That's not it. Everyone's missing it. The problem is there are at least three different aspects, and while yes they all matter there really is no way of aligning them all- unless it was done right at the factory.
From the ground up we have the azimuth of the stylus. This affects the stylus ability to accurately trace the groove. Then there is the azimuth of the generator. This can be MM, MC or MI, doesn't matter from the point of view of azimuth they are all the same and this definitely affects crosstalk. This is the one we are adjusting with test records.
Then there is the azimuth of the cartridge body, which is what we all see and know. We trust that the manufacturer built all this stuff in alignment, that the generator is not twisted within the cartridge body, that the stylus is not cockeyed on the cantilever.
If they did then we can simply eyeball azimuth and be done. But if not then we get to play around with test record after test record, and can easily spend a small fortune in time and money on all the various ways of trying to second guess whether or not the dang thing was made the way it looks like it was made!
Maybe with a cheap cartridge that is a viable question. But cheap carts go on cheap arms, and they tend to not have a lot of adjustments. VTA is far more important, and look how few have VTA on the fly. By the time you get into the expensive arms and cartridges that have azimuth adjustment, well if you don't trust your mega buck cart to be built right why'd you buy it in the first place? So the whole thing is whack.
Finally, I notice we have a recent thread where the poor new guy was turned off vinyl, and why? Because of all the navel-gazers obsessed with every micro minutia theory who kept telling him how impossible it is to play a record. It is not impossible. It is easy. Just go back and read the second sentence of my first post again and relax and enjoy the music.
