The SmartTractor precision alignment tool

[farflungstar]

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!


http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w483/farflungstar/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20170304_190201_816_zps9n5lnwdi.jpg

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w483/farflungstar/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20170304_190229_973_zpsgrx5pk8o.jpg

[struth]

Certainly looks a bit of kit. A bit too much like micro operations for my liking but it doesnt look too much work for the avid user. Trust the germans. Trouble is its dearer than my tonearm and cart.:lol: Ive got a Mobile Fidelity Geo-Disc That does it quickly and close enough for me

[Barry]

What is the advantage of the 'single point Uni-DIN' geometry? Is the tracking error zero at only one radial point?

I wouldn't have thought an error of a few hundredths of mm (i.e. a few tens of microns) would make any difference at all.

[farflungstar]

The few hundredths was the distance of stylus to pivot. But without being right it's impossible to get the offset angle correct. It's the way the lines have been etched and the inbuilt magnification that means it's a doddle to then accurately set the offset angle using the cantilever.

The Uni Din method sets it so distortion is low across the entire disc - Hugo can probably explain that better.

Whatever, it works.

[Audio Al]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXQcdFF_Dro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xef-1CzwjCg&t=2s

How does it work out cartridge overhang :scratch:

OK think I can see it now in this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXvxAsAL7OM

:)

I may get one of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sodial-R-Black-Metal-Folding-Magnifier-Magnifying-Glass-Loupes-30X-SK-/172210825968?hash=item281890aaf0:g:0GwAAOSwxehXO~v A

and use it with my Van den Hul Alignment gauge

[Ammonite Audio]

What is the advantage of the 'single point Uni-DIN' geometry? Is the tracking error zero at only one radial point?

I wouldn't have thought an error of a few hundredths of mm (i.e. a few tens of microns) would make any difference at all.

No, of course there is not only one point at which tracing error is zero! I wrote a piece on this for my website at https://ammonite-audio.co.uk/tonearm-and-cartridge-alignment/ . UNI-DIN is designed to offer a subtly better balance of tracing error and distortion compromises across a disc, compared to other geometries. Having played around a bit, I am very happy to use UNI-DIN since, to my ears, it results in the best sound reproduction although someone obsessed with inner groove distortion might prefer to use Stevenson and trade lower end-of-side distortion for significantly higher average distortion across the rest of the LP.

The main benefit of the SMARTractor is not that it does anything that you cannot do for yourself with other, cheaper tools and a great deal of patience. Its trick is to enable a cartridge to be set up, in moments, aligning using the cantilever as the reference, not the body, with no error due to the SMARTractor's sensible mirrored design that eliminates parallax effects - you can be sure that you're looking at things from the correct angle with the SMARTractor, which is not something that can be said of other tools, eg Feickert NG, Clearaudio, Project, or indeed the paper ones that you can print off for free. As Adey says, it took him just 15 minutes, but actually once you get used to sighting the tip and cantilever against the laser etched grid markings and their respective reflections in the mirrored base of the SMARTractor, it takes much less time - literally a few minutes at most. Yes, the SMARTractor is expensive, but it's a once-only cost that in my honest opinion brings you closer to optimum vinyl replay, with the minimum of hassle and time. If, like me, you use more than one tonearm (Jelco SA-750E and Fidelity Research FR64S), this time saving is quite significant.



I may get one of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sodial-R-Black-Metal-Folding-Magnifier-Magnifying-Glass-Loupes-30X-SK-/172210825968?hash=item281890aaf0:g:0GwAAOSwxehXO~v A

and use it with my Van den Hul Alignment gauge

I have one of those magnifiers and it's pretty good and definitely a useful tool for turntable setup, if not quite up to the optical quality of the one supplied with the SMARTractor.

Out of interest, is the Van den Hul gauge specific to one particular tonearm?

[Audio Al]

Its nothing special , One of these

http://www.analogueseduction.net/alignment-tools/analogue-studio-mirrored-cartridge-alignment-protractor.html

Worked for me over the years

[RobbieGong]

Knowing the Germans It'll be good and accurate but too expensive and scientific for me.
The right protractor, careful set up and setting aside time is pretty much all you really need for good replay in my experience

[Barry]

Hugo I am unable to connect to your website, so cannot comment on the UNI-DIN geometry. I would be interested to see a comparison of the distortion distribution across the disc radius between the UNI-DIN and Loefgren 'A' and 'B'.

[Ammonite Audio]

My hosting provider is a little slow, but my website loads up fine for me. Take a look at Michael Fremer's article at http://www.analogplanet.com/content/uni-din-versus-löfgren-b-just-clarify#drowZfPvdaFdZFqH.97 which shows the respective distortion plots. I'll disagree with his ultimate preference for Lofgren B over UNI-DIN - to my ears UNI-DIN gives a slightly preferable sound. UNI-DIN is only available using a SMARTractor, though, unless you care to reverse-engineer Acoustical Systems' calculations.

[karma67]

is it one that requires you line it up with the center of your tonearms pivot point?

[Ammonite Audio]

Yes, but Acoustical Systems make that easier by placing a circular 'bomb sight' on top of the pivot rod, making it easier to identify the correct pivot point on the arm.

[YNWaN]

I must say this looks like an excellent alignment solution and when the cost of turntable, arm and cartridge are considered the cost does not seem unreasonable. I can testify that getting the alignment of ones cartridge correct (not just 'pretty good') does make a clear difference.

[struth]

one mans pretty good may be anothers crap, or very good:eyebrows:

[farflungstar]

I've never been happy aligning carts, ever, whether with feickert or any other tool. I've always had to retweak afterwards until the smartractor. It took me around 15 mins as it was the first time I'd used it - and there's something clever about the etched markings that make it childs play to very accurately line up the cantilever. I sat down to listen and had an instantly stable soundstage, no off centre sibilants (my pet hate) and absolute balance.

I think if you're messing around with carts over 3k you owe it to them to get it right and allow them to strut their stuff as intended.

Yes bloody expensive - but so is a 90£ fuse!

[struth]

I've never been happy aligning carts, ever, whether with feickert or any other tool. I've always had to retweak afterwards until the smartractor. It took me around 15 mins as it was the first time I'd used it - and there's something clever about the etched markings that make it childs play to very accurately line up the cantilever. I sat down to listen and had an instantly stable soundstage, no off centre sibilants (my pet hate) and absolute balance.

I think if you're messing around with carts over 3k you owe it to them to get it right and allow them to strut their stuff as intended.

Yes bloody expensive - but so is a 90£ fuse!

Probably right if your using expensive gear then its not expensive really. If your happy spending 3grand on a cart then you should use the best for your piece of mind if nothing else. Ive been doing it my way for 30 years now and its always worked to my satisfaction. My records and stylus are all fine and the sound is good. Anyone whos heard it would i think agree. There has always been many ways to skin a cat.

[karma67]

here's an idea,why dont we all chip in a buy it for forum members to use,it can be passed around and used between members and when not in use can be sent back to a mod or marco if they are in agreement,that way we get a expensive product for a little outlay??

[Bigman80]

here's an idea,why dont we all chip in a buy it for forum members to use,it can be passed around and used between members and when not in use can be sent back to a mod or marco if they are in agreement,that way we get a expensive product for a little outlay??
I like this. Group funding

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[farflungstar]

I thought of suggesting that before I bought it but being in Spain didn't think it was a good idea

[Nickfna]

here's an idea,why dont we all chip in a buy it for forum members to use,it can be passed around and used between members and when not in use can be sent back to a mod or marco if they are in agreement,that way we get a expensive product for a little outlay??

Great idea, I'm in.

[struth]

here's an idea,why dont we all chip in a buy it for forum members to use,it can be passed around and used between members and when not in use can be sent back to a mod or marco if they are in agreement,that way we get a expensive product for a little outlay??

At rate some here change carts, it would never be out of their house.;) not naming any names like. :ner:

[karma67]

personally it seems to easy to use for me,i like to take at least 3 days to set my cartridge up,i love the tension headaches and constant going round in circles,its not right until my fingers and eyes bleed!:lol:

[Audio Al]

no off centre sibilants (my pet hate)

This comment interests me as I sometimes get this but not on all LP's :scratch:

[RobbieGong]

personally it seems to easy to use for me,i like to take at least 3 days to set my cartridge up,i love the tension headaches and constant going round in circles,its not right until my fingers and eyes bleed!:lol:

:lol:

[walpurgis]

i like to take at least 3 days to set my cartridge up,i love the tension headaches and constant going round in circles,its not right until my fingers and eyes bleed!:lol:

Takes me about ten minutes! :D

[karma67]

Takes me about ten minutes! :D

yeah but your ears are f**ked!:lol:

[struth]

Takes me about ten minutes! :D

Same here:D. Its not rocket science.. well maybe 15 these days .

[farflungstar]

no off centre sibilants (my pet hate)

This comment interests me as I sometimes get this but not on all LP's :scratch:
This is sometimes an issue with the recording but more often than not it's a sign that alignment, azimuth is off slightly.

[Barry]

My hosting provider is a little slow, but my website loads up fine for me. Take a look at Michael Fremer's article at http://www.analogplanet.com/content/uni-din-versus-löfgren-b-just-clarify#drowZfPvdaFdZFqH.97 which shows the respective distortion plots. I'll disagree with his ultimate preference for Lofgren B over UNI-DIN - to my ears UNI-DIN gives a slightly preferable sound. UNI-DIN is only available using a SMARTractor, though, unless you care to reverse-engineer Acoustical Systems' calculations.

Thanks Hugo. Looking at the distortion curves, I'll stick to using the Baervald (Loefgren 'A') prescription, as the distortion never exceeds (in the example show) 0.4%, whereas the UNI-DIN prescription causes the value to peak to 0.6%. It is, however a better method than Loefgren 'B', so I agree with you concerning Michael Fremer's preference.

[John Gordon]

If anyone is intersted, there is more about this on my Odyssey Tonearms blog.
Look at the post on the Dennesen Sountractor (the Smartractor is a clone of this) and the post on Arm formulae from alignment nulls, and the one on Spindle sizes and small variations in overhang and offset.
John

[dimkasta]

It looks nicely designed and built.
But be careful, it requires that your arm has a precise mark for its pivot, and that the jig can align accurately to it.

If it does not, then you need a two-point protractor.

[struth]

The geodisc uses a similar principle. You have to guess your bang on too


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Audio Al]

The geodisc uses a similar principle. You have to guess your bang on too


You up as well Grant :)

[struth]

Lol was and an again al


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ammonite Audio]

If anyone is intersted, there is more about this on my Odyssey Tonearms blog.
Look at the post on the Dennesen Sountractor (the Smartractor is a clone of this) and the post on Arm formulae from alignment nulls, and the one on Spindle sizes and small variations in overhang and offset.
John

All very interesting and well, but in the real world the main source of alignment error is the individual doing the setup, not minute differences in spindle-pivot distance. The SMARTractor may be a development of existing principles and ideas but it is designed and made in such a way that, after a few minutes of sighting practice, it is very easy to align a cartridge's cantilever (not the body, which may be considerably 'off' in relation to the cantilever) to a fine degree of accuracy. Acoustical Systems have sought to design out most of the scope for human error, and I applaud that. As I have stated earlier in this thread, it is possible to align a cartridge to 100% accuracy without this sort of tool, but I doubt that many people achieve that in practice. I do sell the SMARTractor because it's a great product that, despite its price, sells itself when people have the chance to play with it, but I most certainly won't get rich from selling it.


It looks nicely designed and built.
But be careful, it requires that your arm has a precise mark for its pivot, and that the jig can align accurately to it.

If it does not, then you need a two-point protractor.

Not strictly correct. Where there is no precise mark, the SMARTractor's circular calibrated sighting disc on top of the tonearm pivot rod means that it's reasonably possible to locate the actual pivot point with accuracy; however there will of course be certain arms where even that's not possible. Acoustical Systems have done everything that is reasonably practicable to design the SMARTractor to overcome such issues

[alphaGT]

This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. Unhappy with the alignment tools supplied with the turntables I've had in the past, I did my research, and made my own templates. I recall when Fremer posted those graphs on Analog Planet, which shed some light on exactly what is happening with the different alignments. It's been a few years, so I won't get technical, but I think it greatly depends on the tonearm/table as to which alignment may work best. I made my own gauges from heavy card stock, steel ruler and hole punch, and a razor knife and made one for each. I eventually decided my 'table worked best with Lofgren. (My previous table) my present table seems best with the Uni-Din alignment.

But. While I enjoyed making my own templates and working things out for myself, it was a time consuming undertaking. And this Smartractor obviously has it beat! With the mirrored surface and built in optics. And I know it to be a fact, that many high end table owners who have super expensive gear, do not have good alignments. This could be the cure for them, as it allows everyone to be confident their alignment is correct. Wish I had thought of it!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[louie3]

After reading about it in this thread, bought a Smartractor. It may be the best analog purchase I have made. It even works, if you are patient, with Deccas...which is no mean feat. Works very well on my modified Lenco and Oracle. Bottom line: my records have never sounded better.

[farflungstar]

+1

[karma67]

well what are we waiting for then?
lets all chip in a get a forum one!

[Bigman80]

How much is the buy in

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[karma67]

who knows? the more people the cheaper the individual cost i would say.

[farflungstar]

Speak wth Hugo, I'm sure he'll help out...

[Audio Al]

who knows? the more people the cheaper the individual cost i would say.

Doing a group buy would be a Hornets nest , Even if you could get 10 members its well over £100 each , If a HiFi shop had one for renting out that may be different but still costly per rent , Just my opinion others will have different opinions :)

[struth]

£40 each Al. :lol:

[walpurgis]

Doing a group buy would be a Hornets nest

Which would get even more complex if overseas members want to participate.

[Audio Al]

£40 each Al. :lol:

How much is it then ? delivered ? :scratch:
Never any good at Maffs :)

[struth]

£400 notes give or take i believe. You could buy one and rent it out by the week :eyebrows:

[Audio Al]

£400 notes give or take i believe. You could buy one and rent it out by the week :eyebrows:

Would I need a Trade account :scratch:

[sbank]

Luckily, I was able to borrow one this week and it is by far the best cartridge setup tool I've seen or used. The mirrored surface and the built-in magnifier are key. So much better than the Feikert even though one might inadvertently say that they look similar. I used the UNI geometry to setup my vintage Goldbug Clement II and it sounds fantastic.
While I couldn't afford one of these on my own, all ideas for locals cost sharing are worth the trouble of figuring that out. It's a great piece that will work with most tables. With tall arm pods like some Kuzma tables, you might need to get an extension from the manufacturer, but they've really tackled issues not addressed with other devices. Very impressed!

[martian sunrise]

I've always thought a scheme like this would work with a record cleaner, too

[Cas]

That looks a nice piece of kit.

I have one of these from Proj-ject, does the job for me.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Gs8kgL%2BIL.jpg

[Audio Al]

How would I contact Hugo to get one with the Mega AOS discount :)

[farflungstar]

Message him.

[mikeyb]

Having seen the YouTube videos that looks an excellent tool, I might buy one.

Currently only use one cartridge and the sale of my 2 spares would go a long way to paying for it.

I might even be tempted to rent it out for a fee :eyebrows:

Mike.

[farflungstar]

Speak to Hugo - he'll sort you out.

[Audio Al]

Message him.

How / where ? is he on AOS ?

[farflungstar]

Yes. Look in the trade section - ammonite.....

[mikeyb]

None in stock at ammonite and awaiting info, Hugo will message me when they come in, you can rent mine when it arrives 😉😁

[struth]

None in stock at ammonite and awaiting info, Hugo will message me when they come in, you can rent mine when it arrives ����

So your getting a tractor mike.. that will be fun.:D

[Oddball]

So your getting a tractor mike.. that will be fun.:D
I drive a tractor every day:lol:

[mikeyb]

I drive a tractor every day[emoji38]
I used to 😀

[mikeyb]

So your getting a tractor mike.. that will be fun.:D
Pretty expensive but considering the rest of my investment I'm keen to try it and hopefully check/sort my setup.

[alphaGT]

That looks a nice piece of kit.

I have one of these from Proj-ject, does the job for me.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Gs8kgL%2BIL.jpg

That's a nice looking unit, perhaps not the last bit of accuracy the Smartractor gives, but very darn close! How much does such a thing cost, Chris?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mikeyb]

Mine arrives this week, be interesting to see how far out my setup is as I only used my ears and eyes 😉

To be honest I'll be disappointed to find I'm spot on 😁

[mikeyb]

Well, I've used my one and i can only say that it's excellent, took me about 30 minutes to set my Zyx R100h cartridge up on my Mission 774 arm. Really easy to use, took about 30 minutes because the 774 wand is so light that's it's really easy to nudge it slightly and lose your position on the SMARTractor.

I was pleased to see that my BEFORE setup was out, and although it was sounding really good, I was hoping that having bought the SMARTractor that it wasn't perfect.

The AFTER result is superb, although I've yet to try the all the scales (I accidentally chose the A setting that's recommended for post 1985 records, yeah, I read it wrong, I thought I'd said pre 1985 DOH!).

Everything seems so much easier to pick out, Roger Waters Amused to Death LP was tried out and oh boy, it went from being great to phenomenal. Width of soundstage increased, depth increased and everything seems so much cleaner and detailed.

I've not changed it from the A setting yet, standing over the deck kills my back so I've resisted the temptation to try another setting for just now.

If you are a cart swapper at all then this gadget is a must buy, simple to use, gives very easy reading of pivot to needle length, needle alignment from front and the side, and you can also see the azimuth from the side and above too, the only setting it doesn't give is VTA, but I can live without that, my ears are my tool for that.

Not cheap, but I got a great deal from Hugo at Ammonite Acoustics. I use only 1 Cartridge just now with a couple of spares in case of it dying/breaking so it was a big investment for only 1 cartridge, but I figured with the total cost of my TT so up etc, or was really a no brainer, yes it will probably sit in the cupboard for months, maybe years before it's next use, but I know that when I do need to setup a new cartridge, I'll be setting it up correctly 😊

Highly recommended.

Mike.

Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk

[struth]

Rent it out :ner:

[mikeyb]

Rent it out :ner:
I am/was tempted but thought that was unfair on Hugo who's trying to make a living selling them 😉

Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk

[struth]

I use this...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170409/eb8518aaddefd64f0a6520e13eb05e30.jpg

Not really meant for s type arms but ive always had excellent results so bollocks to the doubters

[karma67]

id like to try the mint protractor some day,it gets good right ups on the web

[alphaGT]

Excellent Mike! So glad to hear you were able to appreciate the new setup. Perhaps owning this device will prod you to invest in more cartridges? Now that it's so easy to set them up? That will give you a reason to use it more!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Ali Tait]

Hard part is finding the pivot point on the 774 arm..