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Tonearm compatibility and advice

Dear Vinyl Gurus,

Does the spindle-to-pivot distance determine whether an arm fits a particular table? Or is the needle-to-pivot the determining factor? Or does the headshell adjustment allow you to make up for small mismatches?

The tonearm mounting hole on my table is exactly 222 mm from the center of the hole to the spindle. I was considering a Hadcock GH 228 Export, but I'm confused whether it will work with my table. The spindle to pivot distance for the Hadcock is 212.8 mm, which is 9 mm short, but the needle to pivot distance is specified as 228.6 mm which will make the needle overhang by 6.6 mm.

I would greatly appreciate help understanding this geometry stuff. More specifically, will this arm work with my table? Thanks in advance.

For what it's worth:

TT spindle to center of mounting hole: 222 mm
TT arm mounting diameter: 22 mm
Hadcock GH 228 spindle to pivot: 212.8 mm
Hadcock GH 228 pivot base diameter: ~15 mm
Hadcock GH 228 specs
My table specs
mingles

Showing 1 response by sns

sns
3,003 posts
 
Mingles, it's difficult to know what is causing your lack of air and spaciousness. Could be the table, arm/cartridge or table/arm/cartridge combo. My highly modded Thorens with modded Rega arm and Denon 103r has a similar lack of spaciousness compared to my VPI Scoutmaster. I'm still in the midst of voicing in this tt setup so I haven't come to any definite conclusions.

Your problem also could be with tt isolation, I just finished up some aluminum top plates for my DIY sandboxes, haven't listened to Thorens with this top plate yet. It did markedly increase air and spaciousness with the VPI so I expect it will do the same with Thorens.

The suggestion for MintLp is also right on. I previously aligned my cartridge on VPI with VPI jig and DB protractor, the MintLp was a nice improvement. I will eventually get around to this with the Thorens.
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