Technics SL1200: Baerwald or 1200 white gauge?

I would like to welcome Siniy123 and Rtollert to A'gon. I see you both are relatively new here and I hope you both will continue to share your knowledge with the rest of us. Hopefully, you can learn from us and we can learn from you.

Rtollert is correct. All alignment methods with pivoted arms is based on a model that does not have a 100%, dead nuts on final solution. It is all an approximation and as such there is built in error. The best we can ever hope for is to reduce this error as much as possible. And that is all the MintLP can help with. Minimizing the error. Otherwise it is just another arch-style protractor.

Here is an analogy that may help illustrate how the MintLP works. It is an over-simplification but I think works to help understand what this is all about.

Take a big, fat marker and draw and "X". Notice the size of the area that is covered by the two crossed lines. Now find the exact center.
Next, draw an "X" with a heavy ball point pint. Notice the size of the area that is covered by the two crossed lines. Now find the exact center.
Now draw an "X" with a #5 lead pencil. Notice the size of the area that is covered by the two crossed lines. Now find the exact center.

Get the idea?

And all the while you are doing this with the MintLP you are also continuously going back to check that you are still hitting the arch at the extreme points, one close to the spindle, one as far outside of the edge of the record as possible. It is an iterative process that takes a lot of time and patience. It really cannot be done in one session either. Think in terms of something like doing this every Saturday for an hour, for a month or so.

Fanatical? Absolutely!
Rewarding sonically? Absolutely no question about it. Necessary? That is up to the individual.

Dan_ed, I feel the Alignment with Mintlp Tractor can be done in one sitting but a quite long one. I myself took about 1 hour 45 minutes before feeling confident that I'd never have to go back again. Insuring that I did indeed have exacting precise Spindle-Pivot Distance, and providing Yip with this info, I had eventually noted "absoilutely poifect" tracing of the Arc at both extremes, but this of course is only 1/2 the battle!

Then comes zenith angle adjustment, and of course, this then becomes another monkey wrench-fly in the ointment, as making any adjustments in this regard will-can skew your hard worked-on overhang. So, it's back, and forth, and I found I walked away, and came back to the Table a good 1/2 dozen times, took a break, took a deep breath, and then back again at it.

Of course there's no law that says "this is it", and of course, I'll agree with you Dan_ed, that all parameters-adjustments on a Table should be periodically checked.

Of course as has been brought up before, and Doug Deacon I believe commented about this, and that is the fine tuning of VTA, as some of you folks do like to do almost on a "per record basis".

By varying VTA, this will of course slightly alter Overhang, and possbly as well Zenith Angle to an extent. I haven't my Airy 3X to be quite so sensitive to altering VTA all the time. Mark

I would like to know if there is big difference between what Turntable Basics offers for $20 to the $110 for the MintLp. I took a look at the MintLp site and the only difference I saw was it was optimized for each arm. Oh, and the lines are on an attached plastic sheet rather than etched on the glass. It provides for two null points. I use the Turntable Basics tool for my Linn/Ittok/ATOC9 setup, Dual CS5000/Grado Gold and a Fisher Studio Standard/AT440Mla.
P.S. I am not affliated with any brand or company nor a reviewer. Just a long time amateur audiophile trying to get by on the cheap!

11-14-08: Bgpowell
I would like to know if there is big difference between what Turntable Basics offers for $20 to the $110 for the MintLp.

Yes, there is a significant difference: primarily the fine lines and cross points on the MintLP that allow the user to carefully dial in overhang and cantilever alignment. I owned the Turntable Basics protractor, and I can say unconditionally the MintLP is a significantly better tool.

Also, what is being overlooked is the outstanding step-by-step directions provided with the MintLP that guide the user through the process. IMO, the instructions alone are half the value.

Mark,

Alignment, especially with the MintLP, is never done. It is impossible to reach "done". But each of us is certainly within our individual freedom to decide "I don't want to keep trying for more, what I have achieved now is good enough for me", and stop there. At least now we have a tool that can take us as far as we choose to go.

To me the overhang is only the beginning of what the MintLP can do. I found that much more benefit is obtained from iterating the stylus alignment.

All, do a search here on MintLP and you'll find two or three excellent and lengthy threads on this subject. Several people, most notably Palasr who brought the MintLP to our attention, have used just about every protractor out there and offer comparisons to the MintLP.