Dear friends: I would like to share my opinion on some different tonearm/cartridge geometry set up subjects.
IMHO the MintLP protractor is not magic or the perfect protractor that per se change what you was hearing through your cartridge.
It sounds different?, certainly. Because is better? certainly NOT.
So what's all about?, many things like: that your non MintLP cartridge set up was wrong, that you like it more the distortions/colorations of what you heard through the MintLP, that through the MintLP set up now the cartridge has a right set up, that even that your non MintLP is right you like more the MintLP trade-offs, etc, etc.
There are almost an infinite different tonearm/cartridge geometry set up, it depends what targets we want to achieve, example: less tracking distortion/error at inner grooves, less tracking distortion/error between null points, average at both " sides ", etc, etc.
We can't achieve the lesser/lower inner grooves distortion/error an at the same time the lesser/lower between null points distortion/error we always have a trade-off.
Now, we can choose between Löfgren A, Löfgren B, Baerwald, Stevenson, Pisha, etc, etc. Which better?, depend what you are looking for.
To make more complex what we choose and before take either equations method we can choose two different parameters necessaries on those equations to make calculations and obtain: both null points, offset angle and overhang, I'm refering to: Inner Groove Radius and Outer Groove Radius.
Any change in these parameters change the final cartridge set up parameters: overhang, offset angle and null points.
To " live " what I'm telling here you can take the Calculator that Timetel linked and compare it against the Calculator that you can find in www.enjoy the music.com.
In both Calculators you can find Löfgren choice and if you made calculations taking Löfgren equations you will find different results due that both Calculators even that are for Löfgren has different Inner Groove Radius and Outer Groove Radius.
Some one posted here that with MintLP there is no inner groove distortion, well that he does not heard it not say that the inner groove distortion is there and only goes lower but against higher distortions between the null points: nothing is perfect and this is part of the trade offs I'm talking. Your choice.
My own experiences tell me that if we really take care about trying to be accurate as we can be in the cartridge set up the differences between what " geometry " we choose are really low and don't have to worry which method we have to choose. All them have trade-offs.
Why the MintLP seems to us better when it is not?, IMHO because when we use it what we do we do with more accuracy, example: several other protractors does not fit exactly with the spindle TT where the MintLP fit exactly with no " play " this means accuracy where in other protractors here exist an error tiny error but less accuracy.
The tonearm/cartridge set up is very important subject especially when our audio system has high distortions elsewhere. As lower distortions have an audio system as less capacity we have to discern between different methods on cartridge/tonearm set up geometry.
Now, I agree with the people that say that we have to take more time to enjoy music than on hardware/set up.
Why I agree?, easy: every time we change VTA/SRA we have to reset all what we already do on the cartridge/tonearm set up, every time we change the VTF we have to reset, even when we change the azymuth we have to reset. So when have we time to heard our recordings?
To make it more complex: all of us think that we have to align the cartridge cantilever and not the cartridge body on the protractor and this seems " a priori " the right way to go.
Dear friends please take a cartridge with a tiny ( tiny but significant enough for we can see it by eyes. ) cantilever deviation that when you put on the protractor ( static condition. ) you can see the cantilever deviation. Then run it on any recording and what you can see is that that tiny deviation disappear, that in dynamic way the cantilever maybe for the tracking forces in the recording is automatic aligned!! and what happen with our static protractor set up where we made it with that cantilever deviation but in dynamic status there is no more tiny cantilever deviation!!!??????
Not easy task what we have in this truly analog extremely imperfect world and even in this imperfection we love it!!!
Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.
