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Cart not parallel after Mint LP alignment?

Howdy,

So after reading about 1000 paragraphs on how good the Mint LP Tractor is - I purchased one and had a marathon session yesterday with my new SL-1210 M5G, AT440MLa and Zupreme headshell...

After all was said and done - the alignment itself took 90 hard minutes - I am finding the cartridge sitting about 5-7 degrees "right" of center. The actual cantilever and stylus are about as dead on as I wanna go with it for now.

Now a comment and a question....

Question: Is this non-parallel result in the headshell normal? It's making me think I may have a bent cantilever or something.

Comment: I have run 10-12 sides thru the rig so far and I must say - I have not yet heard the "revelation" that others have described when comparing their alignments to other protractors or even the white Technics alignment gauge. The rig sounds good...but...what I am missing here.

I must temper the above by saying I have changed phono stages frequently in the last month as well...I was getting nicely familiar with a Bellari VP-130 and then moved that for a Cambridge which lasted less than a week and I now have a Moon LP3 with maybe 25 hours on it...Even my AT440MLa might have 40-50 hours on it as well....

I am thinking that a whole bunch of stuff might need to "burn" in before the system starts to really reveal itself.

But I am very concerned with the stylus/cantilever on the cart...even with all the moves the Mint required...I expected the cartridge to sit straight in the headshell...perhaps expecting too much?

Appreciate any feedback.

Cheers!

VP
vocalpoint
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Just as a point of clarification, I was not commenting in my initial post about a bent cantilever.

The cartridge I set up with the MintLP on my Technics SL1200 with Zupreme headshell had a straight cantilever. That is to say the cantilever was parallel with the sides of the cartridge body.

However, after setting up the cart with the MintLP, the cartridge body was not parallel with the headshell.

The primary method employed by the MintLP is to set up cartridge by aligning the cantilever parallel with markings on the MintLP's mirrored surface. This is in contrast to a few cartridge set up templates I have used that guide the installer to adjust the cartridge's angle using the sides of the cartridge body as the reference (rather than the cantilever).
macdadtexas
1,794 posts
 
I love the MintLP tractor, and have bought one for every tonearm I have owned, and they do make a difference. That said, the difference is really based on how close you came to getting the geometry correct on your initial set up.

With my current rig, I found that the I had VERY little adjustment to do at all when I got the MintLP. When I set the cartridge down on the mirror the first time, it was about dead on from setting it up with the VPI jig that came with the turntable.
vocalpoint OP
10 posts
 
Thanks guys - for all the responses.

As far as I can see with my eye - the cantilever is straight - however - without a precise measurement - and I must admit - my eyes were ready to pop out - how can I be absolutely sure? I will assume a precision product like the AT440MLa does in fact ship with a straight cantilever.

But - with the Zupreme and the lame screw set included with the AT...nothing like those tiny round nuts to drive me crazy - I probably didn't have the cart perfectly parallel to begin with and as the movement back and forth continues with the Mint - it ends up being "off".

If it's normal - I can live with it for now. The AT is fine piece but I am also considering an upgrade to the 2M Bronze shortly...with it's threaded body...I believe it will be much easier to get a tighter grip on the headshell and ultimately finer more precise movements against the Mint.

For you folks using the nuts/screws method...is it better to use the round nut or a hex that will "grab" against the cart body and provide a tighter "tighten".

For the record - my Mint - is specifically designed for this table. This was my first use of it and I am sure subsequent runs should be more precise.

Appreciate anything else that you can add.

Cheers!

VP
tvad
9,467 posts
 
04-18-10: Vocalpoint
As far as I can see with my eye - the cantilever is straight - however - without a precise measurement - and I must admit - my eyes were ready to pop out - how can I be absolutely sure?
As long as you've set up the cart according to the MintLP instructions, and as long as the centilever is not significantly bent, i.e. you can see the bend clearly in relation to the sides of the cart (assuming they themselves are parallel), then it doesn't matter.

Is your cart set up correctly according to the MintLP...the stylus hits both null points and the cantilever is parallel and centered between the MintLP's mirrored hash lines? If any of these are off, then the cart is not yet dialed in.
lewm
6,770 posts
 
Tvad, but if cantilever is straight and cartridge is parallel with the long axis of the headshell, then the cantilever is also parallel with the long axis of the headshell. "QED", as we used to have to say in geometry class. So, since your cartridge ended up slightly twisted wrt the headshell, we can conclude that Yip chose a geometry different from the one chosen by the maker of your tonearm. This is not to say Yip is "wrong" to do this. I am sure he knows more about this stuff than I do and has his reasons. The Technics geometry is said to be not so great (based only on internet scuttlebutt), so, if true, that is one good reason right there.
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