Need a longer headshell?

[FauxHall]

I went through my two TTs this morning, swapping a cart on my Pro-Ject Debut and tuning with the Mobile Fidelity Geo-Disc.

But when I went back and carefully checked my Technics with the Dynavector XX2-Mk2 against the Geo-Disc, I noticed that the needle was a millimeter or 2 short of the aiming dot.

I'm using an Ortofon SH-4 headshell and I don't have any more room to move it away from the pivot and up to the aiming dot.


Checking the dimensions:



Maybe I should try it with this oldy and cheapy?

 

[Stereodiver]

Just the other day I had to lengthen the slots in my headshell to get the desired alignment.
I used a Dremel to cut the slots longer. Wasn’t quite pretty but the screws covered the uglyness and it got me to where I needed to be.

Good luck!

 

[tnsilver]

Don't botch your headshell yet. I don't think the Geo-Disc was designed to work with "J" shaped tonearms. Use a Technics protractor from VE or Conrad Hoffman's template-gen software to make an arc-protractor.

 

[tnsilver]

plus... I just remembered the Technics shortcut for cart alignment. If you can measure 52mm from the black rubber washer at the back of the headshell bayonet to the stylus tip - you don't need a longer headshell. In fact, if you can do that, and set the cart straight at the headshell at that exact distance, you don't need anything else at all.

 

[FauxHall]

With a bit of digging I see that the supplied OM Red is a millimeter longer from the mounting hole centerline to the needle tip. The Ortofon cart just fits the Ortofon headshell on this arm.

I'll check with the Technics protractor.

 

[tnsilver]

Use the 52mm trick first. It will solve the longer headshell conundrum in no time.

 

[FauxHall]

plus... I just remembered the Technics shortcut for cart alignment. If you can measure 52mm from the black rubber washer at the back of the headshell bayonet to the stylus tip - you don't need a longer headshell. In fact, if you can do that, and set the cart straight at the headshell at that exact distance, you don't need anything else at all.

If you check the dimensional drawing at the top of the thread I think you'll see the cart is only about 25 mm from the needle to the inboard end of the male contact pins. Check your memory!

I'll see if the Technics owner manual has anything.

I asked my dealer in the UK and he recommended a Pro-Ject Signature in carbon fiber for about $100 USD. I checked the Pro-Ject site and their dimensions hole-to-flange is 3.1 mm longer than any of the Ortofons. So that would work.

 

[tnsilver]

Check your memory!

I'm getting old - but not that old!

I've actually checked the dimensional specs. See, you've got a max mounting distance "C" = 45.4mm on the O'fon SH-4 and you've also got 8.5mm from the mounting holes to the stylus tip on the DV cart. So... it sums up to 53.9mm, which is nearly 2mm more than the Technics alignment ever required. You're good with the O'fon headshell.

 

[Old Guy8]

There are after market 52mm headshell gages made for Technics S-arms. If you would prefer to set stylus off the table. One source is Pats Audio. A Utube seller in US, makes a few different length gages.

 

[Kit Carson]

Not useng the original OEM factory Technics headshell for the SL-1200?

 

[FauxHall]

Not useng the original OEM factory Technics headshell for the SL-1200?

I'm using it on another cart but it looks like the same max range as the SH-4.

My dealer in the UK who sold me the cart, the table, and the speakers tells me that the Pro-Ject Signature line will fit as it is extra long.

There are three choices in materials - aluminum, carbon "fibre," and oak. The dealer suggests the carbon fiber with the Dynavector.

Opinions?

 

[tnsilver]

My dealer in the UK who sold me the cart, the table, and the speakers tells me that the Pro-Ject Signature line will fit as it is extra long.

Stockholm syndrome! Yeah, your dealer in the UK says... We sold you nothing, plan to sell you nothing and want zero money in return for solid advice, which you've asked for. Yet you won't listen to logic, math or experience. You've got a perfectly good headshell. Why bother with 'Opinions'?

 

[stratokaster]

Technics uses their own alignment which is closer to Steveson than Baerwald. MoFi GeoDisc uses Baerwald alignment. Using Baerwald alignment on the standard Technics tonearm indeed requires moving the cartridge quite a bit forward.

My suggestion would be to forget about Baerwald and go with the Technics alignment which is very close to Stevenson.

I’m pretty sure in a couple of hours this thread will be full of people who will undoubtedly tell you that the Baerwald alignment is oh so much better than Stevenson.

But it is not. With a pivoted arm, every alignment is a compromise because you get perfect tracking only in two points over the whole LP side. Everything else will be played with various degrees of distortion depending on the angular error. Various alignments simply distribute this distortion slightly differently over the record.

Baerwald is a bit better in the outer grooves. It is great if you only play newly-issued audiophile LPs that have just 2-3 short tracks per side. If you play older LPs which can have music cut quite close to the label, the Stevenson alignment is audibly better in the inner grooves. Since I am a musical omnivore, I use Stevenson because it’s the best compromise that allows me to play new LPs, old LPs and even 7” singles with good fidelity.

But of course if you prefer Baerwald, just get a longer headshell. You will also have to rotate the cartridge a bit to have it properly aligned.