Mint Tractor

Well, it's hard to say exactly and here's why: I changed cartridges, so it's not like I can truly judge the sound difference to be a result of the tractor setup. Also have to consider that a new cart needs to break in.

Additionally, I ran out of my 'personal time' and am now sort of on 'family time', meaning I can't do any critical listening just yet. But I am playing an LP over and over, running downstairs to re-start it every so often (trying to accelerate break in of the new Dynavector 20XL) and my first impressions are that it sounds *very * good....

I just got my Mint LP Best Tractor today and spent a couple hours checking and re-aligning my cartridge. I found that my cartridge was just short of the arc line. When I was done, I put on the excellent reissue of "Astral Weeks" by Van Morrison. I had listened to it just before making the adjustments. My impressions afterward are very positive. The bass, which I thought was very good but maybe a tad tubby, was now much better. The high-pitched instruments, such as the hi-hat, snare, and vibraphone, which I thought were a little recessed in the mix, came forward into proportion VERY nicely.

I plan to listen to a lot a records this week. Next week, I may try to improve upon the setup. I think I may be able to get it even more accurate.

This is a very good product.

Cheers.

Tfkaudio .. you 'll notice your cartridge 'll need not less than 4/5 hours playing to give you its best sound.
This is due to the new suspension position after have "mintled" the cartridge.

Well that's good news, since it was better on the first play.

Cheers.

I have owned one of those very nice, very expensive aluminum alignment tools for the past 25-30 years. I can't imagine how many cartridges I have aligned... well almost aligned. After reading the good comments I purchased the Mint Tractor from Yip with thoughts of checking my already great alignment (He says as a joke).

The Mint arrived and I could tell from the directions that it had the ability to achieve great accuracy. I checked my existing cantilever angle and immediately could tell it was off. So time to start from the beginning.

In setting the overhang, my old setting was off by about .075" or around 2mm... Wow! Got it corrected and then set the cantilever angle, on the money! You have to go back and keep checking the overhang, but the more you work at it the better the accuracy becomes.

The ease of doing the alignment is directly related to the quality of the magnifier that you use. I bought both that were offered with the Mint, but had an 6x Peak (Lithco) magnifier that has a 1.75" diameter piece of glass (use the eyepiece only). The wide field of the Peak makes a huge difference and does not cause nearly as much eye fatigue.

Quality is always in the listening, and it was like adding a major component. The definition of each instrument was smooth and defined and the soundstage had depth and separation.

Obviously, designing an alignment device that is made for your specific tonearm is the way to go. In fact, I'll probably want to go back in a week or two, check it again to see if I can squeeze any more performance out of it. The tractor worked great, Yip was a pleasure to deal with and the entire Mint experience "Left a Good Taste in My Mouth"!