Uni-Protractor Set tonearm alignment

.....it is quite important to focus the attention on the last 1/3rd of the groove.
There is good evident reason for this: most climax in symphonic music is towards the last minutes of a movement and thus most likely situated towards the inner label. Very vulnerable to distortion and miss-tracking ...

That's what's all about...in the last 10 years I had so many discussions from owners who had problems with distortions, sharp "S" vocals in voices and some of them found their peace with Arms which have huge deficits in the reproduction of the full swing. I never had that, I never thought about that because I always had the right adjustments. Much later when I thought about "these" problems & listening to originals from the 50's+60's AND reading a lot of information how they were recorded, mastered, I knew, there are the differences. We also have differences in Tonearm Geometry, most Buyers think, when they pay for it, they get a perfect calculated and designed product. Some are really great and some are different in Performance from day to day. Anyway, it was necessary to think about a product which serves well for a majority of Audiophiles who are really interested in a better analog performance. Independent from price, a good alignment is also mandatory for a Rega RB250 as well as for Davinci user, when he wants to listen to old records which ARE the Golden Age of Analog. Listening to 80gr Records from 1995 won't show big differences, but when going back with the proper alignment and you will listen to LSC-Pines of Rome, you will hear what's the differences in Tonearm Design. It is a time jump into a recording session made lots of years ago. This is probably a better investment than swapping cartridges, which won't show us anything new (at the end of day).
More important is, we spend our time after working to "listen". Maybe one or the other will listen to his records and they will "tell" him something completely new...

Good sound (or analog Performance) is sometimes based on a very simple Principle: Knowledge about >>what is responsible for what<< and Precision.

"Joel had considered the idea of providing a Mint protractor with the tonearm, but we see examples above of individuals who cannot relate to this wonderful tool."

I certainly can relate to this tool. I also can relate to the fact that with the supplied 10x loupe, with my cartridge, it is not practical as I can't get a good view of the cantilever. So it doesn't matter how accurate Mint may be. Of course with another type of loupe, it might work beautifully.

If Dertoarm's allow for easy view and the alignment is precise, I think it will be a hit. Plus, I've been wanting to try out Lofgren.

Same 10X peak lupe I'm complaining about in my earlier post. Put it on top of an eraser just like the pix on Mint website. It fell down, rolled and bumped the cantilever. Luckily no serious damage done. Derto supplied magnefying glass seems will do the job.

Dertonarm,

Thanks for the clarifying points. You mentioned one point which may have been lost on folks, because everyone's attention is captured by the design of the Uni-tractor and your selection of geometries. I want to highlight your point:

This is probably a better investment than swapping cartridges, which won't show us anything new (at the end of day).

All too often (and in every area of the signal chain), we as audiophiles neglect the importance of setup, as our attention is always captured by the latest and greatest component.

The individual debating the purchase of the next $1,000 cartridge (we don't have to get to the pricing $tratosphere) would do well to ask himself the following question:

"have I provided my current cartridge every opportunity to succeed?".

If the answer is "no", you are randomly wandering about, and are depending on luck to reach success (not that I'm against a bit of luck here and there ~grin~).

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Thank you Syntax for this excellent post.
Replies for developing a state of mind like this one, can help us maybe even more than the actual product !