Importance of Cartridge Alignment
Cartridge alignment basically allow you to maximise the performance on your turntable, tonearm and how good your records can sound.
How important is it ?
It is just as important as a upgrading your cartridge or turntable. The benefits of better tracking as the record grooves get denser toward the middle, better stereo separation will be.
Installing a Cartridge
Installing
Attached cartridge body to the tonearm head shell. Tonearm head shells typically contain either slots or holes through which screws may be passed into the cartridge body. Slotted head shells allow for the position of the cartridge to be adjusted for correct alignment.
Wiring
Once the cartridge is attached to the head shell, connect the fine color - coded tonearm wires to the corresponding color - coded pins on the back of the cartridge body.
While connecting the tonearm wires to the cartridge pins, always handle the wires with great care – they are fragile and can be damaged by surprisingly little force. Grab the small metal cartridge clips which terminate the tonearm wires using a pair of tweezers (never grab the tonearm wires themselves!), and guide the clips onto the cartridge pins.
Weight Tracking
Good record playing requires stylus to good contact with the walls of the record groove.
The question is, how much downward force should be applied so that the stylus will neither lose contact with the groove wall as it traces the path of the groove, nor fail to faithfully follow the path of the groove due to excessive downforce?
Answer :
Cartridge manufacturer’s typically specify the downforce, or tracking weight, for a particular cartridge, usually as a range of recommended values in grams.
It is best to determine the optimal tracking weight first, within the specified range by setting it to the highest value.
If a cartridge given insufficient tracking weight is more likely to cause damage to the groove wall. This is because a cartridge that is tracking too lightly will tend to lose contact with the groove wall, causing damage to the groove as it bounces about in an attempt to regain contact.
Alignment
Most alignment gauges are simply cardboard, plastic (or, in some cases, glass) templates onto which are printed or scribed the null point(s) and lines of tangency against which the cartridge should be aligned.
Anti - Skate
During playback of a record, a force is produced that pushes the tonearm towards the center due to the friction between the stylus and the record surface. This inside force is called skating force and needs to be counteracted or balanced out. Otherwise, it may affect the sound quality and make the needle more prone to skipping.
The device that prevents a turntable from skating is called anti-skate.
Credit Resource : http://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2016/1/17/a-beginners-guide-to-cartridge-setup
Our Service
We provide free Cartridge Alignment Service immediately. We wants to share and educate our customers the importance of maintaining their turntables in a long run. Let us adjust your turntable to its maximum state of performance before the start of your listening experience!
Cartridge Alignment Service is available in Millenia store and our E-Commerce platform.
Feel free to contact us if you need help, our staff will assist your needs accordingly!
Location :
Millenia Walk, #01-42
Nearest MRT : Promenade (Circle Line)
Tel : 6884 4390
