The Technics Turntable Fan Club - Questions, Advice, Discussion

I bought an inexpensive accessory for my Technics that I see as a “must have.” The good news it’s it’s less than $30.

It’s an arc protractor especially for the 1200 series. It’s the same alignment that the factory jig strives for but is far more accurate. The jig gets you close. The arc protractor gets the alignment perfect. It has two grids and an arc before and after the grids. The idea is to have the stylus land perfectly in both grids and trace the arc perfectly without moving either the platter or the protractor. Honestly it’s fiddly. But so worth it. Both the SAE 1000LT the Grado Gold sit a bit father back in the headshell now.

Anyone that has read my posts since Christmas knows I’m smitten with the SAE- it’s shown the Grado the door- it showed up and told the Grado to kick rocks. I thought the SAE sounded even better, but thought it just might be confirmation bias. So I put the Grado back on and I’ve been happily spinning with it for an hour.

This is the cheapest upgrade you can get. Just be patient and be prepared to give up some time. Each cartridge took about an hour.

www.thevinylsource.co.uk

Arc Protractor for Technics SL-1200G/GR/GLE/GLD/LTD/GAE SL-1210GR/SL-Qx series | vinyl

For sale, a high precision arc protractor for cartridge alignment.This protractor is made of 3mm High Glossy Black Acrylic Perspex, high-precision laser cut and engraved.The arc protractor is the most accurate protractors for cartridge alignment; this one is designed for the following Technics...
www.thevinylsource.co.uk www.thevinylsource.co.uk
 
HiFi Guy said:
I bought an inexpensive accessory for my Technics that I see as a “must have.” The good news it’s it’s less than $30.

It’s an arc protractor especially for the 1200 series. It’s the same alignment that the factory jig strives for but is far more accurate. The jig gets you close. The arc protractor gets the alignment perfect. It has two grids and an arc before and after the grids. The idea is to have the stylus land perfectly in both grids and trace the arc perfectly without moving either the platter or the protractor. Honestly it’s fiddly. But so worth it. Both the SAE 1000LT the Grado Gold sit a bit father back in the headshell now.

Anyone that has read my posts since Christmas knows I’m smitten with the SAE- it’s shown the Grado the door- it showed up and told the Grado to kick rocks. I thought the SAE sounded even better, but thought it just might be confirmation bias. So I put the Grado back on and I’ve been happily spinning with it for an hour.

This is the cheapest upgrade you can get. Just be patient and be prepared to give up some time. Each cartridge took about an hour.

www.thevinylsource.co.uk

Arc Protractor for Technics SL-1200G/GR/GLE/GLD/LTD/GAE SL-1210GR/SL-Qx series | vinyl

For sale, a high precision arc protractor for cartridge alignment.This protractor is made of 3mm High Glossy Black Acrylic Perspex, high-precision laser cut and engraved.The arc protractor is the most accurate protractors for cartridge alignment; this one is designed for the following Technics...
www.thevinylsource.co.uk www.thevinylsource.co.uk
Click to expand...
Ordered. Thanks!
 
Jbraswell said:
Ordered. Thanks!
Click to expand...
No problem. Here are some tips-

1. Get some blue or yellow painters tape. Tape the platter down so it doesn’t move. I used two pieces-one on the front, one on the left side.

2. Place the protractor on the platter. Move it around until the stylus is exactly on the arc. Tape the protractor to the mat.

3. Follow the included instructions.

4. When everything is right, you won’t be perfectly on the arc as you get very close to the spindle. That’s ok. The label is there on the record anyway. You’ll be perfect everywhere else.

5. As I’ve said, it’s fiddly. You’ll find you have things perfect on one part of the arc or maybe one crosshatch pattern but not on other parts of the arc, or maybe the other crosshatch. You’d think if you have both crosshatch patterns good, that you are automatically good everywhere else. Not so. I found that it you get the stylus exactly on the arc first at every point , you’ll be good on the crosshatch patterns too.

6. Don’t get frustrated. It can be done. Take a break or 2 if you need to. You’ll get it.
 
HiFi Guy said:
No problem. Here are some tips-

1. Get some blue or yellow painters tape. Tape the platter down so it doesn’t move. I used two pieces-one on the front, one on the left side.

2. Place the protractor on the platter. Move it around until the stylus is exactly on the arc. Tape the protractor to the mat.

3. Follow the included instructions.

4. When everything is right, you won’t be perfectly on the arc as you get very close to the spindle. That’s ok. The label is there on the record anyway. You’ll be perfect everywhere else.

5. As I’ve said, it’s fiddly. You’ll find you have things perfect on one part of the arc or maybe one crosshatch pattern but not on other parts of the arc, or maybe the other crosshatch. You’d think if you have both crosshatch patterns good, that you are automatically good everywhere else. Not so. I found that it you get the stylus exactly on the arc first at every point , you’ll be good on the crosshatch patterns too.

6. Don’t get frustrated. It can be done. Take a break or 2 if you need to. You’ll get it.
Click to expand...
I'll keep a cold beer nearby. Thanks again.
I feel like the shibata is a really nice match with the G.
Interested to see if I can take it a few degrees further with perfection.

The heavier Technics mat has been nice. Feels pretty secure to the platter.
 
Jbraswell said:
I'll keep a cold beer nearby. Thanks again.
I feel like the shibata is a really nice match with the G.
Interested to see if I can take it a few degrees further with perfection.

The heavier Technics mat has been nice. Feels pretty secure to the platter.
Click to expand...
I agree. I’ve moved back to the SAE, which has been verified by microscope to be a Shibata.

It’s now close between the Grado and the SAE. The SAE doesn’t play quite deep in the bass, but is better at digging out ambient information. It’s also richer sounding in the midrange.

If I had to choose one, it’d be the SAE.
 
HiFi Guy said:
I agree. I’ve moved back to the SAE, which has been verified by microscope to be a Shibata.

It’s now close between the Grado and the SAE. The SAE doesn’t play quite deep in the bass, but is better at digging out ambient information. It’s also richer sounding in the midrange.

If I had to choose one, it’d be the SAE.
Click to expand...
Whoa, the SAE isn't an elliptical? It's actually a Shibata? What an amazing bargain for $99
 
kvetcha said:
There’s always re-tipping!

Also, anecdotally, people seem about 50/50 on which of the two SAE carts they prefer. Neither one is a dog.
Click to expand...
I hadn’t crossed my mind to buy one of each. I bought 2 LTs for the longer stylus life and because they were the better deal.
 
HiFi Guy said:
I bought an inexpensive accessory for my Technics that I see as a “must have.” The good news it’s it’s less than $30.

It’s an arc protractor especially for the 1200 series. It’s the same alignment that the factory jig strives for but is far more accurate. The jig gets you close. The arc protractor gets the alignment perfect. It has two grids and an arc before and after the grids. The idea is to have the stylus land perfectly in both grids and trace the arc perfectly without moving either the platter or the protractor. Honestly it’s fiddly. But so worth it. Both the SAE 1000LT the Grado Gold sit a bit father back in the headshell now.

Anyone that has read my posts since Christmas knows I’m smitten with the SAE- it’s shown the Grado the door- it showed up and told the Grado to kick rocks. I thought the SAE sounded even better, but thought it just might be confirmation bias. So I put the Grado back on and I’ve been happily spinning with it for an hour.

This is the cheapest upgrade you can get. Just be patient and be prepared to give up some time. Each cartridge took about an hour.

www.thevinylsource.co.uk

Arc Protractor for Technics SL-1200G/GR/GLE/GLD/LTD/GAE SL-1210GR/SL-Qx series | vinyl

For sale, a high precision arc protractor for cartridge alignment.This protractor is made of 3mm High Glossy Black Acrylic Perspex, high-precision laser cut and engraved.The arc protractor is the most accurate protractors for cartridge alignment; this one is designed for the following Technics...
www.thevinylsource.co.uk www.thevinylsource.co.uk
Click to expand...
Was this a better, easier or just cheaper solution for you than the Feickert protractor? I may be upgrading my turntable soon, so I'm considering alignment options that are more model specific than the GeoDisc. Is this arc protractor better than a GeoDisc?
 
The Dr. Fiekert aligns to Stevenson, Baerwald or Lofgren. The Technics factory alignment is similar to Stevenson but not identical.

I’ve always used Baerwald. It shows the lowest distortion across the entire playing surface. When I had the GR, @AnthonyI and I both listened and came to the conclusion that the Technics alignment sounded best.

The factory plastic jig has a margin of error. The arc protractor doesn’t. Also the protractor takes stylus pressure into account. The factory jig doesn’t.

The Geodisc is Baerwald only.
 
Angsty said:
Was this a better, easier or just cheaper solution for you than the Feickert protractor? I may be upgrading my turntable soon, so I'm considering alignment options that are more model specific than the GeoDisc. Is this arc protractor better than a GeoDisc?
Click to expand...
The one thing the Feikert does really well and burries the GeoDisc in is hitting the exact pivot point of the arm. I struggled with that with the Geo, I'm sure it wasn't perfect most times, but with how the Doc works, you are 100% on that pivot point which is the make or break of the alignment.
 
AnthonyI said:
The one thing the Feikert does really well and burries the GeoDisc in is hitting the exact pivot point of the arm. I struggled with that with the Geo, I'm sure it wasn't perfect most times, but with how the Doc works, you are 100% on that pivot point which is the make or break of the alignment.
Click to expand...
I always used a straight edge on the raised part of the Geodisc to the pivot. Easy on a Technics. Not so much on a MoFi.
 
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