Guru cartridge alignment method + Anti Skate setting

[Redbrickman]

I have not tried the Guru cartridge alignment yet on my cart but post it here for interest or discussion. What I have done so far is set up my anti skate using the instruction in the page linked below, and I have found it very accurate, at least to my ears ;-)

http://www.vacuumstate.com/fileupload/GuruSetUp.pdf

Download protractor here...

http://www.vacuumstate.com/fileupload/Guru_protractor.pdf

Hope it's of interest to others and gives us something to tinker with on this wet 1st Jan 2014!

Happy New Year arty:

Al

 

[Jazid]

Thanks for that. I have just used the Dr Feickert protractor to excellent effect, a massive improvement though I have not further tweaked since then. I shall now waste more time tinkering with Mr Wright's settings as given above. OCD joy!

 

[Disarmamant]

Interesting reading, but alas the PDF protractor is not useable without a calibrated scale printed along the bottom and side edge so the accuracy of printing can be checked with a ruler.

 

[Redbrickman]

Traviata, thanks for pointing that out, I have used other protractors in the dim and distant past that were printed out but they had a printer "calibration" scale on them to ensure accuracy. My main interest on reading the document was the anti skate adjustment which is different from anything else I have tried and actually seems to produce a better soundstage. Could be my perception though as with any new thing it's easy to hear improvements if you are expecting them

 

[Hoym]

I'm always dubious about my anti skate setting:nerves:This seems very good IF you choose the right piece of music.

Mike

 

[MUJI]

Thanks for that. I have just used the Dr Feickert protractor to excellent effect, a massive improvement though I have not further tweaked since then. I shall now waste more time tinkering with Mr Wright's settings as given above. OCD joy!

James, which version of the Dr Feickert have you got? I got the MK I and I wonder if the newer version is better.

 

[Jazid]

James, which version of the Dr Feickert have you got? I got the MK I and I wonder if the newer version is better.

Hi there,

I got the Mk2 as a Christmas pressy to myself I cannot compare it to the Mk1 as I don't have one, but as far as I can tell they are nearly the same. The Mk2 has the Baerwald, Lofgren and Stevenson geometries on it vs just the Baerwald and Lofgren, and claims easier use and improved accuracy. Whether anyone uses the Stevenson geometry I don't know, I just used the Baerwald. It is certainly nicely made and it should be at that price; it will last several lifetimes. It is much simpler to get accurate than the vinyl engine protractor which I had previously printed off, mostly because of the extra mass of it and its being the right thickness for an LP. The pin which locates the arm pivot at the correct effective length is a winner for me as it prevents unwanted platter rotation wrecking the stylus whilst measuring. Whether other protractors are better or yet easier to use I am not in a position to judge sorry to say, but I am glad I have this one :^

 

[MUJI]

Hi there,I got the Mk2 as a Christmas pressy to myself I cannot compare it to the Mk1 as I don't have one, but as far as I can tell they are nearly the same. The Mk2 has the Baerwald, Lofgren and Stevenson geometries on it vs just the Baerwald and Lofgren, and claims easier use and improved accuracy. Whether anyone uses the Stevenson geometry I don't know, I just used the Baerwald. It is certainly nicely made and it should be at that price; it will last several lifetimes. It is much simpler to get accurate than the vinyl engine protractor which I had previously printed off, mostly because of the extra mass of it and its being the right thickness for an LP. The pin which locates the arm pivot at the correct effective length is a winner for me as it prevents unwanted platter rotation wrecking the stylus whilst measuring. Whether other protractors are better or yet easier to use I am not in a position to judge sorry to say, but I am glad I have this one :^

Cheers for the info James.

Agree with you. Although I only had the MK I , the effective length set up was crucial and the Dr Feickert protractor makes it so much easier. I must say the matt black on MK 2 looks nicer than the MK I. Lucky bloke you to get it as a pressie.

 

[Jazid]

Yes indeed, even if I did have to pay for it

I was swayed by the argument regarding how much I paid for the cart/arm :roll:

Glad I was and buying new it was expensive but it worked. But I'm pretty sure if I had the mk1 I wouldn't upgrade. Too much dosh for the difference

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

 

[Tenson]

I thought PDF always prints at the right size, unless your printer drivers are dodgy. Open in the proper Adobe Reader app, not your browser.

 

[Chumpy]

Yes.

Choose compromise between your hearing/your tt-arm-cart manufacturers' advice.

 

[Jazid]

I thought PDF always prints at the right size, unless your printer drivers are dodgy. Open in the proper Adobe Reader app, not your browser.

Allegedly so, but how do you know if it is the case unless you have a scale as an reference that you can check against? Also there are manufacturing tolerances in the printer components, temperature and humidity of the paper passing through (even whether its the first or last sheet of a print run). Remember we are talking fractions of a millimetre across the size of an A4 sheet. It is an unfortunate oversight that means the good work done by Allen Wright et al is compromised in this way.

FWIW when I printed out the vinyl engine version I needed to magnify it by something like 1.0045 to get it right, and still I can't be sure its accurate horizontally as well as vertically since IIRC the scale was only printed on one axis (this from a notoriously unreliable memory however :roll: )

 

[browellm]

Hi there,I got the Mk2 as a Christmas pressy to myself I cannot compare it to the Mk1 as I don't have one, but as far as I can tell they are nearly the same. The Mk2 has the Baerwald, Lofgren and Stevenson geometries on it vs just the Baerwald and Lofgren, and claims easier use and improved accuracy. Whether anyone uses the Stevenson geometry I don't know, I just used the Baerwald. It is certainly nicely made and it should be at that price; it will last several lifetimes. It is much simpler to get accurate than the vinyl engine protractor which I had previously printed off, mostly because of the extra mass of it and its being the right thickness for an LP. The pin which locates the arm pivot at the correct effective length is a winner for me as it prevents unwanted platter rotation wrecking the stylus whilst measuring. Whether other protractors are better or yet easier to use I am not in a position to judge sorry to say, but I am glad I have this one :^

Agree with all that. I have a MkII and use Stevenson, for a couple of reasons: firstly I assumed it was the preferred geometry for Rega mount arms, and secondly it reins in some of the humongous cartridge overhang that the Io has with Baerwald and Lofgren, purely an aesthetic issue though.

 

[Jazid]

Agree with all that. I have a MkII and use Stevenson, for a couple of reasons: firstly I assumed it was the preferred geometry for Rega mount arms, and secondly it reins in some of the humongous cartridge overhang that the Io has with Baerwald and Lofgren, purely an aesthetic issue though.

Ah! I had been wondering about how little of my cart was actually inside the headshell :shock: Do you find it improves tracking significantly on the inner grooves as well?

 

[browellm]

I don't recall any tracking or distortions using Baerwald, but the Io is a top tracker.

 

[Jazid]

A quick perusal of vinyl engine and I learned what Browellm kindly noted above; the AN arm is configured for Stevenson alignment at 222mm, and not either of the other two. I did not know that. I have just spent the last hour or two repositioning the cart for Stevenson.The effect is a further improvement, in this case most marked at the end of the records where there was a definite loss of quality which I was getting worried was down to the quality of the vinyl. But no, the quality of my cartridge alignment instead :roll: Arvo Part's Miserere on at the moment, bejesus! Thanks zygote23, top vinyl for sale there mate:^

This could get obsessional...

Another thing for another thread probably but I took the opportunity to change the drive belt. Another surprising improvement. The old one wasn't stretched, just harder somehow. The machine is quieter in operation, quieter through the cart. More top advice from the Wam, in this case from Coco-san. A good days tweakery. Many thanks to all: Now :stereo:

 

[Redbrickman]

By posting about the Guru method I'm probably responsible for many hours of "lost" time in the average household

 

[browellm]

A quick perusal of vinyl engine and I learned what Browellm kindly noted above; the AN arm is configured for Stevenson alignment at 222mm, and not either of the other two. I did not know that. I have just spent the last hour or two repositioning the cart for Stevenson.The effect is a further improvement, in this case most marked at the end of the records where there was a definite loss of quality which I was getting worried was down to the quality of the vinyl. But no, the quality of my cartridge alignment instead :roll: Arvo Part's Miserere on at the moment, bejesus! Thanks zygote23, top vinyl for sale there mate:^This could get obsessional...

Another thing for another thread probably but I took the opportunity to change the drive belt. Another surprising improvement. The old one wasn't stretched, just harder somehow. The machine is quieter in operation, quieter through the cart. More top advice from the Wam, in this case from Coco-san. A good days tweakery. Many thanks to all: Now :stereo:

Nice :^