Turntable Setup Consultant

Have you tried talking to Fidiles or Audio Video Therapy both in Nashua and great people they would probably have recommendations or if you brought the tables in you may save a few bucks but do give a call.

I haven’t talked to either of them about this yet but I have made purchases at both.  Good stores…thanks for the recommendation @johnto 

Fidelis is wonderful. Ask for Mark 

Check out Sounds of Silence located in Nashua.  They specialize in turntable setups and have set up several  turntables for me over the years.

Brian Walsh isn't cheap, but testamonials support his expertise. I happen to know him personally and he is a super nice guy as well:

https://ttsetup.com/about/info-benefits

I have no business affiliation, FWIW

Brian has to fly to your place if you want to use his expertise.i know him. He is a nice guy.

I have used the services provided by JR Bosclair of (Wally analog tools).  He will dial in every aspect of your vinyl rig.  JR is very polite and knowledgeable about his craft.  I highly recommend him.

Good luck,

Jose

^^^ A 2nd for JR Bosclair. He also has a service to analyze the Azimuth on your cartridge(which the majority of new cartridges are off center).

People swear by him and I will hire him to fly over to set up my cartridges as well. 

Thank you all for the recommendations!  I’ve connected with Steve at SOS and he has generously offered to do a house call sometime in the next few weeks.  
 

What gives you the feeling that your TT or TTs is/are not properly set up? Did you do the original alignments yourself?  With what tools?  Thanks.  I ask because I think one can obsess needlessly over what is inherently an imprecise procedure.

I would add Holt Hill Audio. Great people, good-old fashioned in their care about customer happiness. 

@lewm when the man thinks something is wrong with the gear, you let him 

I also highly recommend Fidelis. Walter & company are highly knowledgeable, honest & very reasonable on pricing. I have known Walter for over 40 years & have bought lots of different equipment from him  & always been very satisfied!!

From my own experience you are in great hands with Sounds Of Silence. 

@lewm Truth is, I think my analog setup sounds pretty darn good.  I did set them up myself with the somewhat limited knowledge and tools I have.  I'm not particularly educated in the art of TT setup and I have no real idea how to adjust the azimuth.  I would love for them to be setup correctly by a seasoned pro who perhaps can also show me how to make the proper measurements and adjustments moving forward.  

Like most of us here, I have a decent amount of money invested in just the analog part of my system and I would love to know that they're operating at their optimal performance.  

I'll let you all know how it goes after Steve pays the house call sometime next month.

I am driving to Connecticut from Chicago in a few days to do setups there and along the way. I charge for gas and hotel plus the setup fee to keep cost realistic. I use state of the art tools and software plus a few select records to validate, with reliable proven results.

Mike Trei. Case closed. Based in NYC but he goes everywhere. 

@paulietunes  If you feel confident with adjusting the height of the Pillar for the Tonearm, a method is able to be suggested for adjusting the the SRA of the Stylus using minute incrementation.

A Brand New Deck of Cards can be used to Support the Tonearm Wand.

If the Full Deck is required to support the Wand at 180 Degrees, an additional  support will be required to prop the Card Deck Upon, as having a quantity of spare Cards not used as the Wand Support is required.

What the start point should look like, is the Wand being level 180 Degrees and the Cartridge Base Face, should also be Horizontal to the LP, as parallel as possible, with the Stylus in contact with the LP Groove.     

Playing Cards have a Thickness when Brand New between 0.009 to 0.013 inches. 

The Pillar can be lifted or lowered one card at a time if required, but to start a batch of Five will show the Pillar has been raised or lowered.

When done lock the Pillar in the new position and gently lower the Cartridge onto the Vinyl LP. Depending on the addition ot removal of Cards, the Base Face of the Cartridge will be not be level, close to parallel, it will be either lowest towards the Cantilever (Toe Down ) or lowest furthest from the Cantilever (Heel Down)

Assess where the best is found for your own unique preferences, Cartridges are not always preferred Parallel, there are those who go for Heel Down and those who go for Toe Down.

I am a Heel Down, but the seeing the base is out of Parallel is not any easy find.

As says the French, " Less is More "

Getting this right to ones personal preference, certainly makes Azimuth and Zenith adjustment seem much more worthwhile investigating.

Zenith misalignment is more of a unresolved quality issue from the Manufacture of the Styli > Cantilever, the Cartridge users contribution is not too big in this area.