You have good advice from lewm. The mint is valid only for a given tonearm length and offset angle, provided that the stylus overhang distance has been set accurately. It is a convenience item. It is not more accurate than the TTB gauge, it is just easier to use; and it is invalid to use for any other tonearm length. If they do not agree, check the overhang distance. The TTB will provide accurate results for any tonearm, again if the offset angle has been manufactured correctly for the tonearm effective length, and if the overhang distance is set correctly. If all of these conditions are not met; it can provide a good compromise by twisting the cartridge in the headshell. Also, all of these adjustments are only as accurate as the alignment of the stylus to the cartridge body.
Two Protractors - Only One Aligns
So I've got a Technics SP10ii with an SME 312S tonearm and an Airtight PC-1 cartridge. I had MINTLP make a custom protractor for the 312S, and it aligns just fine. Recently I acquired a second tonearm (Musical Life Conductor SE 10" Cocobolo) - a very uncommon tonearm with essentially no documentation available. Since the MINTLP states that it is fitted to only my SME312S tonearm, I defaulted to using a generic turntablebasics.com cartridge alignment tool. I was told that the pivot-to-spindle (PTS) length for the Conductor SE should be 235mm, but again, there is no written documentation. With the TTB tool, I could not get alignment at any PTS length, and I varied it from 225 to 270mm. Frustrated and confused, I pulled out the MINTLP protractor, and was able to align the cartridge at a PTS length of 250mm (FYI, the effective length is roughly 265mm, though hard to measure with the tonearm in place). Then, in the spirit of scientific inquiry, I checked the alignment of the 312S using my TTB protractor and NO DICE - it was telling me that the cartridge was out of alignment (contradicting the MINTLP). What the heck is going on here?????
I know there are more than one different alignments people use (Loëfgren, Baerwald, Stevenson, UNI-DIN, etc.) - but between the two null points on the TTB protractor the stylus was off by around 10mm. That is way too much to be explained by variable alignment methods, right? And since I had success with the MINTLP protractor, I would like to call it good, except for the warning on the MINTLP ("BEST Tractor is tailor-made for a particular tuntable tonearm setup. Using it on any other setup will result in error and do harm to your cartridge"). I don't get that either. Aren't the null points the null points, regardless of which tonearm you are using on a particular turntable?
Those with a high degree of vinyl experience - please chime in if you can. Thanks, Peter
I know there are more than one different alignments people use (Loëfgren, Baerwald, Stevenson, UNI-DIN, etc.) - but between the two null points on the TTB protractor the stylus was off by around 10mm. That is way too much to be explained by variable alignment methods, right? And since I had success with the MINTLP protractor, I would like to call it good, except for the warning on the MINTLP ("BEST Tractor is tailor-made for a particular tuntable tonearm setup. Using it on any other setup will result in error and do harm to your cartridge"). I don't get that either. Aren't the null points the null points, regardless of which tonearm you are using on a particular turntable?
Those with a high degree of vinyl experience - please chime in if you can. Thanks, Peter