Alignment of pickup cartridge – THORENS TD 550 User Manual
Page 35
Only a painstakingly aligned pickup is able to compliment
the outstanding sonic capabilities and potential of this
record player. If you consider the fine-alignment too dif-
ficult to be carried out by yourself, do not hesitate to ask
your Thorens dealer for a helping hand.
ATTENTION: when aligning the cartridge great
care is once again obligatory in order to avoid
that the delicate stylus or sensitive parts of the
tonearm are being damaged. If you are a new-
comer without any experience it is better to leave
this work to an expert who knows the specific
characteristics of most pickups and tonearms.
A badly aligned pickup will be well on the way
to yield bad sound and to damage your precious
records!
Azimuth: this is the angle between cantilever/stylus as-
sembly and record groove. It should be exactly 90° (ex-
cluding those cartridges in which the cantilever has pur-
posely been installed with a slight tilt).
Alignment of pickup cartridge
Offset: this is the angle between the longitudinal axis of
the pickup and the tonearm‘s longitudinal axis. In all piv-
oted tonearms (like the ones from Thorens) the optimum
value is to be found between 21° and 24°. We recom-
mend to adjust the offset to 23°.
Overhang: this is the distance between the stylus tip and
the centre of the platter spindle. Depending on the indi-
vidual effective length of the tonearm, overhang should be
adjusted between 19 mm and 12 mm. Please refer to the
specifications respectively instructions supplied with your
tonearm.
Special pickup alignment gauges are required for the pre-
cise adjustment of the above parameters. They are avail-
able from your Thorens dealer. When you are through with
the alignment you can finally tighten the cartridge screws.
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