(free) Phono-cartridge Alignment Protractor

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I was so obsessive as a 25 year old that I would calculate the optimal alignment trajectory of my arm/ cartridge combination
 
I was so obsessive as a 25 year old that I would calculate the optimal alignment trajectory of my arm/ cartridge combination

It really does make a difference, and with CD-4 playback it makes a BIG difference. Think about it. A stylus and a record groove is microscopic, and it doesn't take much for a Shibata and Line Contact styli to get cock-eyed in the groove. Anyone who is serious (or semi-serious) about vinyl playback would be foolish to ignore proper cartridge alignment. I have two dedicated CD-4 turntables (a Rega and a Dual), and both of them work perfectly after proper alignment. I use a Geo-Disc alignment protractor. The Linn Sondek in the photo is not used for CD-4 playback, but its Line Contact stylus still needs proper alignment to sound right.

Geo-Disc.JPG
 
Last edited:
It really does make a difference, and with CD-4 playback it makes a BIG difference. Think about it. A stylus and a record groove is microscopic, and it doesn't take much for a Shibata and Line Contact styli to get cock-eyed in the groove. Anyone who is serious (or semi-serious) about vinyl playback would be foolish to ignore proper cartridge alignment. I have two dedicated CD-4 turntables (a Rega and a Dual), and both of them work perfectly after proper alignment. I use a Geo-Disc alignment protractor. The Linn Sondek in the photo is not used for CD-4 playback, but its Line Contact stylus still needs proper alignment to sound right.

Yes, hence my obsession! Then I got addicted to the pursuit of the perfect cassette
 
Yes, hence my obsession! Then I got addicted to the pursuit of the perfect cassette

Fair enough. To me, the perfect cassette frees the tape from its plastic holding cell, doubles the width of the tape, records at four times the speed, and winds the tape onto a large metal open reel. :)
 
I personally only ever played my records once, with record clamps, lid down, speakers off, electrical shutdown in the house then onto TDK SAX tape, onto a Nakamichi ZX - 7 with Hi Com noise reduction.....still got them!

40019
 
Nice gear. I had a ZX-9 back in the day, but I sold it because I hadn't used it in a while. I have a Denon DR-M20 that I bought cheap, just for playback … as well as a 4-channel Tascam 234 deck that I use much more. My preference though, is to use my multitrack reel machines (with DBX II NR).

P1060493.JPG
 
You got me on the ZX- 9! I claim I also had a Nak 1000, 582....oh did I tell you about my 2 sets of Nakamichi Dragon electrostatic loudspeakers I designed:

40021


Only 140 sets ever made before they went bust (20 sets buried in a land fill somewhere in UK)
 
I was always suspect of the ZX-7 / ZX-9 differential. Who could possibly prove that 'selected' components were chosen for the ZX-9?

Great speakers! Shame that they disposed of them. I am a big e-stat (Stax) headphone guy, but I have always thought that e-stat speakers would be unreasonably high-maintenance … not unlike my ex-wife.
 
The biggest difference was direct drive -no belts. Hey I have had several set of stax/ audio Technica electrostatic headphones i currently have the Lamda's
 
I have a pair of Lamdas too … SR-202 as I recall; used with an SRM-1/MK2 pro-voltage energizer. I also have a couple of pairs of standard voltage earspeakers … SR-5 and SRX-III, used with a passive SRD-7/SB energizer. I had a pair of Koss e-stats quite some time ago (I can't recall the model), but they were designed to squeeze brain matter out of your head orifices (not unlike my K/2+2 quadrafones). That didn't appeal to me. I need whatever brain material I have left.
 
Getting back to the subject of alignment protractors, it is important to know that you maintain an absolute one-to-one relationship between the original (not the downloaded) protractor and the final printed version. Also; many protractors ignore the tonearm pivot point (see the A - B alignment in my earlier Geo-Disc photo) as it relates to stylus overhang, and this is critical because there is no standard tonearm length … not to mention the differences in geometry between straight and curved arms.
 
Getting back to the subject of alignment protractors, it is important to know that you maintain an absolute one-to-one relationship between the original (not the downloaded) protractor and the final printed version. Also; many protractors ignore the tonearm pivot point (see the A - B alignment in my earlier Geo-Disc photo) as it relates to stylus overhang, and this is critical because there is no standard tonearm length … not to mention the differences in geometry between straight and curved arms.


Yes in regard to KOSS, I think they should rebrand them as head vices.

Re the pivot point - that is the reason that I went nuts and did all the maths on the exact position
 
You got me on the ZX- 9! I claim I also had a Nak 1000, 582....oh did I tell you about my 2 sets of Nakamichi Dragon electrostatic loudspeakers I designed:

View attachment 40021

Only 140 sets ever made before they went bust (20 sets buried in a land fill somewhere in UK)
Doing some research for my new TT/cart set-up and was reminded how cool and futuristic your Nakamichi Dragons looks (bet they sound great too :smokin) Wouldn't they have looked logically and functionally correct (of course they listened in Quad on the ship as in that time period it was all the rage - again) parked in the corners of Spock's quarters or rec. room on the Enterprise while they played 3D chess?

ST-3D CHESS.jpg


OK - right, Geo-Disc Geo-Disc...
 
Last edited:
Doing some research for my new TT/cart set-up and was reminded how cool and futuristic your Nakamichi Dragons looks (bet they sound great too :smokin) Wouldn't they have looked logically and functionally correct (of course they listened in Quad on the ship as in that time period it was all the rage - again) parked in the corners of Spock's quarters or rec. room on the Enterprise while they played 3D chess?

View attachment 43987

OK - right, Geo-Disc Geo-Disc...


We were inspired by the Vega probe episode

1573521394825.png
 
Back
Top