I Do Hate Cartridge Alignment!
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BillWojo
Junior Member
Technics did in the P-mount style. Back in the P-mount heyday, more manufactures were coming out with better versions P-mount carts and than the digital revolution hit and it all stopped. Whats needed is something similar to the P-mount but with just tracking force adjustment to handle both high and low compliance carts. Maybe a new standard. Make it compatible with 1/2" mounts like the P-mount adapters. Set the adapter up once and switch carts at your whim.
BillWojo
I love the idea of P-mount but despite there being some very good carts in T4P (I think that's the standard) the audiophile community never took it seriously, and so now you're stuck with using either very old carts with it, or fairly entry-level carts that are new. I had an incredible Azden LOMC in P-mount that sounded glorious on my Technics SL-10, but it died a premature death in an accident that was the last straw for me and my VPI (you could run it standard mount). It had a microridge stylus, boron cantilever...It was one of the only P-mounts I had that I really liked and showed the real potential of the standard. It was the near-sonic twin of my Ortofon Cadenza, just in P-mount.
What would really be nice is a system where you could turn some screws and move the cart fore and aft as well as adjusting zenith. They could be a cam system or just threaded. That would be so much easier that loosening screws, moving the cart, measuring again and so on and so forth.
One thing I've found that does make it a little easier is to snap pics on your cell phone camera and blow them up as you get close.
Clearly off.
Better
One thing I've found that does make it a little easier is to snap pics on your cell phone camera and blow them up as you get close.
Clearly off.
Better
JP
Junior Member
Best Tractor @Wntrmute2?
Oh, that Best Tractor thingy looks great. I should get one for my TK-850s tonearm.
I will say that once somebody sits you down and, in person, explains it all and shows you how and why everything is done - it makes logical sense. And its not that hard, or shouldn't be. I don't find it particularly difficult to set up a table anymore, but I always find it annoyingly fiddly for the little things that weren't standardized like what I described above. For whatever reason, somebody showing me in-person accomplished more than all the videos in the world. Whenever I've acquired or given a table to a non-audiophile friend getting into vinyl I walk them through the how and, more importantly, WHY, of cart alignment and overall setup.
I will say that once somebody sits you down and, in person, explains it all and shows you how and why everything is done - it makes logical sense. And its not that hard, or shouldn't be. I don't find it particularly difficult to set up a table anymore, but I always find it annoyingly fiddly for the little things that weren't standardized like what I described above. For whatever reason, somebody showing me in-person accomplished more than all the videos in the world. Whenever I've acquired or given a table to a non-audiophile friend getting into vinyl I walk them through the how and, more importantly, WHY, of cart alignment and overall setup.
The part to setting up a cart that drives me crazy is that I've been calculating alternate points for the various arms I have (that are all over the place in terms of actual lengths) and then keep misplacing them and having to do it all over again. Just me being stupid, but still annoying!
Decided to put some more time in and tweak it until it was perfect. Tweaked and fiddled and messed a bunch. Decided to go for the Loefgren, for no real reason other then it seemed a good option. After a half an hour of tweaking, getting closer and further from the elusive perfect Loefgren, I ended up with the perfect Baerwald, so I decided to call it a night and listened to some Ella.
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You can never go wrong listening to some Ella!
I don´t hate cartridge alignment at all. Why should I? On my main turntable it takes a couple of minutes when I install the arm, then I can forget about it. That´s one of the advantages of broadcast turntables like the EMT. My main turntable is an EMT 930 with an EMT 929 arm. Set up is simplicity itself, as it has to be in a broadcast environment. You set tone arm height with a template, then you balance the arm with the counterweight. All that remains is to set the (springloaded) playing weight and the correct antiskating. As long as you stick with the EMT Txxx series cartridges (and why wouldn’t you, they are very good) no further set up is required. You just fit the correct cartridge for the record you want to play, TND 65 (78), TMD 25 (early mono) or TSD 15 (stereo, conical or fine line) and go ahead. Happy days!
Sorry, this thread is for complaints only.
EMT. Hmm
Oops! Sorry. Didn´t realise. What do you mean: ”EMT. Hmm”?
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