Jimbos Audio ramblings

[AJSki2fly]

Another way of checking Azimuth which I appreciate is a bit rough and ready is find a test track that has some extreme left and right information in the recording. This will tell you if the cartridge is tracking left and right channels well. I use Andrea Vollenweider album "The Magic Cave". At the beginning when they enter the cave you hear drops echoing in the cave which are to the extreme left and right in your speakers. Its also an amazing track if you want to hear extreme depth in a recording. Quite spooky. It will tell you a lot about your cartridge set up and is very well recorded.

that sounds interesting is it "Andreas Vollenweider – Caverna Magica - (...Under The Tree - In The Cave...)"?

[Jimbo]

that sounds interesting is it "Andreas Vollenweider – Caverna Magica - (...Under The Tree - In The Cave...)"?

Yes that's the one. There is a piece about 10 minutes into the record where he is just strumming his Electric Harp and it sounds just awesome.

[Barry]

By jingo i think your right barry,i've just checked my arm and if i understand correctly what you said above then a line drawn from the centre point of my bearings and at 90 degrees to them ends up running parallel to the headshell,so again if i understand correctly them my cartridge wont tilt to the left or right when moving the arm up or down.

i stand corrected said the man in the orthopedic shoes!

The headshell/cartridge will still roll conterclockwise as the stylus rides a record warp, but the effect is very, very small.

I've just found my calculations based on dimensional information for the SME M2-12R arm, and for the case of a record warp of 5mm, the error in azimuth is 0.4°, implying a channel imbalance of 0.12dB, or a crosstalk of -37dB. As I said utterly insignificant - which I presume, is why SME and FR didn't worry about it.

[Ubi]

Using a Fozgometer will tell if the electrical signal from your cartridge is balanced left to right. It does not say if the stylus sits in the groove correctly or if the azimuth/VTA is correct. You are measuring voltage with a gadget not alignment.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Using a Fozgometer will tell if the electrical signal from your cartridge is balanced left to right. It does not say if the stylus sits in the groove correctly or if the azimuth/VTA is correct. You are measuring voltage with a gadget not alignment.

Yep, it's just another gadget to try and get the cartridge set up, there is no perfect way of setting the cartridge up, some things just make it easier than others.

[struth]

the point of a frog is to achieve aproximately equal crosstalk.

[AJSki2fly]

the point of a frog is to achieve aproximately equal crosstalk.

Is that across a pond?

[Wakefield Turntables]

Using a Fozgometer will tell if the electrical signal from your cartridge is balanced left to right. It does not say if the stylus sits in the groove correctly or if the azimuth/VTA is correct. You are measuring voltage with a gadget not alignment.

the point of a frog is to achieve aproximately equal crosstalk.

Easier than using a scope.

[karma1967]

this makes sense to me.

[Jimbo]

Good stuff Jamie, so measuring azimuth electrically (Fozgometer) would appear to be the way to go and not visually with a microscope.

Makes very good sense to me too. After all alignment of the stylus in the groove is all about creating an equal electrical signal in both channels.