Recent retip(canti also) Dude where did my soundstage width go

Are you looking at one strand of a stranded wire, sticking out from the pin?  That could cause a problem only if it is touching any of the other pins.  If not, just take a fine wire cutter and snip it off. Or fold it so it cannot possibly contact the other pins.  If it was touching the hot pin of the opposite channel, THAT would wipe out your stereo effect and leave you with a narrow soundstage.

Am I correct in surmising that you ARE getting a wider soundstage after adjusting azimuth only in relation to the LP surface, without regard for the Foz?

I apologize for my inability to resist puerile humor, back there up the thread.

fourwinds, with regard to your question of 04/06, I am not clear what you actually did.  I had suggested aligning the cartridge for zero azimuth by eye only, ignoring the Foz reading.  You could use a mirror or whatever sort of aid might help in that.  Some people put a small bubble type level on top of the headshell when adjusting for zero azimuth or is it 90 degrees of azimuth?  I hope you know what I mean, top of headshell parallel to the LP surface when viewed from the front.  (My computer changed to italics for no apparent reason here.)

As to whether the Foz is reading cartridge output per channel or crosstalk, I have no idea, since I have never even seen a Foz.  As Terry wrote, there are two schools of thought regarding crosstalk/azimuth.  Some recommend adjusting for equal crosstalk, which means that the amount of R channel signal appearing in the L channel would be the same as the amount of L channel signal appearing in the R channel (measured in negative dB).  Others recommend just minimizing crosstalk.  When you do the latter as a goal, the amount of crosstalk will usually NOT be equal in one channel vs the other.  I don't think there is any right or wrong in that regard.

So, have you set azimuth to 0 or 90 (whatever) without any regard for the Foz, and what did that do to your soundstage width?

Terry9, I am not lubing my nuts, no matter how it might benefit the sound.

fourwinds,  Just to clarify, azimuth is NOT about channel balance.  It is about crosstalk, the degree to which L channel information leaks into the R channel, and vice-versa.  This phenomenon has a lot to do with the illusion of stage width that the system can convey.  I've never owned nor played with the Foz, but it does seem that many end users use it incorrectly (either that or many units are faulty) so as to end up with inaccurate azimuth adjustment and therefore poor crosstalk characteristics, which leads to a narrow sound stage.  I have read, for one thing, that the battery in the Foz needs to be kept fresh at all times, for accurate readings.  But if the Foz is telling you that your azimuth has to be tilted way off of top dead center (top surface of cartridge or headshell at a 90 degree angle to the LP surface), then I suspect it's readout is not trustworthy.

Just for fun, you might try setting your azimuth to 90 degrees empirically (see above), ignoring the Foz.  Then have a listen.

By the way, radical changes in azimuth have little effect on channel balance and adjusting azimuth is not the way to "fix" channel imbalance.

Azimuth? Azimuth affects channel separation.