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Cartridge setup done (for now)


USNRET

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So I bought a Basis 2001 TT, Graham arm and Ortofon 2M Black back last summer and used the supplied Graham tool to install the cart. I was not pleased but life went on.

Recently I ordered a Mint LP protractor and finally got around to trying it out today. With my old eyes, paralax vision and shakey hands it was a bit of a task but got the cartridge reasonably close in about 45 minutes and threw on a 'record'. The difference was night and day.

 Sweet!

 

http://mintlp.com/best.htm

 

I'll borrow an o'scope from work and run the ultimate test LP to set azimuth, the Fozgometer has it close.

Edited by USNRET
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I still have an anti-skating issue. Counter weight all the way to the top I still have too much pull to the outside of LP. ?? Am I confused? Which way (up or down) reduces pull to the outside?

 

Not my photo, my weight is all the way to top.

post-19886-0-69300000-1424642496_thumb.j

Edited by USNRET
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Damn, Michael!

I just figured out that I needed a phono stage and you are talking about azimuth, anti-skate....

Give me a break. I hope the owner of the place I bought this from knew what he was doing. BTW, I hooked it up to my NBS/VRD's just now and it works (but then again, how would I know?)

Edited by eth2
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I still have an anti-skating issue. Counter weight all the way to the top I still have too much pull to the outside of LP. ?? Am I confused? Which way (up or down) reduces pull to the outside?  

What do you mean exactly by the "counterweight"?  Ane what do you mean by "up" and "down"?  It's been a while since I worked on a Graham arm, but, judging from your photo, it slides either (1) back, toward the back of the table and toward the arm's pivot, or it slides (2) forward, further away from the pivot and toward the front of the table.  I don't get the "up" and "down".

 

Sliding it further away from the pivot increases the A/S force, and thus causes it to tend to skate outward.  Sliding it in reduces the A/S force and can aggravate the inward skate. 

 

Basically, I'm puzzled because the natural pull is INWARD when you drop the needle down into the groove.  You can only set it to "skate" outward if you apply too much A/S.

 

Did you get instructions?  Can you download them from the Graham website?  IIRC, each little notch on the A/S slider is 0.5 g., but I may be thinking of another arm.

 

Anyway, A/S is often very non-critical, so I'd suggest sliding it 3 clicks away from the pivot (est. for 2.0? gm.) and see how that works.

 

Now, VERY CRITICAL:  level your TT!  an outward tilt will definitely make the arm skate outward.  Do that the very next thing.  If necessary, go to your local hardware store and get one of those 6" or 8" levels.  Level the plinth and the plate.

 

Tell us what you're doing and how it's coming along!

 

Larry

Edited by LarryC
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What do you mean exactly by the "counterweight"? Ane what do you mean by "up" and "down"? It's been a while since I worked on a Graham arm, but, judging from your photo, it slides either (1) back, toward the back of the table and toward the arm's pivot, or it slides (2) forward, further away from the pivot and toward the front of the table. I don't get the "up" and "down".

Up = In = Back and Down = Out = Forward as the A/S counterweight slides at an angle

I have it adjusted full up/in/back as near the pivot as I can and if I let the tone arm down on the lead-in groove it will slide off the album; I must ensure that I let it down in the grooves. TT is level. Tracking force 1.46 gm.

I sent an email to Graham without response.

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Damn, Michael!

I just figured out that I needed a phono stage and you are talking about azimuth, anti-skate....

Give me a break. I hope the owner of the place I bought this from knew what he was doing. BTW, I hooked it up to my NBS/VRD's just now and it works (but then again, how would I know?)

Don't panic, man.  Yes, one can get very anal about setup and they do need to be done carefully.  However, I eyeballed mine without so much as a protractor for the first 20 years and they sounded fine.  As with many components, there are those who've trained themselves to hear what to most of us pure music heads are very small differences, and to them, these are much greater.  That's fine...equipment is a hobby and should be pursued to perfection.  But if your main interest is just great music you'll be fine.  When I set up my Scout I spent more time than usual and used a protractor...but it still was probably less than an hour from out of the box to plug and play.  I am happy as a clam.

 

Dave

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Counter weight all the way to the top I still have too much pull to the outside of LP. ?? Am I confused? Which way (up or down) reduces pull to the outside?  
OK, I suspect you mean the nylon thread loop is slid "all the way to the top", and that's where that item is supposed to be.

 

However, the A/S force is supplied by the counterweight, which slides along the horizontal item that's at a right angle to what the thread is attached to.  I think it just slides, although it might be secured by a hex screw.  It can slide forward, toward the front of the table and away from the arm's pivot, to all the way back, closest to the pivot. 

 

It sounds like you have too much A/S force, which means that counterweight is slid forward to the max.  Slide it back about half-way to the arm pivot.  As I recall, there are little notches, and I think it's one notch for each 0.5 gm. of tracking downforce.

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Nicely labeled pic.  I'm still confused by what you mean by all the way "up towards the thread."  That doesn't sound like the counterweight.

 

Anyway, the counterweight is the little cylinder that slides on the little arm that is "angled down," and I"m suggesting you slide it about half-way.  It looks about half-way in that pic.

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Nicely labeled pic.  I'm still confused by what you mean by all the way "up towards the thread."  That doesn't sound like the counterweight.

 

Anyway, the counterweight is the little cylinder that slides on the little arm that is "angled down," and I"m suggesting you slide it about half-way.  It looks about half-way in that pic.

Yes, exactly but this is NOT a picture of my setup (just copied from the interweb)I was trying a different way to explain where my 'little cylinder' is. It is all the way up / in towards where the thread is looped.

I think my next try will be to remove the weight (cylinder)completely

Edit: I found a better photo

post-19886-0-99020000-1424709049_thumb.j

Edited by USNRET
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Yes, exactly but this is NOT a picture of my setup (just copied from the interweb)I was trying a different way to explain where my 'little cylinder' is. It is all the way up / in towards where the thread is looped.

Still confusing.  I realize it's a pic off the web.

 

We may be talking past each other, since I'm not computing "up" toward the loop.

 

The little cylinder slides at a right angle to the thread.  There are two little arms at right angles to each other, one for the thread loop, and the other for the counterweight.

 

OK to discuss this on the phone?  If so, you can either PM me your number, or call me.  I'll delete my no. from this post after we talk.

 

Larry

Edited by LarryC
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Larry did you see my last photo? The red arrow is pointing to where my counterweight is positioned. We are on the same page. My issue is that with the counterweight positioned to exert the least amount of anti-skating force the tone arm still tries to swing back towards the arm rest.

I have the number, you can delete it now.

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