Uni-Protractor Set tonearm alignment

Ordered mine today. Can't wait to get it in action. Thanks Daniel!

OK, so what are we talking here? Curves and distortion figures? If so, then just sell your turntable and go back to your 80's Japanese Pioneer amplifiers with vanishing levels of distortion and to your "perfect sound forever CD player". You will not have to worry about all these that would complicate your life and spend more valuable time time listening and enjoying to your music.

Tonearm and cartridge setup is a lot more than a good protractor. The variables are almost infinite. Vinyl playback is also very flawed. Most records not pressed properly to begin with. Spindle holes not centered (so where is the arc?)and few are perfectly flat (VTA anyone). Many records are warped some way or other.

Dertonarm here IMO is making a very good tool here for those who can afford. It will save you a lot of time and aggrevation trying to get things right. There are also different templates so you can try different curves. If you can afford it, by all means order one for yourself and save your precious time trying to find the perfect alignment on a little "mint" or "wally" and use that time enjoying the music. BTW, I got one myself.

All we are arguing here are merely numbers and nothing more.

So guys, relax..... and like Raul always says "enjoy the music"

Raul, I don't think lofgren is the solution to all tonearm alignment. That's why other geometries exist. Dertonarm is giving us other options. If you are happy with lofgren them fine by me. If you are happy with the $20 protractor and mm cartridges fine but for those who choose to buy this tool, fine with me why argue and step all over something Were all different and we have a choice. Not everyone likes hamburgers and fries. You preach distortion so why not use a Japanese pioneer?

Raul, yeah, perfect example you quoted. Yes, I can drive a Honda accord and change the tires from Bridgestone to Michelin. Yes the same car but ride differently. Can you get this? Yes, same car...honda accord but drives differently. Chenge some tires and get back to us if you feel the same ride comfort, handling etc. Changing curves it just like that.

Since you're so into distortion, get a pioneer. 0.00000001%thd. It means nothing. Yes, Lofgren might be the first according to you and the rest are clones? Yes, you're right. So Ford made the first car. So are all other cars are clones? Maybe. So does that mean everyone has to buy ford and not others? Comes back to my explaination. Not everyone likes hamburgers and fries. It's all different ideas nothing more than that.

Remember, in life, nothing is 100% except for death and your taxes.

Raul, according to you, everything else is a clone of the Lofgren. Fine. What if the clone "somehow" sounds better than the original? Like a Ferrari go faster than the Ford? But a Honda Accord will NOT drive like or become a BMW even you put Michelins on it. It will certainly drive better than those crappy Bridgestone or Firestone tires.

There are many truly fantastic stuff from Japan. I do own some too. What I was referring was their cheap mass market stuff with that rated 0.00000??THD as an example

04rdking, not a problem if you think it is not worth that coin. Some are happy with the protractor they printed out from vinyl engine. Some spend $20. Some might prefer to spend $200. So whats the problem here? What I have a problem is that there is no absolute. Raul is preaching absolutes. That s my problem. We have choices. If everything has absolutes, we will be all listening to the same system.

Raul, I really get what you mean and what you are preaching. I have seen those figures and plots many times. You are saying "the facts", "specs" or "numbers" are the last word which I totally disagree.

Ask yourself, what are we after in this hobby? "facts/specs" or sound?

Back to Stevenson. He was 25 yrs after Lofgren. Did you ask yourself why he chose a curve with much inferior "facts" than Lofgren? I am sure he knew the Lofgren "facts" and equation before making his so called inferior curve. Did you think he was stupid or was he fixing some of the Lofgren shortcomings? We all know there is no perfect curve. All have tradeoffs.

Maybe Harry of VPI was also wrong. I guess in your books, he is worse than Stevenson by not using any of the famous curves. Did it ever occur to you that Harry chose a curve that sounds best for his tonearm but not with the best "facts"?

Thanks Downunder. My point exactly. The quote from Harry nailed it on the head. I rest my case.

Dertonarm, I for one would like to know what the Dennessen is based on. Enlighten us if you know.

Raul, now you're talking what I have been a few pages before. Numbers and numbers don't matter. We care about the sound and about enjoying the music and not numbers. No absolutes. Nothing is and nothing will be. We are free to try and make up our minds. Not with numbers, curves and distortion figures but with the results we hear.

LP is basically a flawed or imperfect meduim like you just said. We all know that and make the best out of it.

Thank you and enjoy the music

Here is my review of the Uni-Pro. Received it in great shape. Well packed and bomb proof. I liked how you packed the unit. I did notice a few freebies such as the ruler and the light?

Upon setup, I noticed a few things that could be improved.

1. the center pin is a little short for my liking as my Dynavector has a lower pivot piont. I think a longer pin would work much better and would not hurt the design.

2. like Jazzgene said, The lines on the centering device is very difficult to see on lighter/shiny tonearms especially the FR66s and my DV507. I believe should the lines be anothter colour instead of white would be much easier to see.

3. Numeric markings on the acrylic arm like the Feikert would be a bonus.

Now to the strong points.

This thing is built like all German made stuff. Serious, tough and the word precision written all over it. Looking into the magfier proved an easy task on this system as it has a large enough lens.

Upon checking my setup, I noticed my alignment off by a little. Correcting it via the Uni proved easy enough.

Now to the sound. The setup (DV507) after using the Uni was more solid and focussed. It also proved itself as after the adjustment as there was slightly less surface noise (quieter) and less grain in the music.

So far this is the first tonearm I have setup with the Uni. Will do my other tonearm when I get time this weekend.

Now to the milloin dollar question.....Is it worth $800? I will leave it up to you. If you are like me who regularly sets up turntables, It is definitely worth it's asking price. Also if you own a resonably priced analog rig and plan to go deeper into analog, You owe it to yourself to get one of this UNI's and setup your own turntable instead of getting someone to do it for you.