VPI's protractor is not designed according to a Baerwald alignment. You will never get a perfect alignment for both methods at once. You can find enough info to bore you to death here: https://www.vinylengine.com/vpi-tonearm-geometry.shtmlIn the end, it does not really matter which one you choose (they are both legit and a matter of preference) as long as you align the stylus properly.@helomech's advice is very good. +1
BaerWald vs VPI setup protractors
Which is more accurate? Recently I decided to check my setup on a Scout using both the VPI gauge and a Baerwald protractor. Using the Baerwald the overhang is dead on in both locations, using the VPI the stylus misses the mark forward by about half a millimeter. Can this small amount of variance have a sonic impact? Has anyone else found this differene and what was your solution?
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In my experience, the Turntable Basic protractor is fatally flawed in that it does not permit the user to precisely locate and align the spindle with the pivot point of the tonearm. You've got to aim it by eye at the pivot, which is usually several inches beyond the edge of the protractor surface. Yes, it can be modified by the user to allow for closer approximation, but that's still a big problem with the original design. And to say it will "work" for any cartridge and tonearm is really to say it will approximately work, because there are minute differences for which it cannot account. Take a look at the UNItractor or the SMARTractor from Acoustic Sounds, and you will appreciate what those tiny tonearm to tonearm variables might be. Or even the Feickert. This is why Mint protractors are made one by one for each tonearm. |
In my experience, the Turntable Basic protractor is fatally flawed in that it does not permit the user to precisely locate and align the spindle with the pivot point of the tonearm.lewn FYI, the VPI alignment jig does just that... what it does not is give you Baerwald. All of the protractors you mentioned are good, but they are not free like helomech's option... I'd rather spend my money on LPs, but that is just me... If you print an arc protractor on photo paper, it will give you the same precision as the Mint, minus the mirror for azimuth. For those of us who care about $130.... |
fsellet If you print an arc protractor on photo paper, it will give you the same precision as the Mint, minus the mirror for azimuth. This is mistaken, and shows you don't really understand the basics of phono cartridge setup. The value of the mirror isn't so much for azimuth - although it's useful for that - but aligning the cantilever for tangency. There's no way to do that with a paper protractor. |
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