Comparison of Some Cartridge Alignment Devices

[MylesBAstor]

[MylesBAstor]

I know Mark/MEP bought a SMARTractor at RMAF. Awaiting his impressions. Know the SMARTractor is one of the many tools Andre uses and think he reviewed it for TAS a while back?

[Dre_J]

I know Mark/MEP bought a SMARTractor at RMAF. Awaiting his impressions. Know the SMARTractor is one of the many tools Andre uses and think he reviewed it for TAS a while back?

Hi Myles,

I've never reviewed the tool. It is only one of many alignment protractors ( two different Feickerts, a Mint, a Wallytractor, a GEO-DISC, printed protractors, etc.) I have around to use.

Dre

[Joe Pittman]

I have used many alignment templates over the years. Currently I use the Dr. Feickert Analog template (the original unit no longer in production) and the Roksan template which uses hybrid null points (an excellent value at around $20).

Bust mostly, I make my own templates with AutoCAD based on the dimensions of the tonearm geometry I am working on. For example, a common geometry is 222mm spindle-to-pivot with 15mm overhang (the Rega standard). I show Baerwald, Lofgren and Stevenson null points on one template. You will see the alignment for the various null points is so close, I defy most of you to tell the difference.

After aligning a zillion cartridges, I have concluded that the alignment templates only get you close to the "actual" perfect alignment. The ability to get perfection is limited by your eyesight and the fact the cartridge cantilevers and styli mounted to them probably vary from unit to unit as well as over time and are likely not perfectly aligned in the first place. The ultimate method is to get close with an alignment template then adjust by ear.

See one of my alignment templates: http://kosmic.us/222mmTemplate.pdf