Tri planar and shelter 901 and Verdier

Tenmus,

1. If your Verdier's armboard isn't drilled for the TriPlanar then it needs to be. The arm comes with a jig that positions the three holes for the mounting screws. Whoever is drilling the armboard will need that jig and the TriPlanar manual, to make sure they're using the jig right.

Depending on the hardness of your armboard material you may want to have the holes tapped for the machine screws that come with the arm. The cocabolo armboard of my Teres is hard enough to be tapped with fine threads. This results in superior coupling of arm to table.

BTW, I placed washers on the screws before tightening them down, to prevent scratching the mounting plate.

2. Once the arm is mounted, set the pivot-to-spindle dimension to the specified 233.5mm. The pivot point on a TriPlanar is very easy to identify. You can lay a ruler directly across from spindle to pivot to confirm the mounting distance.

3. After that, follow the instructions in the TriPlanar manual. They're well-written, fairly complete and presented in a sensible order.

4. Mount and align your 901 using the TriPlanar's enclosed mounting protractor, unless you have something better for Baerwald alignment. (The only one I know of that's better is a Wally Tractor.)

5. Most Shelter users tend to like a SLIGHTLY tail-down attitude, so that might be a good place to begin for arm height.

5. Some of the ideas on the thread mentioned by Dan_Ed fall into the realm of "tweaking", but a couple could be considered vital safety measures. None of them are covered in the TriPlanar manual, so it's worth checking that thread. Here's a link:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117142645&read&keyw&zztriplanar+tips

6. The silicone damping fluid is definitely optional, and few if any owners that I know actually use it. I certainly don't. It softened dynamics and muddied the sound on every cartridge we tried it with (Shelter 901 and six or seven ZYX's). I'd suggest getting to know the arm and its sound well before bothering. (I'd actually suggest not trying it at all, but I know you will! But I predict you'll end up cleaning the trough out anyway.)

Good luck and enjoy!

Tenmus,
Assuming the jig is accurately made and used you are right, the spindle-to-pivot dimension will be set automatically. However, as Pcosta mentioned, I too have seen inaccurate jigs from TriPlanar. Mark the holes and check everything before you dril

As Pcosta mentioned and Dan_Ed surmised, the armboard on your PV pivots. Any slight inaccuracy from the jig can be made up here.

Dan_Ed,
Do NOT attempt to shorten/lengthen the arm by moving the arm tube in or out. You'll void your warranty and possibly do damage to the arm. The length of the arm is what it is.

Pcosta,
I agree the arm's effective length can easily be changed by adjusting the plate beneath the VTA tower, but doing that will also void the warranty. I inquired of Tri Mai on exactly that point and that was his response.