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P-mount to 1/2 inch adapter question

SA-708

SA-708

Appalachian-American
I've got a couple of tables with p-mount arms (one in mothballs), and a growing collection of p-mount cartridges. This past week, I decided to see how one of them would sound on my Technics SL-1700Mk2, so I mounted up an Audiotechnica TR485U (AT1x2 family) on a headshell (stamped aluminum, sold to me as a Pioneer but with no markings) for the Technics, got the alignment, overhang and VTA all dialed in, gave it a spin, and got good results.

The problem is, I have more p-mount carts than 1/2 inch adapters. I have one unused adapter, and several p-mount carts that I'd like to try out and see what condition they are in -- two Ortofon TMs, an AT DR400E, and a Pickering I just found in a box of old stuff, which I bought new back in '88 (just ordered a DTL-2E stylus for it) with my stored-away Technics SL-BD22.

My question is, was the p-mount standard such that the tip of the needle should be in the exact same spot in relation to the end of the arm where it was mounted? In other words, should I be able to swap p-mount cartridges into the headshell/adapter I have set up, and have the overhang and alignment be correct?

It would be so handy if, having set-up the adapter for one p-mount cartridge in the correct placement in a headshell, that that set-up would then work for any other p-mount cart I put into that adapter. In theory, I think it should work, but in practice....
 
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No reason that shouldn't work - one of the points of the p-mount sysem was standardization so there would be no need to adjust overhang for different p-mount cartridges.
 
I am currently mounting a P-mount (AT92E) using the AT 1/2" adapter into a Philips headshell. Does anyone have advice on how to align this setup? Overhang, offset, etc.?

Thanks.
 
What turntable are you using? Is it a Phillips turntable, or just a Phillips headshell? I used the 52mm Technics overhang gauge to set up mine, since it was destined for my 1700Mk2. Buying that $1.75 piece of white plastic was one of the best investments in audio I've ever made.

First I loosely attached the adapter alone to my headshell with a pair of screws, since that was easier to do without the cartridge in the way. Then I put the p-mount cart into the adapter so I could line up the point of the needle with the gauge and then tightened up the screws.
 
Njord Noatun said:
I am currently mounting a P-mount (AT92E) using the AT 1/2" adapter into a Philips headshell. Does anyone have advice on how to align this setup? Overhang, offset, etc.?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You would treat the cartridge and adapter as a single unit and align it as you would any standard mount cartridge. As SA-708 questioned, I assume this is a Philips turntable. I don't know what geometry they used, so unless anyone else has any specifics, I'd start with a Baerwald protractor. If you find you are short of mounting room on the headshell, then switch to the Stevenson protractor from vinylengine.com.
 
SA-708 said:
What turntable are you using? Is it a Phillips turntable, or just a Phillips headshell?
Click to expand...
hakaplan said:
I assume this is a Philips turntable.
Click to expand...

The TT is very scarce, if not non-existent, in USA - a Philips 408: I bought it new in Norway in '73. It has a similar tonearm and headshell setup as the Philips Models 212 and 308, both of which were made available to the US market. Fred Longworth replaced the pully for me to allow for 60Hz operation.

Thanks for the advice.
 
SA-708: Yup, that method works - unless you'd also swap the T4P/P-Mount adaptors, 'cause these aren't all alike. E.g., if one compares the adaptors of an Ortofon 320U and a Shure M99E, one can see that the horizontal distance between the mounting holes and the stylus will be ca. 1 mm longer on the Shure adaptor...

NN: If you still have the original accessories for your 408, I'd suggest to check these - iirc, an alignment jig should have been included there...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
Lini: That's right. Last month I put a p-mount cart on a Dual table without any VTA adjustment, and saw that the two adapters I had on hand at the time were different. The Ortofon one I had (from a TM14) was taller than the one I ended up using, because the VTA worked out better with the shorter adapter.

The adapter I'll be using for this experiment came with my previously-owned AT TR485U but I'm not certain it is an AT adapter. It is also shorter than my Ortofon adapter, and is lighter in weight as well, which is why I decided to use it rather than the Ortofon.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a chance to start playing rotate-the-cartridge.
 
I didn't get it done last weekend, and then left town for the week on a business trip, but today I've conducted a grand experiment on the variations between several different p-mount cartridges, both in needle placement and in weight. I should have results to post tomorrow morning.
 
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