Feickert analogue protractor....Owners impressions

So, Out of all this great discussion. I am more confused than ever.

Is there a best way to set your arm and cartridge up to minimise groove distortions, generally sound the most musical and leave it resonably easy.

Or is a combination of eg Feikert and Wally/Mint specific to your tonearm the best way to go.

If you use the Mint, there is no need for the Feikert since the Mint is manufactured specifically for your table/arm combo. You set spindle-pivot distance with a ruler to get is approx. correct and then get effective arm length dead nuts on by adjusting overhang til it hits all points on the arc specifically made for your rig. Then you go to the two null points to set the alignment. Its mirrored and has a very fine alignment grid. With my Schroeder its not easy because there is only one bolt in the cart carrier, so when you loosen it to adjust alignment you can easily change the overhang and vice versa, but you can also easily see that you botched it on the Mint. With a more conventional headshell, I would think it would be pretty straightforward with the Mint. The only downside is that if you change arm or TT you need a new one. But as is usually the case, "one size fits all" usually doesn't, while a custom item from a quality supplier does the job very well. Disclaimer- I've never used the Wally or the Feikert, but I find the Mint much easier to use than the TTbasics mirror or the cardstock protractor supplied by Schroeder. No surprise, really; its 3 or 4x the price of the TT and infinitely more expensive than the cardstock one Frank Shroeder sent me.

All,

Quite a few points to touch on here as this thread continues ...

I. Graham Alignment Technique

Please note that I've not played with the Phantom. My experiences and comments relate to with the 2.2. I believe that the Phantom sets up identically to the earlier Grahams. In any event, consider this to be at a minimum, comments on versions 2.2 and before.

The Graham setup jig, while brilliantly simple in concept and use, is predicated on one step which is difficult to achieve the highest level of accuracy with - setting the pivot to spindle distance. If you pay attention to your technique in this step, you can do quite well. If you don't, then a casual setup with a two-point protractor will be superior.

The great part about the Graham technique is the fact that you use parts machined into the actual tonearm to perform your measurements (the hole drilled in the headshell). What could be better? Well, the answer lies in keeping the unipivot bearing from tilting when you perform this operation. If you can do this, then your pivot to spindle distance will be spot on and life is good.

I've thought about how achieve precision in this step. One method would be to develop some sort of "U" shaped stabilizing part to support the main body of the tonearm so that it doesn't tilt, and thereby distort your pivot to spindle setting. Something so simple as some pieces of cardboard stacked up to the right thickness would likely work fine. I don't have an arm on hand, and thought about this after my 2.2 left my house, so I can't advise you on its construction beyond these passing comments.

II. Feickert

As far as the Feickert is concerned, I got to play with one for the first time this weekend. It provides a nice method of getting a starting point for spindle distance. For the price of the Feickert, you can get three dedicated arc-style protractors from Mintlp. Anyone who has shelled out $250 for a Feickert is obviously serious about their setup, and I'm puzzled why they don't try to compare their results against an arc-style protractor.

Perhaps the promise of the nicely machined parts lends the impression that you can't do better. Well as I've written many times about things analog (as have others), the tool with which you relate to best is the superior tool. Perhaps many relate to the Feickert. I can understand the appeal of a precision machined tool.

III. Arc-Style Protractors

My take on the very critical parameter of pivot to spindle distance is that all non arc-style protractors (including the Feickert) help you to set the pivot to spindle distance in the neighborhood, and nothing more. With the Feickert, you can get to perhaps 0.25 mm. An arc-style protractor will increase your precision in this regard irrespective of your starting point - whether you begin with a .25 mm error or 3 mm.

The way arc-style protractors work can drive you crazy until you understand them, because small changes in pivot to spindle distance (when measured at the record spindle side of the arc) will be multiplied dramatically at the lead-in groove side of the arc. 0.25 mm error at the record spindle side of the arc will translate to about 5 mm at the lead-in side. Therein lies it's beauty, precision, and frustration potential for arc-style protractors.

Palasr (who first pointed me to the Mintlp protractors) articulates the remainder of the argument in favor of arc-style protractors very nicely (as do Tim, Narrod, and Dan_ed), but rather than debate all of this, why don't you all try this out instead of discussing something without having experienced it.

IV. Take the Challenge

I'll tell ya what ... I'll reduce your risk to maybe a buck, and we all know how much that buys on the international market these daze.

I'll send the first 5 people who e-mail me an arc-style protractor made of card-stock material for your tonearm (Baerwaald alignment).

As long as we can establish the effective length of your tonearm, I can make one for you. Please note, that many Japanese tonearms specify weird numbers and we might have to work a bit to get one made for you.

Please e-mail me using this link from the Galibier website (instead of the Audiogon mailer) if you're interested:

http://www.galibierdesign.com/contact.html

Be prepared to send me an 8.5" x 11" envelope with the proper postage on it. If you don't want the postal service to bend it, line the envelope with a piece of cardboard. Again, this applies to the first 5 people who e-mail me.

If you like it, you can order one from Ken Willis or Yip at Mintlp. I'm not interested in being in the protractor business and don't have any financial interest in recommending these products.

The card-stock protractor (as Dan_ed mentioned) was merely a proof of concept experiment, and I supply them with all tonearms I sell, along with a recomendation to contact Yip at Mintlp for the real deal.

V. Fixed Headshell Mount Tonearms (SME)

Oh yes (Smoffatt), you have a challenge in using an arc-style protractor. You'll need one protractor for each cartridge you use, which can be quite expensive. Swampwalker touched on this point with respect to his Schroeder as well.

I believe I went into it in depth on another thread on this forum, but in case I haven't, you can read about it as well as quite a few comments from Palasr, Dan_ed, and Salectric in depth on my forum in this thread:

http://www.galibierdesign.com//phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=75

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Thom

thanks for trying to explain this in more simple terms with the pro's and con's. due to the fact I live in Australia, I'll leave it up to some of the other folks in the US to take advantage of your kind offer.
just a few comments/questions

- Graham - you set the pivot to spindle by using the actual arm and attaching it to the spindle adaptor - should be then perfect. with the magneglide on the phantom - no unipivot wobble.

- Feickert - Exactly what does this tool do, except to align pivot to spindle distance very well. Or can you adjust the overhang like Joe said above.

- looks like arc protractors like Wally / Ken / Mint are the best but most difficult to get right??

Okay, I've procrastinated on this long enough. Thom's post finally swayed me to purchase the MintLp arc protractor. I've used a Wally Tractor before on a different arm and while I liked it the Feickert was quite attractive to me. I'll buy some new LPs with the savings.