Setting up advice for a Unipivot Arm please

[datawireless]

Hi guys,

What's my lateral balance setting up process for a Meyware arm please? Can't seem to get the head-shell azimuth level and can't see what could be adjusted to get it straight. It's now good 3-5 deg out, with the bracket/cap leaning in towards the platter at the base. A considerable push down on the bias cantilever would straighten it but, of course that defeats the objective.

Some useful hints from the the unipivot veterans would be welcome.

Thanks,
Mike:steam:

[shane]

If you look carefully at the main counterweight, you'll see that the hole the arm stub passes through is off-centre. Loosen the counterweight screw and rotate the counterweight. Tighten the screw and check the azimuth. Repeat until satisfied! It's fiddly, but not too hard. You'll need to check the tracking weight again afterwards.

[datawireless]

Thanks,

Tried it, done it. It works. Takes about 20 minutes of fiddling but one discovers that the VTA has to be very much spot on at the same time with these unipivots, right?

Regards,
Mike

[DSJR]

Once you've fitted a good few cartridges to a Mayware arm, the setup becomes straightforward. My only other advice is to ask that you don't overfill the damping well, since the arm should be allowed a tiny bit of recoil if deflected away from vertical by gently twisting the arm and releasing. If the arm slowly returns to vertical and has no slight rebound, I'd respectfully suggest you have too much fluid in the damper.

[Rare Bird]

Hi guys,

What's my lateral balance setting up process for a Meyware arm please? Can't seem to get the head-shell azimuth level and can't see what could be adjusted to get it straight.

If the arm is set level but the Azimuth is still out, there's a grub screw at the collar of the headshell holding it onto the armtube, untighten it you should be able to correct the couple of degrees your out, then tighten it back up, there should be a red dot on the armtube to aid Azimuth alighnment of the shell.

[datawireless]

Thanks David,

No danger of too much silicon fluid, yet. Haven't put any in at this stage.

Thanks André,
Seen that red mark but decided to leave that until after I've run out of options. Got a few left yet, then I'll change the cartridge and start the merry go-around again. You know the drill.

Regards,
Mike

[Rare Bird]

Hi Mike
If the top & bottom sections of the arm are perfectly vertical as in both are in line with each other by doing what Shane says, i see no other way to correct Azimuth without using the headshell adjustment! you'll be ok it's not glued or anything it will just freely move if you un-slacken the shell..

you could adjust upwards the pivot screw (located at the top of the cap, you need to unslacken that nut to be able to adjust the pivot slot)..adjust the screw upards till the top half drops & sits on the bottom half, this will then obviously be perfectly verticle, you could then check if the azimuth is still out.

[datawireless]

And forgot to mention it but got some pictures of the beast, further up in this section under "Show us your turntables gentlemen .....", page 14, or maybe 13.

Something like this:

http://www.imageshack.com/scaled/grid240/543/p1050422.jpg
http://www.imageshack.com/scaled/grid240/191/p1050053j.jpg
http://www.imageshack.com/scaled/grid240/547/p1050418f.jpg

[shane]

It's not easy to see, but in the bottom photo it looks as though the headshell is twisted relative to the bearing housing. If it is, unscrew and remove the top dome of the bearing housing and let the body of the bearing housing sit on the base. This will give you a stationary reference. Then loosen the grub screw that holds the headshell, rotate the headshell until it's level and re-tighten the grubscrew. While you've got the top of bearing off, check that the bearing tip is at the same level as the groove that takes the bias thread, if necessary adjusting by screwing the bearing up or down in the dome. That ensures that the bias force doesn't tend to tip the arm over. Simples!

[Rare Bird]

It's not easy to see, but in the bottom photo it looks as though the headshell is twisted relative to the bearing housing. If it is, unscrew and remove the top dome of the bearing housing and let the body of the bearing housing sit on the base. This will give you a stationary reference. Then loosen the grub screw that holds the headshell, rotate the headshell until it's level and re-tighten the grubscrew.

:rfl: Ive alraedy said that above :lol: (Post#7,#5)

[hifi_dave]

:rfl: Ive alraedy said that above :lol: (Post#7,#5)

Happens a lot. IMO

People often don't read more than the last 2 or 3 posts before commenting.

[Rare Bird]

Mike:
Looking at the third picture of the arm it seems your armrest is slightly too high, it no problem but it would bug me rotten.

[shane]

Just like to make sure...

[Rare Bird]

:lolsign:

[datawireless]

Thanks guys.

I'm leaving this post-graduate stuff for the weekend. And then I'll try another cartridge.

Now, while on the point of cartridges, what does one do with a recently acquired sample of a relatively rare one these days, the Technics P205C Mk3 ? The needle seems to be barely protruding below the bottom of the cartridge body although the tip looks OK. Either the cantilever has collapsed or it's the characteristic of this well known cartridge.
http://imageshack.us/a/img40/9761/copyofp1050409.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img11/1219/copyofp1050410.jpg

The question being, is it worth having it re-tipped by someone reputable, maybe at a cost of 300-400 Euros ?

I have the rest of the P-mount in the light alloy SME headshell it came with.

With regards,
Mike

[Rare Bird]

The same happend with a JVC 'MC2E' i picked up hence i never got to hear it..

[datawireless]

André,

We were straying from the subject here and it's my fault. I started it.

So I'll have to start a separate thread for the P205C Mk3 which I believe may just be worth a discussion. Wasn't there some quite unique technology used for attaching the diamond to a Boron cantilever of the P205C Mk3, or something like that? Actually it's not a Boron cantilever but something more advanced that has neither been tried, nor repeated, since?

Could it be restored to anything like it's original function and performance?

Regards,
Mike

Have another look. I haven't seen a weld like that before.

http://imageshack.us/a/img829/7993/p1050483t.jpg