Tone arm holes do not line up - best way to attach TT?

The fO.q tape is available on ebay - $57 for a sheet. Does that sound about right? 

Hi. Thanks for your input. It is a Hanss t-30 (sorry for error) It does have an arm board that I can drill. I do not have a tap and die set so I'd end up using screws instead of machined bolts. 

I used double sided tape on my previous arm and it held very well, was rock tight and came off without a trace (gorilla tape). But I realized that it might compromise the vibration control. 

https://www.stereophile.com/turntables/hanss_acoustics_t-30_turntable/index.html 

Any ideas on cartridge alignment? I spend an hour on forums and youtube and no one addresses the issue when the alignment falls outside the ability of the arm head-shell to adjust. Thanks. 

OK. The stereophile article does not show the other side where there is another mount that has 3 threaded bolt holes. I just used a screw and successfully attached the arm into one of the holes. The other holes do not line up but the one screw is holding it tightly and the arm is sitting on a base with good contact.

The mounting distance is right on per the template. BUT ... the cart will not line up, even at the extreme position on the head of the arm. It is off like 1/4" so not even close. It needs to turn clockwise more but it is at the max position. I took the arm off and moved it by hand and it would need to be 6" to the right of the turntable for the cart to be able to line up properly.

Thanks for your help on this Saturday. I really appreciate you both.

Thanks for all your help. My pivot to spindle distance is correct according to the template that came with the Reed. I mentioned the 6" away from the TT to indicate how far away the arm would have to be to fit into the alignment grid. So I guess my arm is not compatible with my TT. I will contact Hanss. I made it 30 years in this hobby before I fell into the vinyl vortex. I guess I should count myself lucky. The sound is amazing but the complexities are daunting. Thank you all for helping this newbie. 

Thanks for the encouragement. I was beginning to get the impression that the vinyl hobby was for machinist who loved to tinker and then played music when they got bored :) 

On a more serious note, I did, in fact, use a piece of walnut and cantilevered it so the arm could go out as far as it needed to so that the cart would line up with the grid. The pivot-to-spindle range is a few inches outside the spec but there is a template provided by Reed that measures the "resting arm" position of the tone arm to the spindle and that matches. I set the weight at 2 grams per spec and spun an album. The needle flew across the album toward the spindle gliding on top of the grooves. I rechecked the weight 3 times each time the exact same thing happened. I increased the weight incrementally making it heavier until it engaged in the groove and of course it sounded horrible. 

I did confirm that the TT will accommodate a 12" arm. If that is the case, I should not need to have a cantilever.  But clearly the arm when seated on the TT normal position was not in adjustment range for the cart ... If I only use one bolt to attach the cart to the arm, then it will adjust but I am sure it needs both points of attachment. 

This might be related ... I am having trouble setting the height of the arm. It has an adjustment up and down almost 1/2 inch on the arm controls. If I lower it enough for the arm to be parallel per my gauge, then the arm is too low and the lift does not raise it above the platter. So I raised it up enough so that it clears the platter but it is about 1 mm off of parallel.

Could the problem be that I need to install the arm higher than the normal height for the table? The walnut piece is at the same height as the built-in arm holder. 

On a related note, Reed specific, the arm sits in a gyro type set up with 3 tiny pins that rest in 3 tiny sockets. I can adjust the height of the pins slightly with an allen wrench. The issue is that the slightest touch throws the pins out of the sockets. I thought tightening them would make the system less fragile but it does not seem to. Returning the arm to the holder regardless of how gentle, often throws the pins out of socket. It does not seem likely that this is normal. This is probably Reed specific and I should reach out to them. In any case, all my experiments above were with the pins correctly in the sockets.

So between the table, phono stage, arm, cart and record cleaner, I have a small fortune into little vinyl. I cannot play an album. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

I cannot post a pic, right? 

"In reality, if you have the P2S set correctly, that should result in close to proper stylus overhang, and you should not need to do much twisting of the cartridge body at all, with respect to the Reed headshell, to get you into good alignment."


Correct -  I have a Reed model-specific and arm-specific template and when lined up it is not possible to have the cart fall within the grid specified by Reed for that arm. 

Thanks for all the troubleshooting with so limited facts. The cartridge is Triangle Arts Apollo. The TT is Hanss. 

I only exceeded the weight of 2 grams as an experiment to see what it would take to get the stylus to sit in the grove. It went around for 1/2 a revolution at a slightly heavier weight. 

I am using a homemade arm board made from the current armboard and a walnut piece temporarily until I get one from the Hanss. That may affect the fidelity but not the functionality. 

The anti skate setting might be an issue. I adjusted it in and out and it did not make a material difference. I think the angle of the arm is far enough off that it is not within anti-skate adjustment range. 

If we go back to basics - When I put the center pivot of the arm at the specified distance, 296mm, the cart cannot be turned far enough on the tone arm shell head to be adjusted within the grid. So isn't that my core problem? Maybe I over complicated my "ask". Any solutions to that? 

The only way to get teh cart to line up is to not have the P2P as specified. If the pivot point is moved a few inches off the Reed specification then the cart lines up. But I cannot have both the P2P and the cart line up.