BaerWald vs VPI setup protractors

Vpi tonearm is a clever designed which allows user to adjust the P2S distance very fast. You only need to turn the elbow a few degrees to get the correct distance. (If your tonearm has the adjustable base for vta)

Vpi tonearm is a clever designed which allows user to adjust the P2S distance very fast. You only need to turn the elbow a few degrees to get the correct distance. (If your tonearm has the adjustable base for vta)

This is no longer the case with most legacy and current production VPI tonearms as the dog leg platform is now fixed and cannot be rotated.  The original JMW10/12 tonearms had a dog leg platform that could be rotated.  This was abandoned for the sake of increased rigidity and resonance control, but I have to admit, it made fine tuning S2P distances a breeze.

lewm, first of all, all we are trying to do is set a tangent at two different radii. It is not brain surgery. When you wrote, "This is why Mint protractors are made one by one for each tonearm." it seemed you were ascribing greater precision to them, which would be incorrect. IMO the arc protractor, which was introduced originally by Wally Malewicz, as a marketing effort by him to make vinylphiles believe that they needed a custom, hand made and expensive device to do what the one-size-fits-all devices had been doing successfully for years. It worked, and when Wally couldn’t/wouldn’t deliver consistently, Mint stepped in.

And in case YOU don’t know it, the SMARTractor and the UNItractor.are copies of the original Dennison Geometric Soundtractor which had been around at the dawn of the stereo era. Either the patent has run out or was purchased/licensed

I cannot imagine anyone spending $600 for such a device unless, perhaps, if they do TT set-ups professionally (and write off the expense). With just a little care the simpler ones, like my Cart-a-line or the turntablebasics an do the job just as well for a hobbyist.. IMO, though, a mirrored protractor is a must as one should be aligning the cantilever and the mirror forces you to get that right.

I often think there’s too much emphasis on HTA anyway. One successful pivoted TT arm even avoids that totally. Some people think accuracy in azimuth and SRA are far more important. And anyone who wants to spend unnecessary big bucks on devices to adjust these will also find willing purveyors.

melm

When you wrote, "This is why Mint protractors are made one by one for each tonearm." it seemed you were ascribing greater precision to them, which would be incorrect. IMO the arc protractor, which was introduced originally by Wally Malewicz, as a marketing effort by him to make vinylphiles believe that they needed a custom, hand made and expensive device to do what the one-size-fits-all devices had been doing successfully for years. It worked ...

It worked, to a point. The accuracy of a one-size-fits-all protractor hinges in part on how precisely it can locate the arm pivot. That precision is iffy and varies depending on the gauge and the arm. A dedicated gauge doesn’t suffer that problem.

With just a little care the simpler ones, like my Cart-a-line or the turntablebasics an do the job just as well for a hobbyist ..

The Cart-Align gauge is particularly imprecise in locating the arm pivot.

Dear @gillatgh: If the tonearm is mounted by VPI just forgeret to use other kind of alignment geometry. The VPI JIG was made it expressely for your 10.5i and in reality doing a change to LÖfgren A/Baerwald or Löfgren B  can´t makes a true and listeabler differences for the better in your tonearm.

I don't have evidence or read evidence that says the VPI JIG is non-accurated, as a fact I read it's.

The advantage to use the VPI JIG is that the tonearm is mounted with very high accuracy degree and the JIG works around that.

Which the problem you are listening with the VPI dedicated JIG alignment. Are you unsatisfied and why?

The name of the game  in any tonearm/cartridge alignment type geometry is accuracy and if your set up is accurated this is enough and you don't have to change it. Why should you or any one VPI owner?

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.