cartridge alignment, worth a tweak ?

[vatulele]

Ive just got myself a new cartridge ( Denon DL-304 ) and rather than doing the lazy thing and getting my local dealer to fit it for me I am considering spending a few pounds on tools and a test record and having a play and a tweak ! Am I wasting my time and in danger of adding grey hairs or opening up a whole new area of potential sound improvement ? I,m running an LP12 and Ittock LVIII in case thats of relevance.

[twitch54]

Not at all !!! besides unless you really know your dealer I wouldn't trust him, it's like going into a Tweeter (horrible stores), would you trust one of the 'winnie knuckleheads' that work there with your prized analog rig ??

First off if you don't have Michael Fremer's Turntable DVD, pick it up and watch it. It will cover in plain English from the basic to the more sofisticated procedures.

Good Luck !!

[vatulele]

Ok thanks, just ordered a copy. In addition am I likely to need test records and protractors etc, or is it more of a trial and error, use your ears type approach ?

[twitch54]

I fyou don't already have the tools then yes you will need a few, test record is up to you, for a decent job it is not required. By all means watch the DVD and look at the cooresponding PDF file that is attached and then have a ball !!

[vatulele]

All fitted and happy, so thanks for help. I had the slight inconvenience of getting it bang on first time and couldnt actually beleive that so adjusted it a bit to a bad position just so I could get back to where i started by deduction rather than fluke ! When I get more time I will have alittle play with tiny adjustments and listening tests to have a bit of tweaking fun. Plus i,m planning on getting ,my hands on a used Black Cube phono stage to test against my Dino, any ideas on anything else I should try and throw into that boiling pot ?

[twitch54]

Assuming you got Mr. Fremer's DVD, then other than basic alignment there's azimuth, VTA along with proper VTF and fine tunning the anti-skating.

[vatulele]

yeah, got the DVD and used the basic tools methods he described (protractor, mirror etc). I,m not sure I want to go down the road of expensive guages and meters as he left me with the feeling that its benefits over tweaking to the ear seemed limited. I did like the look of the arc groove type protractor, that seemed a much more acurate tool than lining up the cantilever to a grid. The left/right level check for vertical alignment made sense too, but i didnt come away feeling I had to rush out and buy all that equipment as the benefits sounded a bit vague.