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Ok, now that you've got the first grid aligned, lift the tonearm, and rotate the platter so you can land it in the second grid.

It may or may not land perfectly in the center of that +.

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It's totally ok if it doesn't, but that's ideally where we want it.
 
Now the idea behind alignment is to get the stylus to land exactly at the center of both of those two + while only turning the platter and not having to move the cartridge back or forth.

Remember awhile back when I mentioned this would require a little patience? ;)

Since you're a little behind the + go ahead and pull the cartridge forward enough to have it land there this time.
 
Basically, we just keep doing this back and forth slightly changing the position in the cartridge until it lands perfectly in both.

Once it does, land it on one of the two, and make sure the cantilever is exactly perfect with the | of the grid. Be careful not to move the stylus tip from its perfect spot.

Re-check both grids one last time.

If it's good, then awesome. Just lightly retighten the screws (don't let the cartridge move while you're doing it).
 
Remember, the cartridge screws shouldn't be torqued down. Just snug enough to hold it securely in place is fine.

How's it coming along?
 
I think i got it, I tightened and then shifted it accordingly...Much harder to have it loose, then align, then try to tighten because the tightening shifts the cartridge a little.
 
Good.

Now, for fun, check it in comparison with that overhang alignment white line on the turntable, just to see.

Don't readjust anything if you've got it set to the grids, just see if there's any difference compared to the overhang thing.
 
Now, if you've got it set correctly to the grids.

It's done, (probably).

Go ahead and put the turntable back to ready to play.

Return the tonearm to its rest, move that switch back to off, remove that spacer record, flip over the mat, reset the antiskate to 1.5.

Plug it in, and play a record to see how it sounds.

If it's aligned properly, the music should be very clear with no distortion throughout the record (assuming the record is clean and in good condition).

How did you do?

It takes a bit of practice and patience to do this process. If it sounds a little off, recheck your alignment - or maybe even try the Loefgren to see how that sounds.
 
Ok, as long as it doesn't sound distorted, you're good. Leave it at that setting for a while and see how you like it.

The only difference between the different protractors is where it places the most distortion.

Because the tonearm moves the stylus across the record in an arc, and not a straight line, there's going to be a little distortion somewhere. The different protractors put it in different places - some closer to the beginning, others toward the end. Most of the time, you won't even notice it. That's about it.

So there you go, dude, that's aligning a cartridge. Now if you end up buying a new stylus for the Empire you have on there, you'll want to just check with the grids that it lands in the same spots. You probably won't even have to move anything.

Needlestein, a few pages back, suggested a few different styli for your existing cartridge. If you're going to get a new stylus, and you probably should soon since you don't know how worn that one is, check the suggestions he posted.

Congratulations, Bryan, you've got one hell of a nice table set up there. Good job, dude. :thumbsup:
 
Yeah I'll get back on here when making some considerations about the cartridges, Thanks for all the help! would have had incredible trouble doing it on my own. One quick question, what's your favorite album?
 
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