Mint Tractor

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"!

I got my Mint protractor ten days ago and was finally able to spend some time with it and my Scheu setup this Easter weekend. I didn't listen to anything before starting off but I did put my GeoDisc on the platter and check alignment before going on to the Mint. The stylus was about 2mm in front of the target circle.

Now I wasn't too concerned about such a gross error because the TT had just come back from extended loan to a magazine. They had used another cartridge for their trials and I didn't expect the TT to come back dialed in. The Scheu's arm board allows for adjusting the stylus to pivot distance ( STPD ) so that's what I did. Then I put on the Mint.

Lo and behold the arm pivot was way ( well, relatively way ) back from where it should have been. This was a big surprise and I might have wondered if the Mint was in fact wrong. In discussing the order with Yip, we had found two different effective length figures for the Cantus arm on the Web. Scheu had not responded to enquiry by email. In the end Yip proposed going ahead with the official Scheu figure since he could calculate Baerwald alignment using that as long as I could adjust STPD.

In other words Yip's Mint protractor made it possible for me to set the arm at the correct distance for the first time.

I actually found it easier ( and faster ) to move the arm support than to move the cartridge so that's how I set overhang. I had the same trouble with ageing eyes and the 10X loupe that others have mentioned but the 3X turned out to be effective enough. When it was all done to my satisfaction, after just over an hour and a couple of breaks, I put the GeoDisc back on the platter and cued up.

The stylus settled down smack dab in the dimple.

Well it had done that too before I started, but now I knew that had been an error. This time I could be sure the overhang was right at both inner and outer null points. Playing records bore this out. I tried my setup disc : Rolf Harris, the Wizard of Aussie ( the Tie Me Kangaroo Down guy ). The inner track can sound horribly sibilant but I'd never heard it clearer. Then the Barenboim/Du Pré Haydn cello concerto in C. Strings, ah, massed strings were sweet and clear and the cello had a wonderful richness of tone. What soul Ms. Du Pré put into the performance... I had thought that the Truls Mörk/Iona Brown performance on Virgin CD with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra was the best but now I have a new reference.

It's wonderful to feel this confident of my arm/cart setup. I'll play with VTA, then go back and do it all over once or twice more with the Mint. This level of accuracy is addictive...

I just used my new Mint LP and almost went cross eyed, but it worked out nicely on my Linn Sondek TT. I'm lucky that I have a Linn tonearm, so that way I can use the Mint again if I ever upgrade to another Linn arm. Or I guess I could sell it for 1/2 price. Anyway the Mint works very well.

I, too received mine a few weeks ago and couldn't be more pleased. Sound is more "freed-up" from the speakers than ever before. There is more separation and air between instruments especially towards the end of records. It's not a miracle worker: Scratches still sound, overplayed, groove-damaged records are still beyond help, and garishly-recorded strings and brass still sound bad. In any case, the protractor has definitely "raised all ships," so to speak, helping my VPI/Dyna 20xl get more off both excellent and marginal-quality records.

Set up took quite awhile the first night, mostly because of fumbling with best lighting and focusing and re-focusing my eye with the 10x loupe. A warning: I used only one eraser to stabilize the VPI platter and it raised the platter enough to throw off the alignment once I took the eraser out. The next night it took all of 45 minutes to get everything absurdly accurate, and that's what makes the protractor so excellent--that mortals like myself, (with a little patience and fortitude), can get everything so dialed in.

( At least if VPI drilled the platter hole to the exact millimeter, the record hole is in the right place, and the tonearm base...AHHHHHH!)

What's best about the Protractor is that it allows

and that's what makes the protractor so excellent--that mortals like myself, (with a little patience and fortitude)...

- Jdaniel13 -

"More you see .. more you mint .. more you mint .. more you listen " :-)