Before I give my opinion on this fantastic bit of German engineering I'd just like to thank fellow member Hugo of Ammonite Audio. I recently bought a Miyajima Shilabe from Hugo but it developed a fault and Hugo immediately sent me a new one AND a Kansui to play with and evaluate (will post my findings when I've listened equally to both). But I also bought another toy - the SMARTractor.
I've had the Feickert but didn't rate it to be honest and have been using a mirrored Avid protractor as well as the freebie given with a certain test record. Results have always been a little less than perfect even with the mirror, required further tweaking after listening.
Enter the Germans...
This is a serious bit of kit and oozes accuracy - more accurate than the Feickert - I discovered my pivot to spindle distance was off by a few hundredths of a mm and indeed my Allaerts cart was too far forward in the headshell.
You can choose from every alignment arc, Lofgren etc, but Hugo recommended the single point Uni Din setting, unique to the SMARTractor.
The mirrored base, and more importantly the etched lines are superior to anything I've seen - using the supplied (camera lens grade optical loupe, with its own perfectly aligned housing) lining up the cantilever with absolute precision is simple even for me.
It took about 15 minutes all told.
The result.... From the first track (Krall) I knew I'd got it right - no sibilance, no out of focus soundstage - just Kralls voice perfectly positioned centrally and beautiful. No tweaking!
Ok so it's expensive £399 but I know Hugo thinks kindly of fellow members and may offer a little discount. I's it worth it - YES.
Here's some pics, and no that's not me! I have less hair!