Help with my turntable set-up

I

iramegdal

Well-Known Member
I have installed a new cartridge in my turntable, and want to align it. I have read a great deal about alignment, but I just do not get it. I have printed out a Baerwald protractor, but am not sure of what I am adjusting to achieve. Is it as simple as examining the shank on which the stylus tip is mounted, while the tip is on each of the null points? Do I simply want that shank to be parallel with the lines on the grid on the protractor? I an doing this with both an Ortofon OM-10B cartridge and a Shure M95-ED cartridge. I have separate headshells for each.

As a second question: I have an old Shure M-95ED stylus with only a small number of hours on it. However, the shank holding the needle tip has receded into the sheath holding the shank. It has not receded completely, but the shank does not come out as far as it should, thus making contact between the record groove and the tip impossible. Is there anything that I can do about this?
 
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iramegdal said:
I have installed a new cartridge in my turntable, and want to align it. I have read a great deal about alignment, but I just do not get it. I have printed out a Baerwald protractor, but am not sure of what I am adjusting to achieve. Is it as simple as examining the shank on which the stylus tip is mounted, while the tip is on each of the null points? Do I simply want that shank to be parallel with the lines on the grid on the protractor? I an doing this with both an Ortofon OM-10B cartridge and a Shure M95-ED cartridge. I have separate headshells for each.
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Yes, the cantilever, "shank", should be parallel to the grid lines with the stylus tip resting on the two null points. It's a trial and error process, making changes in cartridge position back and forth or even skewed one way or the other until you find the spot where the cantilever is correctly aligned at both points.

We may be able to simplify this for you. What turntable are you attempting to align?

As a second question: I have an old Shure M-95ED stylus with only a small number of hours on it. However, the shank holding the needle tip has receded into the sheath holding the shank. It has not receded completely, but the shank does not come out as far as it should, thus making contact between the record groove and the tip impossible. Is there anything that I can do about this?
Click to expand...

Sounds like either a suspension failure due to age or damage from mishandling. I suppose you could try to pull it back out with tweezers but it would need to be pulled out to the correct length and azimuth. I wouldn't hold out much hope for it.

John
 
My turntable

Thank you all. I will look at the links that you sent.
John: The turntable is a Sansui SR-2050c.
 
G'day mate, thank you jimreeves and your wishes are heartily reciprocated. :yes: Regards, Felix aka catman.
 
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Headshells

I do not have a picture, but the head shells were purchased from Needledaddy on eBay. I think the headshell alone was $15.99 and $59.99 with the Ortpfon OM 10B.
 
iramegdal said:
Thank you all. I will look at the links that you sent.
John: The turntable is a Sansui SR-2050c.
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Too bad. ;) Seriously, a nice table. I restored one a while back and put it in a used record shop as part of the sound system.

The "too bad" refers to the absence, at least known to me, of an alignment shortcut, using a headshell measurement, as with Technics, Pioneer and some others. There is, on the other hand, the old 15mm overhang setting as describes on page 9 in the owner's manual under "Replacing the Cartridge". Vinylengine.com has it as a free download.

John
 
iramegdal said:
I do not have a picture, but the head shells were purchased from Needledaddy on eBay. I think the headshell alone was $15.99 and $59.99 with the Ortpfon OM 10B.
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Those would be the "American DJ" Technics copies. They should be fine and offer you enough adjustment in the slots for proper alignment.

John
 
Balifly said:
John,

May be you can explain the 53mm Sansui S arm short cut to the OP. :music:

I have to go out .
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Will do, Earl, and thanks for letting me know that there is one. (Where were you when I was restoring my SR? ;))

Anyway, to the OP, the 53mm shortcut is based on what the engineers who designed the tonearm deemed the optimum alignment for it. It's not necessarily based on a Baerwald or a Stephenson or any other geometry you'll find on a printed protractor, just what they determined was optimal for that particular arm.

It's pretty simple, ridiculously simple when compared to using a protractor.

images


As you'll see above, the measurement in that diagram is 52mm. That's for Technics arms. The Sansui distance stylus tip to washer is 53mm. All you need to do is loosen the two screws holding the cartridge in place just enough to slide the cartridge back and forth in the slots. Then move the cartridge to the point where the distance stylus tip to the rear face of the washer is 53mm and the cartridge is square in the headshell, not skewed left or right of center. Retighten the screws and Bob's your uncle!

John
 
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boreas said:
Will do, Earl, and thanks for letting me know that there is one. (Where were you when I was restoring my SR? ;))
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I was probably marooned in some desolate Wi-fi starved location and unable to read AK forum postings at the time.

I dug that bit of information out of the AK archive a while back. :music:

Much thanks , John! :thmbsp:
 
Set up for Technics alignment

I have set the Shure M95ED at 53 mm. The pre-mounted Ortofon was aligned for a Technics turntable at 52 mm. Is this worth messing with given the imprecision which I am likely to bring to the process?
 
iramegdal said:
I have set the Shure M95ED at 53 mm. The pre-mounted Ortofon was aligned for a Technics turntable at 52 mm. Is this worth messing with given the imprecision which I am likely to bring to the process?
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Yes, but work on the imprecision. ;)

What I've sometimes done is lay out three lines on a piece of paper. Two of the lines would be parallel and, in this case, 53mm apart. The third line would be perpendicular to the first two and bisecting them. I use a ballpoint with a very fine point.

Then I rest the headshell, lying on its side, on the paper so that it lines up with the third perpendicular line. I then adjust the cartridge so that the stylus tipis on one of the parallel lines and the washer is on the other.

Of course, you can always use a ruler but, if you're not all that steady, the paper works great.

John
 
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