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...
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...