivot to spindle then the numbers change. Rega arms use Stevenson, Origin live appears to designed for Baerwald A based on. their recommended offset angle.
|
@rauliruegas @neonknight
Your numbers are wrong. The Agile manual from Origin Live sats -
Based on that the correct numbers are as I posted above Overhang for Baerwald A is 17.3mm - offset 22.99 Overhang for Baerwald B is 17.75 - offset 22.94 @neonknight
These numbers are nonsense. The offset for Origin Live arms are designed is 23 degrees not 22.4. The Agile manual which is available on the Origin Live website here https://www.originlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Agile-MK4-instructions.pdf says the arm is designed for a pivot to spindle distance of 222. I have posted for the second time the correct overhang for your arm. Rauls numbers are not correct. For the third time - Origin live Agile ( standard 9.5" arm 239mm ) has a recommended pivot to spindle distance 222mm. Overhang for Baerwald A is 17.3mm - offset 22.99 Overhang for Baerwald B is 17.75 - offset 22.94 If you can't follow this then I would suggest you purchase a cartridge with a conical or spherical stylus such as a Denon 103. Misalignment will be less of an issue with a conical or spherical stylus profile.
|
Neither I nor Origin Live mentions 17.53 Please read my posts more carefully as I do not appreciate being misquoted. Apparently you think its fine to set up tonearms with an accuracy of +-0.3mm despite and wrong offset angles despite claiming in your other posts that unless the phono stage used is accurate to +-0.01db over the audible frequency that the phono stage is not up to par. I think you should rethink your priorities in how to get the best out of an analogue system.
|
This is poor advice. The OP expressed the desire to use an Arc Protractor. Anyone who professes to be an expert in tonearm set up would know that an arc protractor is designed for a given mounting distance and you’re not supposed to use an arc protractor designed for a given mounting distance with another mounting distance. If you are going to use an arc protractor, the mounting distance must be absolutely spot on.
|
Actually you suggested mounting the arm 3mm out of manufacturers specs. Here is your actual post.
rauliruegas12,992 posts @dover : No it’s not wrong because OL says a margin of +,- 2mm. In the other side we can change those numbers with out any negative consequence because 225 means longer EL and les distortion. The manufacturers specs are 222mm - you are suggesting mounting it at 225mm. That would mean pushing the cartridge out further, significantly increasing the effective mass and inertia of the tonearm beyond what the designer intended. It's no wonder you have suggested your 1980's CD player is more accurate than your turntable system. Given that you have been trying to build your own tonearm for the past many years, perhaps you could now focus on a design with an effective length of 48 inches - according to your theory that would sound fantastic - even lower distortion. Pity the poor cartridge though, trying to cope with such vast effective mass whilst navigating eccentric records.
|
The OP wants to use an ARC protractor. As I pointed out earlier, changing the effective length means a different ARC protractor will be required. This is likely lost on many readers. Unfortunately for many readers who struggle to understand how to set up a TT properly, arbitrarily changing the pivot to stylus distance outside of the manufacturers specifications could lead to disaster in terms of reasonably accurate set up. You might be quite comfortable with this because you have many years of experience setting up TT's. Unfortunately most don't. The whole purpose of the OP's question was to address concerns that he had on set up. The word and numbers salads tossed up in this thread - encouraging others to ignore manufacturers guidelines - is a recipe for disaster. Whilst you might be happy with this, because you enjoy intellectual debate, the reality is, for newbies, confusing them often leads to frustration and disappointment. Consequently we lose another turntable enthusiast. Why do we care about folk losing enthusiasm for turntables - well, in a dwindling market, prices rise, the market shrinks further and eventually innovation declines and the market dies. Have a look at the declining numbers on this forum. Therefore as you and I and some others on this thread have over 30 years of experience in setting up turntables - it is incumbent on us to help folk with their turntable set up advice by keeping advice simple, accurate, and explain in a way that is easily understood.
|
