The tonearm is one of the most important elements of the player, along with the pickup head and chassis (table). It is impossible to overestimate the influence of the tonearm on the sound of the vinyl path, because it is the one that holds the pickup head above the surface of the record and provides it with the correct “operating conditions”.
There are a number of requirements for tonearms: they must be rigid, not have their own resonances, and not allow resonances and vibrations from the outside to reach the pickup. They must be sensitive enough to record irregularities, make vertical movements around the irregularities of the records caused by warping, and also monitor the audio track and the eccentricity of the record, without interfering with the pickup doing its job.
Despite the apparent simplicity of its function, the tonearm is a very complex and precise mechanism. At the moment, there are many designs of tonearms from the simplest to the very exotic, but even such a wide variety of tonearms can be easily divided into two main groups: lever and tangential.
The first group includes tonearms, the moving part of which (the tube with the head attached to the shell) moves relative to a fixed axis (the base of the tonearm, mounted on the player’s chassis). Thus, the pickup head moves freely along the surface of the record along the radius. It is the radial movement that is the main disadvantage of lever tonearms, which ultimately led to the emergence of tangential models.
The fact is that ideally, for the most correct and accurate reproduction of a phonogram recorded on a vinyl record, the pickup needle, when reading sound information, should be in exactly the same position relative to the audio track in which the recorder cutter was located, recording on the studio varnish master disk. This is where the main contradiction lies: the recorder cutter moves strictly along the radius, and its surface is always perpendicular to the surface of the audio track. Lever tonearms move the pickup heads not along a radius, but along an arc, the radius of which is equal to the distance from the axis of rotation of the tonearm to the pickup stylus. Thus, when the stylus moves along the surface of the record from the outer edge to the inner, the plane of contact of the stylus with the track changes its position, deviating from the perpendicular - this is called the tracking error. One way to combat tracking error is to increase the length of the tonearm, and at the same time increase the radius along which the pickup moves along the surface of the record. The larger the radius, the smaller the tracking error. At the moment, the largest of the common ones are tonearms with a long tube of 12 inches (longer ones are also found, but this is rare).
It is worth noting right away that as the length of the tonearm increases, the vertical inertia increases, which is also not very good (it is more difficult for the tonearm to quickly respond to record irregularities). It turns out we need to look for a compromise. The second and most common method is to use a horizontal correction angle (approximately 25 degrees towards the turntable spindle). This angle is obtained in one of two ways: either the head itself is installed at an angle in the shell, or the tonearm tube is bent at this angle. Despite the fact that the most ideal option would be to simultaneously use the horizontal correction angle and tonearms with the maximum length of the tube, in practice, 12-inch tonearms are used very rarely, giving way to the most common 9-inch ones.
Despite the common principle of operation of lever tonearms, they are still significantly different from each other. The main differences may be:
- Tonearm material. Basically, we are talking about the material of the tube, which can be metals and alloys, carbon, wood, polymers, etc. Each manufacturer explains in its own way the reasons for using a particular material, but in general, everyone strives to reduce vibrations and resonances, increasing the rigidity and lightness of the tonearm.
- The presence of a removable shell. The shell is a mounting pad at the end of the tonearm, designed to mount the pickup head and connect it with conductors to the tonearm. The shell can be removable (replaceable) or non-removable (integral with the tonearm tube). The removable shell allows you to quickly rearrange the pickup heads with minimal tuning steps. This is true if you have several heads that sound different on different recordings, and plan to sometimes change them during listening, a removable shell greatly simplifies this process.
- Wiring material inside the tonearm. The conductors inside the tonearm can be made of different materials: copper, silver or other conductive materials. The conductor material, its purity and other characteristics have a significant impact on the sound quality.
- Availability of damping materials. Damping materials are designed to quickly dampen existing resonances and prevent the entry of new ones. As a rule, damping materials are used in the most advanced models of tonearms and are usually placed inside the tube (for example, viscous silicone liquid inside the top models of SME Ltd tonearms), in some cases they dampen the base of the tonearm.
- Differences in the design of the rotating mechanism, which ensures free movement of the tonearm. This part of the tonearm shows all the creativity of the developers, because this is where the most exotic solutions can be found. The most common solutions are the use of high-precision bearings; the main and overwhelming majority of lever tonearms are based on this principle.
You can also find so-called “single support tonearms”. A single-support tonearm consists of two independent parts: a base mounted on the turntable chassis, and a tonearm tube. The essence of the design is simple: a cone with a needle at the end sticks out from the base; an inverted “bowl” is attached to the tonearm tube, which is put on the cone of the tonearm base. Thus, the tonearm tube, cartridge head and counterweight balance on the thin tip of a needle protruding from the base of the tonearm and being the only point connecting the two independent parts.
The advantage of this design may be the presence of only a tiny point of contact, allowing the tonearm to move in any direction without the slightest resistance and track any irregularities in the record. The disadvantages of the design follow from the advantages. Ideally, the tonearm should easily and naturally move the head up/down (compensating for warping and unevenness of the record) and right/left (as the stylus moves from the edge of the record to the center when playing it). In addition to these directions, a single-support tonearm allows the head to tilt to the right/left relative to the axis of the tonearm tube (short-term disturbances in azimuth, when the head tilts slightly to the right or left). Basically, this can manifest itself at the very beginning of playback, when the needle falls on the players, although similar situations cannot be excluded in the case of increased warping of the record. One of the most exotic designs seemed to me to be that offered by the Well Tempered Lab company. The essence of the design: the tonearm tube is directly connected to a real golf ball, this entire structure, in turn, is suspended on a fishing line to a bracket, and the lower part of the ball is placed in a bowl with thick and very viscous silicone.
The fishing line ensures the stability of the vertical position of the tonearm, and the silicone dampens all possible resonances, ensures smooth movements of the tonearm up/down and right/left, and also acts as a micro-lift, smoothly lowering the stylus onto the record. In addition to these options, there are many different solutions and each of them has its own justification.
Now we make a smooth transition to tangential structures.
The tangential tonearm is considered the most advanced in terms of “correct reproduction” of records. In this case, what is primarily meant is not the sound quality (a poorly tuned tangential tonearm can sound worse than a well-tuned lever tonearm), but the absence of that same tracking error that we mentioned earlier. The position of the pickup needle when playing records is exactly the same as that of the recorder cutter when recording a master disc.
Despite their technical excellence, tangential tonearms are not widely used due to the complexity of the design and very high cost. Currently, tangential tonearms are used mainly in turntables in the upper price category. There are also more budget models of tangential tonearms, but they are very imperfect, since they use ineffective systems that ensure the longitudinal movement of the tonearm when playing records. In particular, such imperfect models may not be accurate enough in tracking the disturbed eccentricity of the record, which can lead to periodic displacement of the stylus to one side of the sound groove and thereby disrupt the balance of the channels. Expensive models of tangential tonearms often use very complex systems for ensuring the movement of the tonearm. In particular, one of these systems is the presence of a compressor that supplies compressed air into the gap between the tonearm and the guide along which it moves.
Thus, there is no mechanical connection at all, and the tonearm floats in the air flow. It sounds nice, but the design is very complex and expensive. As simpler options, you can find bearings, rollers, etc., but this is a compromise. My opinion is simple - if you think about a tangential tonearm, then you need to take a high-quality, expensive mechanism. If we compare tangential and lever tonearms in the same price category, then lever ones will most likely be better (it turns out to be a comparison of a compromise version of a tangential tonearm and a lever one brought to perfection).
The tangential tonearm consists of a base on two supports mounted on the chassis of the player, between which there are guides along which the tonearm tube with the pickup head mounted on it moves. In this way, not just one part of the tonearm moves, but the entire tonearm. Another advantage of tangential tonearms is the absence of rolling force inherent in lever structures, which means that it does not need to be adjusted, and the balance of the channels will always be the same. Another advantage is the significantly lower vertical inertia compared to lever tonearms, but the horizontal inertia, on the contrary, is higher. The tangential tonearm does not have an axis of rotation, which equates its effective mass to the total mass of the tonearm, making it quite large. The large effective mass of the tonearm forces a more careful approach to the selection of the pickup head, in particular, paying special attention to the flexibility parameter of the needle holder suspension.
So which is better? There is no clear answer to this question, and everyone has to decide for themselves. The setup of the player will play a very important role; if it is of high quality, then a good lever tonearm will be enough to spare. If you don’t want to put up with compromises, and “money is burning your pocket,” then tangential tonearms await you.
The material from which the table, tonearm, disc and other parts of the vinyl record player are made is an important characteristic. Here you have sound, color, and even functionality. I decided to write about rare and not so rare materials that are used in the production of vinyl players. And when I was finishing my article, I realized that all the “sources” are conventionally divided into two parts: the tree and everything else. Since the article turned out to be long, I divided it into two parts and devoted the first one entirely to material of plant origin.
Previously, wood was given a modest place in the designs of LP players (if we talk about the impact on the quality of the device), even though there was a lot of wood itself in these designs. For example, wooden cases, which sometimes were not tables in the usual sense, but only a frame, sometimes the base of the MDF table was covered with veneer. In the new generation of players, wood has already found a more interesting, and most importantly, meaningful use.
Bamboo station wagons
The Canadian company Tri-Art Audio actively uses bamboo to make housings for its components, equipment racks and stands. Why not? The material is beautiful and versatile. From it you can make a tiny case for a USB DAC and an amplifier slightly larger than a pickup head, or you can also make a case for components, especially since the developers use amplification exclusively in class D to make the devices compact. Acoustics in a bamboo casing is also not the limit of imagination. Today, bamboo stands certainly won’t surprise anyone. But turntables and tonearms seem to be a completely different matter.
Tri-Art Audio Pebbles Player The company's model range includes two players (Tri-Art Audio Pebbles and Tri-Art Audio Bam Bam) and four tonearms (Pebbles and Bam Bam in 9- and 12-inch versions) - apparently there were no separate names for them. Minimum metal: parts of support legs, motors, bearings, rotating units of tonearms. Turntable tables, main disks, bases for tonearms and their tubes are made from glued and turned bamboo.
The younger player, Pebbles, is designed to work with one tonearm, and Bam Bam can be equipped with a pair of 12-inch ones. In addition to the unusual material, these devices also have original design solutions, such as the dual-motor belt drive of the older player.
Tri-Art Audio Bam Bam turntable with tonearms of the same name Despite all the “otherness,” this is not some super-expensive High End - a top-end turntable paired with two 12-inch tonearms costs about $2,500. Bamboo, as we see, is also a cheap material.
It is clear that miniature digital amplifiers in a bamboo case look like toys; they are more likely to be classified as lifestyle than Hi-Fi. But the same single-support tonearms of a cunning design with Cardas wiring are certainly not toys.
Tonearm Tri-Art Audio Pebbles However, I don’t dare try to guess the sound properties of the devices. As well as the properties of the bamboo mat, which can be used with other turntables. It would be interesting to hear all this in action.
In the colors of noble wood
The American, literally family project Teres Audio already offers much more serious things, for example, tonearms with a wooden tube or an optional motor with a control unit for $1,750. It's a pity that they have minimal information on their website.
Certus Audio Model 460 Teres Audio produced only five models of turntables. The older Certus Model 460 is an impressive structure with its own stand and control unit. According to my information, the 460th version is no longer made, however, the company offers some custom parts, but for a very immodest fee. Much of these devices are made of wood - even the massive support disk. However, in some places wood is still combined with metal. The company is small, the equipment is small-scale, so it is difficult to say with confidence what the “percentage ratio” of wood and metal is in current models.
Teres Audio Model 360 Teres Audio tonearms, with their atypical three-point support structure and wooden tube, may be interesting to audiophiles. But it should be remembered that for $5000 you can find many decent options with less exotic and more predictable properties.
New life for old milestones
The Anna Log player from the British company Nottingham Analogue is familiar to our audiophiles. It has a very heavy multilayer disk that rotates a low-power motor using a thick round belt (when turned on, the disk must be untwisted by hand). The main part of the table of this turntable is made of wood. And not just any kind of wood, but an ancient tree, aged either 100 or 200 years - I slightly forgot the details of the story I heard from the developer, but it seems that the details of the table were made from ancient English mileposts. Hence the five-digit price tag of the player and the limited edition - England is a small country, apparently there are not enough old mileposts for everyone. Where such a strange idea came from, I no longer know first-hand - Tom Fletcher, the founder and ideologist of Nottingham Analogue, has long been dead. Therefore, it remains to consider this device as something mysterious.
Nottingham Analogue Anna Log By the way, the player is easily recognizable by its sound, and if you correctly select the remaining components for it, the result will turn out very, very good. Of course, if the price of the table without tonearm (which is about £9,500) does not seem excessive to you.
Cocobolo tonearm
Entirely wooden tonearms were rare in the past. You can recall a couple of models Grace G-704 and G-714 - their history is several decades old, and it cannot be attributed to “pure marketing”. However, now there are many tonearms with a wooden tube produced - different designs from different types of wood. The material gained popularity for several, not all the right reasons. Easier to process compared to metals; there is a desire to “touch up” the sound - a lot of “half-dead” vinyl paths have been released in pursuit of purity and neutrality. Of course, there are also well-made designs, and I would not say that only developers with a penchant for the “esoteric” gravitate towards wood.
Tonearm Grace G-704 
Tonearm Grace G-714 For example, tonearms from the young Lithuanian company Reed. There are only three models in the line, but the rare types of wood from which the tonearm will be made are presented in five options (ebony, wenge, cocobolo, pernambuco wood, cordia). It would seem like audiophile esotericism. However, here a completely different story begins - the manufacturer gives exact calculations of what the effective mass will be. And of course, it depends on the type of wood chosen. You can also choose the length of the tonearm: 9 or 12 inches.
In other words, if we ignore the very fact of using wood, the company makes honest mathematical calculations, and therefore high-quality mechanics. The tonearms have an extremely simple rotating design, with precise bearings. An excellent set of settings is offered, and the settings are conveniently implemented. That is, not everything rests on the wood; the tonearm should be studied as a solid structure. However, Reed is generally quite an interesting company and I will return to the design of their player later - there is something to look at.
Reed tonearms installed on the “native” player (which will be discussed separately a little later). We see an example of another implementation in the Scheu Analog Tacco MK II tonearm. It would seem that the company makes minimalistic and mathematically verified LP players (if players can even be given such characteristics), but Scheu Analog tonearms are a completely different story. All three models in the catalog are classic single-support models. The older model Tacco MK II is a capricious 9-inch tonearm with a thick wooden tube. Wood species may be different (they cannot be selected in the catalog; you need to contact the company and clarify what will be used specifically in your model). It’s difficult to call this tonearm high-tech, in the modern sense of the word; rather, there is some archaism here. Which, however, does not prevent the tonearm from having good sound properties.
Scheu Analog Tacco MK II I have not listed all the options for tonearms made of wood; now this “plant material” is used by many companies. However, I note that the sound that the tonearm produces will of course depend on the material, but to a greater extent it will depend on how the entire structure is built as a whole, including minor details.
Wooden head
The fact that wood is used as head housings, I believe, will not surprise anyone. Therefore, I won’t even consider this for general information purposes, but I will still tell you about several unusual solutions.
For example, the Japanese company Miyajima Laboratory employs only six people, including the ideologist and founder Noriyuki Miyajima. And they deal specifically with heads, not only stereo, but even mono, designed for shellac 78-rpm records. The bodies of these heads are made of ebony and rosewood (but we have already decided that this is not new), but the recently released older model Miyajima Madake also has a bamboo needle holder, and from some extremely rare variety of this type of wood. You could say that this is the opposite of diamond or ruby needle holders. Of course, such inventions are very interesting to study both in theory and in practice.
Miyajima Madake pickup head with bamboo needle holder. Actually, in practice, I would also advise looking at heads from Koetsu, Clearaudio, Benz-Micro, Sumiko, Soundsmith, Grado, Yamamoto and many others (for vintage fans, I can advise looking for, for example, “wooden” modifications of Supex SD-900). To dive right in, try the Denon DL-103 replacement bodies. There are cases not only made of different types of wood, but also metal, composite, and even for insertion and filling with compound... If you are not ready for such radical experiments - listen to how wooden shells change the sound - they are produced by Ortofon, and Yamamoto even has shells from different wood species
Be aware of the tree's character and behavior. And don't be discouraged if changes in humidity affect the sound. For example, many owners of the iconic Linn LP-12 turntable are aware of the side effects, but still value it for its exceptional sound quality. And the Linn LP-12 is just one item on a very, very extensive list.
Special Conditions: The cartridge (head) tuning method described here is intended to be used as a guideline only and may not apply to all cartridges and tonearms. If the instructions below do not agree with those in your cartridge or tonearm manufacturer's manual (assuming you are lucky enough to have such instructions), then the manufacturer's recommendations should be followed. Moreover, Audiophilia is not responsible for any damage that may be caused during the setup process to your cartridge, tonearm, turntable, or anyone foolish enough to be near you while you follow these instructions.
With technical support for end-consumer turntables almost completely gone, audiophiles devoted to analog discs have no choice but to become adepts at fine-tuning cartridges themselves. And while properly tuning these delicate devices will undoubtedly require a great deal of both time and patience, the steps we've suggested will work even for the average audio enthusiast with a steady hand armed with the right tools.
The mission of a vinyl record player is to extract as faithfully as possible the very weak signal etched by the recording machine into the surface of the disc. If the stylus reproduces (in three dimensions) the path of the cutting head along a spiral groove, then the resulting signal must be an exact copy of what is engraved on the disk. Of course, there are many reasons why the exact geometry of the stylus in relation to the groove is not sufficient to guarantee accurate reproduction of the analog signal, such as the electromagnetic properties of the internal wiring of the head and the design of the magnetic circuit, and the shape of the stylus itself. Even with extreme care and patience during the tuning process, the best one can hope for is a good approximation of the original signal, but this approximation is in fact more than sufficient to produce outstanding musical results.
Brief overview of the tools.
Here is a short list of tools needed to install the phono cartridge (phono cartridge):
- Tweezers
- Toothpicks
- Non-magnetic screws, washers, and possibly nuts if the cartridge manufacturer did not supply them
- Small set of non-magnetic screwdrivers
- Needle pressure meter, type Sure SFG-2
- Coated magnifying glass with at least 10x magnification
- Measuring ruler type DB Systems DBP-10 (or any from your tonearm manufacturer)
- Test disc such as Hi-Fi News and Record Review's HFN-1.
1. Installation
Firstly, if your cartridge was sold with a protective cap that protects the stylus/holder system, please do not remove it during this step and the connection step below - this may save the stylus holder on your cartridge from damage for 2000 $ in a moment of careless loss of concentration!
Installing the cartridge begins with attaching the head housing to the mounting pad. The head mounting pads usually have either slots or holes through which screws (usually supplied with the head and necessarily non-magnetic) can be inserted through the head body. Slotted platforms allow the head to be slightly repositioned for precise adjustments. Fixed-hole pads (such as the venerable Rega RB300 and Naim Aro) assume that the geometry of the head being attached is already such that precise adjustment can be achieved with the existing holes. Unfortunately, tonearms whose pads contain fixed holes will not allow fine adjustment of the head. But they do make setting up compatible heads relatively simple (companies that make tonearms with pads for mounting heads through fixed holes usually have a specific head, or set of heads, in mind when designing, either their own or manufacturers whose products work well with this tonearm).
The holes in the head body for the screws that secure it to the pad are usually of two types: threaded or unthreaded. Threaded holes are more common because they eliminate the need for small, difficult-to-handle nuts that secure the head bolts to the head body. If your head is not threaded, then you will have to use nuts. If possible, insert the bolts from the bottom of the head with the nuts on top. Those lucky enough to have a threaded head can simply insert screws through the holder board into threaded holes in its housing (it's a good idea to use a washer between the head of each screw and the housing to prevent a tightened screw from ruining it). In any case, in the first stage the head screws should be tightened only lightly, so that it is secure, but at the same time it can be moved with moderate hand force. In the case of a fixed hole pad, the head screws may be fully tightened because no further adjustment is possible. Keep in mind that the head screws should be moderately tightened, but not overtightened. Over-tightening can deform the head body or, in the worst case, break it.
2. Wiring
Once the head is attached to the holder, connect the thin colored tonearm wires to the matching jacks on the back of the head housing. When connecting the tonearm to the cartridge connectors, always proceed with extreme caution - they are very fragile and can be damaged with surprisingly little force. Grab the small metal terminals of the tonearm wires with tweezers (never grab the wires themselves!) and attach the terminals to the head contacts. In some cases, you may need to gently push the terminals into place using a small screwdriver or toothpick. Just do not overdo it, otherwise you will get poor contact between the terminals and the clamps. If you push them too far, you can take them back out using tweezers.
3. Weight setting
(Please note that if the needle is still covered by the protective cap at this point, remove it and do not put it back on until the installation process is complete)
In order to play vinyl discs, the stylus must have good contact with the walls of the record groove. The question is, how much force must be applied so that the needle does not lose contact with the wall of the groove, and at the same time does not get thrown off the track due to too much force? Manufacturers typically list the load force, or specified weight, for specific heads, usually as a range of recommended weights in grams. It is best to start the process of determining the optimal clamping force by setting the maximum value from this range. Contrary to popular legend, in reality a head with insufficient clamping force is more likely to damage the track than one that is clamped with the maximum force in the recommended range. This is because a head that is pressed too lightly can lose contact with the track in areas of high modulation, causing damage to the groove as the stylus starts to jump out of it.
There are currently several devices available to measure reduced weight. The Shure SFG-2 is the most popular scale due to its low price (about $30 from mail-order companies like Elusive Disc and Music Direct) and reasonable accuracy. The Shure scale is essentially a lever scale, with a needle located in a recessed groove on one side of the scale and a sliding counterweight on the other that moves along a calibrated scale to balance the head. Once complete equilibrium is achieved, the weight of the needle can be determined directly from the calibration scale. While the results on Shure balances are mostly approximate (results depend on the accuracy of the calibration scale as well as the user's ability to visually judge the degree of balance achieved), they are more than sufficient in most cases.
Shure claims the SFG-2 is accurate to 0.1 grams for a listed weight of less than 1.5 grams. For larger scales, the SFG-2's measurement accuracy will likely be within 0.2 grams. However, given that the listed weight can vary by a few tenths of a gram without damaging the track, Shure scales should provide sufficient accuracy for most installations.
For those who want exceptional accuracy and convenience, the Winds ALM-01 Tonearm Load Meter has an accuracy of 0.01 grams. It costs about $800, being a coveted toy for vinylophiles with deep, non-empty pockets (a less expensive alternative is the ALM-1, accurate to 0.1 g. Costs about $500). Its competitor, which will soon be released by head manufacturer Clearaudio, will have a retail price of approximately $375, although its accuracy is not yet known.
The Winds scale is by far the simplest and most accurate scale I have ever had the pleasure of using. They are completely electronic and are thus not subject to the errors typical of SFG-2 type lever systems. Using them is very simple: the user must first zero the LCD display numbers using the built-in calibration wheel. The needle is then lowered onto the round sensor located on top. After a few seconds, during which the LCD gradually displays the exact value, the listed weight can be read off the display.
The only glitch I've seen with Winds is that they show very inaccurate results without any warning, which turns out to be when their 9 Volt battery is somewhat low. Considering their cost, the lack of a low battery indicator is simply unforgivable in light of the consequences for the needle holder from setting horribly incorrect reference weights.
Before attempting to establish the correct weight of a cartridge using a scale and/or test record, balance or in other words "hang" like a compass needle, the tonearm with the head attached. This gives a good starting point from which to begin increasing the reduced weight to the desired value. The position of the tonearm with the head is adjusted by moving the counterweight, either towards the head or away from it, until the reduced weight of the cartridge is about 0 grams, and the tonearm with the head and counterweight hangs in equilibrium. After this, it will be possible to accurately install it using scales similar to those previously described.
4. Tonearm Height: Part One
Once you have set the listed weight to the maximum value from the manufacturer's recommended range, it is time to adjust the height of the tonearm so that the tube is approximately parallel to the base. You will set the exact value later during the setup process, but if you roughly set it now, it will make later adjustments much easier. Most tonearms provide some height adjustment. Inexpensive tonearms, such as the Audioquest PT series, usually come with a set of screws that secure the horizontal arm tube, allowing a wide range of adjustments but making it difficult to return to previous settings. More expensive tonearms such as the Graham 2.0 and VPI JMW have a more sophisticated pitch adjustment mechanism that contains finely calibrated scales and allows you to easily return to previous settings. The Rega RB300 is one of the few tonearms in its class that does not have any height adjustment mechanism at all. However, you can place small spacers under the tonearm to raise it to your desired height.
At this stage, you should not pay too much attention to the height of the tonearm. You will have the pleasure of spending a ton of time on this subject later on.
5. Adjustment
Records are engraved on a vinyl record using a cutting head, the holder axis of which is located tangentially to the track being cut. The rotary tonearm, which moves the needle in an arc along the surface of the disk, only approximately reproduces the tangential path of the cutting head. Detailed work by Baerwald (1941) showed that the angular error of the needle can be minimized if the axis of the needle cantilever is located tangent to the groove at two points along the arc, namely, at two points located at a distance of 66 and 120.9 mm from center of the axis (keep in mind that these figures assume that the inner and outer radius of the groove are no less than 60.32 mm and no more than 146 mm respectively, which, fortunately, is the case for almost all records). These two points are usually called "null points" because they are where the zero horizontal angle of needle error is achieved. Commercially available rulers can be used to adjust the position of the cartridge so that it satisfies the tangentiality condition at the zero points.
Most modern rulers, such as the popular DB Systems DBP-10, are designed to perform two-point Bayerwald adjustments, although there are also rulers that use the less common single-point method (for example, the tuning template supplied with the VPI JMW tonearm). When adjusting the head tangentially using any tuning protractor, it is important to remember that you are trying to align the position of the stylus holder, i.e., the cantilever (and therefore itself), and not the head body. There is no guarantee that the holder is positioned perfectly in relation to the head body, so simply adjusting the head body will not necessarily produce the desired result. Moreover, many heads have non-parallel sides, which makes tangential adjustment along tangent lines drawn on the ruler almost impossible.
Most rulers are simply cardboard, plastic (or in some cases glass) scales on which are printed or engraved the zero points (or dot) and tangent lines by which the position of the head is to be established. The scale is placed on the axis of the turntable (using a hole in the template) and placed facing the disk. Then fine adjustments are made to the position of the head on the holder until the needle is parallel to the tangential lines of the scale at the zero points (point). This procedure can be made easier by using a small magnifying glass to allow a better view of the small, almost microscopic needle and its tiny holder, which are usually both in the shadow of the head housing. And this is the most unpleasant and time-consuming part of installing the cartridge. Small changes in the position of the needle to set it at the zero points invariably lead to its shift relative to the tangential lines - and vice versa. Leave the screws holding the head to the holder slightly loose so that you can make subtle adjustments to the position of the head. Either way, the screws will hold the head in place while you check your progress using the scale. Once you have everything aligned, tighten the holder screws with one hand while securing the position of the head with the other. When you screw the head on, you need to hold it very firmly, since the turning force generated by tightening the screws will be directed to rotate the head relative to the holder, which will spoil the tangential position of the head.
And although it may sometimes seem that the installation of the head, which is now called only “this idiotic head” by “those idiotic lines and points” of “this idiotic ruler”, is almost impossible, console yourself with the thought that you still have some time left. then ten hours - and you can listen to an idiotic record.
6. Azimuth
Having adjusted the head and wiped the turntable from sweat, it’s time to set the azimuth of the needle, i.e. perpendicularity of the vertical axis of the needle to the plane of the plate. Without the correct azimuth setting, the output currents from the two head oscillators will be unequal (while reproducing a signal with equal amplitude in both channels), which will lead to imbalance across the channels and a shift in the sound stage to the left or right. However, keep in mind that not all tonearms allow azimuth changes, and the Rega RB300 is a prime example here. Other tonearms, such as those in the Audioquest PT family, allow coarse azimuth adjustment using an adjustment screw at the base of the headplate. More expensive tonearms, such as unipivot from Graham, VPI, Immedia, have sophisticated azimuth adjustment systems on board, using one or more weights, making setting and obtaining the correct azimuth a certain pleasure.
The azimuth can be roughly adjusted by looking at the end of the head housing while the needle is in the groove. See if it seems to you that one side of the body is closer to the surface of the record than the other? If so, use what the tonearm manufacturer provided to adjust the azimuth until the head body is parallel (to the extent of your vision) with the surface of the record. Once you make the rough adjustments by eye, you can make fine adjustments by measuring.
An optimally tuned azimuth is one that provides electrical signals of equal amplitude from the head's generators (i.e., its coils) when signals of equal amplitude are presented in both recording channels. Thus, if we play a recording with the same signals on both channels (for example, a monaural recording), but connect one channel out of phase, then the precise azimuth setting is one that will give zero (or nearly zero) output when the two channels are summed ( Remember that summing two signals, one of which is out of phase with the other, results in no signal due to attenuating interference).
This "out of phase" or "null" test can be performed in several ways. If you have a test disc, for example from Hi Fi News and Record Review (which I highly recommend), then you can simply use the azimuth test track. This test track contains a mono signal where the channels are recorded in antiphase. If your preamp has a mono button (which sums the left and right channels), you can simply play a test track, use the mono button, and adjust the azimuth of the head until you hear minimal signal in the speakers.
If there is no test recording with a track “out of phase,” you can do this: play a mono recording through a phase-inverting cable manufactured by the Do-It-Yourself company. To make it, buy a cheap cable from the nearest radio store, take one wire from a stereo pair and cut it in half, and slightly expose the copper wires from the insulation. Then solder the bitten wire “diagonally” - the positive wire to the negative wire and vice versa. Wrap the result with electrical tape and you will have a cable that inverts the phase of one channel. Connect this cable to the jack on your tonearm and the other end of the cable to the phono input or phono input of your preamp. Play a mono recording (I used the DCC reissue of Sonny Rollins' Tenor Madness album) and switch your preamp to mono. Now you can adjust the azimuth of the head until your speakers give zero (or at least minimal) signal.
If your preamp doesn't support mono switching (a feature that's kind of dying out lately, and I have to thank Audible Illusions for thinking of including it in their Modulus 3A), then you can communicate with the azimuth of your head using either an oscilloscope (if you have one) or an electronic millivoltmeter, or apply the rough eye test described above.
7. Pressure Weight: Revisited
Once the pressure weight has been roughly adjusted and the head position has been adjusted, a test recording such as the excellent one from Hi Fi News and Record Review can be used to optimize the tuning. In particular, the head's ability to pass difficult passages can be tuned using multiple tracks of a test disc. Test tracks consist of a test tone (300Hz on both channels at +15dB) equally distributed across the surface of the head to measure how well the tonearm/cartridge system handles tracking the groove. At the maximum clamping weight within the manufacturer's recommended range, the sounds produced should be clear, without any audible sign of distortion. Keep in mind that distortion in only one channel is more likely the result of an incorrect antiskate setting (see below) than a problem with the cartridge's clamping weight, keeping in mind, however, that the antiskating must be changed as the clamping weight changes (only for some heads in general anti-skating is not used). If the signal is stable in one channel, but not in another, then you should not increase the clamping weight in an attempt to compensate for the difference. Most likely, this problem needs to be solved by setting up an anti-skating system.
Now you can gradually reduce the clamping weight until it reaches the minimum value at which playing the test recording sounds good. The resulting weight is the happy medium between the weight of good grip and acceptable record wear. Of course, changes in the clamping weight change the deflection of the cantilever relative to the plane of the plate. (You will soon realize that when setting up a cartridge, changing any parameter affects all other parameters.) Lock the head position and recheck the clamping weight and azimuth before you get too tired of it. If the old CD player in the corner suddenly starts to look damn attractive to you, don’t despair, you can definitely do it!
8. Anti-Skate
The last critical setting parameter that can be optimized using a test recording is anti-skate. The so-called rolling force is the vector of force that drives the tonearm towards the center of the record when the head is angled to the arm tube (most modern tonearms use angled headplates in an attempt to minimize the previously described mismatched cutter and stylus path shapes). Unless this force is balanced, it can contribute to uneven and premature wear of the groove and stylus walls and compromise the proper spatial relationship between the cartridge coils and the magnet. Unfortunately, the rolling force gradually changes along the recording surface, and thus is difficult to overcome completely. Most tonearms have a spring device that directs the force in the opposite direction of the rolling force and is about the same in magnitude. Some tonearm designers, especially VPI's Harry Weisfeld, are wary of such anti-skating devices, arguing that they are sources of vibration and cannot accurately and uniformly counteract sliding forces across the entire recording surface. Bob Graham, designer of the Graham 2.0 unipivot tonearm, disagrees. Its tonearm contains a unique lever-weight system that produces a variable force, which, according to Graham, actually varies in the direct direction of the sliding force.
Using the anti-skating mechanism on your tonearm, adjust the anti-skating until the Bias Setting track on Side 1 of the Hi Fi News or Record Review test disc produces a clean, undistorted signal on both channels. Distortion in the right channel indicates that more anti-skid force is needed, distortion in the left indicates less.
9. Tonearm height: part two
You now have a cartridge tuned to minimize track error across the recording surface, and the head azimuth is adjusted so that the stylus is perpendicular to the recording surface. The last adjustments we can make when trying to get the stylus exactly along the path of the groove is to set the angle between the plane passing through the stylus and intersecting the groove and the surface of the record as close as possible to the angle formed by the plane passing through the recorder cutter with the plane of the disc. , on which the recording was made. VTA (vertical tracking angle) is changed by adjusting the height of the tonearm support relative to the base. This angle increases as the height of the tonearm increases, and decreases as the height decreases. Most records are engraved (written) at 22°, although low angles, up to 18°, or high angles, up to 24°, are not uncommon.
Setting the head's VTA angle is best started by aligning the tonearm tube parallel to the head surface (if you followed my previous advice, you will have already done this before aligning the head). If the cartridge manufacturer was smart enough to release the cantilever at an angle of about 22° to the horizontal, then placing the tonearm tube parallel to the recording surface should set the VTA angle to about 22° - just fine for most disc playback. Unfortunately, cantilevers are not always manufactured at an exact 22° angle, so placing the tonearm tube parallel to the surface may not result in an accurate alignment. Since there is no accepted way to measure the vertical angle of a cartridge, the best thing to do is experiment with different settings to see what sounds best. If you like the sound you get with a tube parallel to the disk, then leave everything as is and enjoy listening. If you feel like experimenting with different VTA angle settings, be aware that setting the angle too high will result in a sharper treble and a bright, oversaturated presentation. Conversely, setting the angle too low results in a sharpening of the low frequencies and a droning, sluggish sound.
You can spend many days of your fast-paced life fine-tuning the vertical angle of your cartridge. Ultimately it also depends on the thickness of the plate. It may be worth investing a significant amount of time in finding the golden vertical angle that will suit one record in your collection, but don't bother with it. Life is short and there is still too much music to listen to.
10. Finishing touches
Congratulations! You're still alive! Go back and make sure that the tracking force, head position, and azimuth settings haven't gotten lost in the process of making other improvements. Pay special attention to the azimuth, as adjusting the arm height will likely have a slight effect on this parameter (although it is difficult to navigate in three dimensions, raising the arm height with an offset head will affect the perpendicularity of the stylus to the groove).
Continue listening to the result and making minimal adjustments until you are satisfied with the result. Then put away the pressure gauge and ruler, put away the test discs and return to your favorite records. I think you will find that your efforts have paid off.
An overview of such a group of tonearms as tangential ones. Let's take a closer look at their interesting qualities and advantages.
The tonearm, the device on which the cartridge is mounted, is one of the most important components of any analog player. Everyone knows that the initial playback and musicality of the sound as a whole depend on its operation. The system supporting the tonearm should be soft, light and flexible. This is necessary so that the tonearm can instantly respond to the slightest irregularities in the groove of the record. But at the same time, this system must also be rigid so that unnecessary vibrations do not occur. This is a fairly simple description of this part of the turntable. A true High-End tonearm consists of hundreds of little details that guarantee the full sound of the entire stereo system with a competent selection of the remaining components of the stereo circuit. Some of the most famous developers and manufacturers of tonearms are: English SME, German Clearaudio, Thorens, Japanese Ikeda, Jelco and others. There are companies that manufacture under OEM agreements, according to the specifications provided to many modern brands, for example, the manufacturing company Jelco.
All tonearms, conditionally, can be divided into two large groups: rotary (radial) and tangential. The first group is widely represented and we are all familiar with them, since this is the more common species. Rotating tonearms are installed on 95% of record players. But let's learn more about the second group - tangential tonearms.
Tangential tonearms are more difficult to calculate and more expensive to manufacture, and in the final price too. Such a tonearm in its structure is reminiscent of a device that is still installed in slot machines, where with the help of a special mechanical arm you had to drag a toy into a basket and get it as a prize. This hand moves in a motionless straight line forward and backward, and after pressing the button it lowers and grabs the toy - the prize. True, the tangential tonearm is not a toy at all. Not a child's toy. It similarly has a fixed guide that hangs over the vinyl record along it and to the center of its axis of rotation, that is, perpendicular to the radius of the record.
Since the pickup and tonearm tube always move perpendicular to the radius of the record, the orientation of the stylus always remains parallel to the modulated track. For this reason, there are no reading inaccuracies on the first and last tracks, there is no angular error, like with classic rotary (radial) tonearms. This is the main advantage of tangential tonearms. The only problem is that a properly made tonearm will improve the sound, but a low-quality tonearm will worsen it many times over. The disadvantage of tangential tonearms is that they are not able to reproduce warped records (curves, with a large wave) with high quality. True, the owner of such a tonearm is unlikely to keep a large number of warped records in his collection. Crooked records are also a playback problem for many rotary tonearms. For these purposes, there are special devices for leveling gramophone records. But that is another topic.
Let's return to our story. Still, a lot depends on the sliding of the tonearm tube along its guide. If the glide is not perfect, then the needle begins to press a little harder on one side of the track, wearing out the diamond and the record itself faster. This degrades the sound. To reduce this effect, many manufacturers use either pneumatic drive systems or magnetic non-contact bearings.
A wonderful example of what a tangential tonearm should be and what result the owner will get by using it in his high-end circuit is the model TT3 by Clearaudio.
The range of tangential tonearms from the German company Clearaudio is represented by three tonearms. TT3 is the lower model in an affordable price budget. Most importantly, the TT3 is compatible with all types of pickups. Any weight and shape. The TT3 has integrated and convenient height adjustment. Install the cartridge, adjust, enjoy! The base of the tonearm is a glass tube; precision ball bearings of our own design are used to rotate around the vertical and horizontal axes. The tonearm works like a clock. What kind? The embodiment of the symbiosis of technical thought in this product is obvious. Let's try, friends!
Specifications:
- Type: Tangential tonearm
- Color design: silver
- Dimensions: 260 x 50 x 100 mm
- Weight: 0.67 kg