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I picked this cartridge alignment tip a long time ago right here, and thought I would resurface it to aid the collective mind.
taping mechanical pencil leads to the straight sides of the cartridge makes it easier to insure the cart is aligned with the grid pattern used to insure the cartridge is straight. extending out the lines makes it very easy to see if things are indeed parallel .
I didn't notice who posted the tip at the time, but it turn out to be very helpful , so wish I could thank the poster. I just bought some pencil leads for a couple of bucks to aid my upcoming alignment task.
Follow Ups:
The cantilever is not always square.....even on the most expensive ones
I'd say, "especially on the most expensive ones."
Most of the cheap cartridges I've owned seemed to have very well lined up cantilevers. It was only on some of the very expensive ones that didn't seem to be lined up that accurately.
Oh, well. Such is life! ;-)
Two critical ones for the trick to work:
1) The cantilever is true (parallel) to the cartridge body.
2) The stylus is aligned properly on the cantilever.
For cartridge set up I use a Dennesen Soundtraktor to set overhang and alignment. I understand newer tools may offer advancements but I've been satisfied with mine. With this I sight along the cantilever (see #1) for alignment. At my age I now utilize a magnifier. But it remains luck of the draw for #2.
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, if you can fake that you've got it made." Groucho
one of the reasons I went with ortofon was the brand was mentioned as having top of the industry quality control during a YouTube roundtable discussion about record mastering, if I recall correctly.
I don't need that luck of the draw stuff, and have read enough over the years to know quality control is not the greatest with cartridges, although that is essentially what one is paying for.
I really don't have the experience to discern much about a faulty cartridge beyond the obvious, nor would I want any.
I do agree without any reservations, , that the consumer must check this stuff carefully.
I'm not that happy to be replacing an old v15 shure, I really sounded great. But it did get so old that I was having to send to Japan to replace the stylus , and although they worked well, it was only an approximation of the OEM part. Then once the cartridge got destroyed , that settled everything.
I had been considering a cartridge upgrade for some time, I consider it the voice of the system , right up there with speakers. although a moving magnet works perfectly well with my rock centric record collection, so old that most of it was probably mastered with a MM in the production chain, I was open to change.
I had a lot of big expensive dreams while forming a buying decision, and considered the ortofon 2Mblack as probably the most direct replacement for the old shure, probably a lateral move.
When I finally pulled the trigger, I reluctantly put my dreams aside, knowing spending money on the arm would serve me better than a multi thousand dollar cartridge of my dreams.
while Kicking around the ortofon website, one of the suggested matches for my Michell techno arm "A" was the 2M black, so I decided to face reality , waited for a Black Friday sale , and bought the Ludwig von Beethoven version for just under a thousand dollars.
although I primarily listen to rock and other simple groove material, like jazz, I voice my system for classical and let the rock take care of itself.
Hey bc, my comment was intended as a caution to check the alignment of the cantilever (parallel with cartridge body sides) before installing the cartridge and using the lead trick for alignment. I've seen several over the years which were not true.
But don't sell MM, or MI short. There was an article in TAS some years ago about the number of mastering engineers who relied on MM cartridges. Three I remember were Doug Sax, Kavi Alexander, and Bernie Grundman. Then there is that post on MM/MI cartridges by Raul on Audiogon with over 24K views! Like most considerations in audio, no one answer fits everyone.
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, if you can fake that you've got it made." Groucho
I posted the following more than 21 years ago, but I was not the first.
Interesting tip, thanks.
Will it sound better if I use H or HB leads :)
lucky for you, I just treated a new batch of leads with my exclusive super straight special carbon anti magnetic process.
I guarantee you that jaws will drop if you send me only $399 for a hand selected pair of audiophile quality super leads.
the graphite has been cryogenically treated.
...regards...tr
that is a $200 dollar option, reserved for only the most elite clients who know they can hear the difference.
If you want to have some fun, go over to the mapingo, (spelling?) the place that long ago made a big splash selling magic rocks to rave reviews by some big name audio magazine honks.
they now sell miraculous acoustic room improvements, but the real special product , last time I was there, was a special piece of wood that is used to focus one's Chi power to enhance audio performance. there was no mention of any offered cryogenic head treatment, the next logical step for those who would be better off soaking their head. .
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