[78-L] 78-L azinuth angle, was Stylus Alignment

[JD]

> Date: Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:35:34 -0400
> From: Doug Pomeroy <audiofixer at verizon.net>
> Subject: [78-L]  Stylus Alignment
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Message-ID: <A7666B9C-CC13-4359-B89A-E262F6581184 at verizon.net>
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>
> Hi John,
>
> It ain't rocket science, despite what you may have been told.
>
>>
> The other alignment concerns the angle between the stylus and the
> surface
> of the disc.  If your eyes are good, you can easily get "into the
> ballpark" simply
> by LOOKING CLOSELY at the way the stylus rests on the disc surface when
> the disc is not moving, first viewed from in front (azimuth), and
> second from the
> side (zenith).  The azimuth angle should be straight up and down, and
> the zenith
> should be straight up and down for 78s, but tiled backward about
> fifteen degrees
> for LPs.  (These are not hard and fast rules, of course.)
>
> Don't be afraid to use your ears, as the proof of the pudding is in
> the hearing.
>
> Doug Pomeroy
> POMEROY AUDIO
> Audio Restoration & Mastering Services
> Transfers of metal parts, lacquers,
> shellac and vinyl discs & tapes.
> 193 Baltic St
> Brooklyn, NY 11201-6173
> (718) 855-2650
> audiofixer at verizon.net
>

Azimuth alignment is  easier and more accurate by placing a small mirror on 
the turntable (not rotating, of course) in place of a disc and lowering the 
arm-mounted cartridge onto the mirror. Viewed from the front it's much 
easier to check the  angle tis way.
As for the enith, much has bee made of this in the past by latter-day Voodo 
Hi-Fi technofreaks, some of whom would readjust the cartridge angle for 
different recordings. (Cue Twilight Zone theme....).  I would suggest that 
the simplest solution to this "problem" is to go with the way the cartridge 
comes out of the box, assuming it's mounted in the tone arm properly.
Jack Daney






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