I've been happily using my Denon DL-103R with a Sumiko headshell on my Technics 1210 for about a year, until recently I thought I'd give the Oyaide carbon-fibre headshell a try, having read that it's a good match with the DL-103 and Jelco 750.

Having mounted the cart, it's obvious that the overall length of arm + headshell has been reduced. The mounting slots on the Oyaide are set much further back from the end of the headshell than on the Sumiko. If I mount the cart as far forward as possible, it still sits further back than it did on the Sumiko.

Then when using my Avid protractor to set cartridge alignment, if I point the guide-line towards the Jelco spindle, the cart sits a good 2cm behind the null grid point on the protractor. Of course if I forget about the guide-line and rotate the protractor into position, I can line up the headshell and cart easily. But its my understanding that the guide-line should be pointed towards the spindle before setting alignment?

So my question is, am I going to have a problem with this reduced arm length/cartridge position, in terms of sound and/or record wear?

Can anyone with experience of setting up this particular combination of cart, arm and headshell please tell me how they did it, and set correct alignment? Perhaps Marco would be kind enough to weigh-in on this as I believe he has extensive experience in this area?