Ortofon Cartridge Alignment Tool

When aligning a cartridge for tangentiality using the alignment protractor, it is important to remember that you are trying to align the cantilever (and thus the stylus) and not the cartridge body. There is no guarantee that the cantilever is perfectly aligned within the cartridge body, so simply aligning the cartridge body does not necessarily yield the desired result.

Furthermore, many cartridge bodies have non-parallel sides, making it practically impossible to achieve tangential alignment of the cartridge body with the tangential lines on the protractor.

An alignment protractor is a plastic template on which the null points and tangential lines are printed, against which the cartridge is to be aligned. The template is placed over the spindle of the turntable and positioned against the platter.

The cartridge must be adjusted so that the cantilever runs parallel to the set of parallel lines. This should be achieved for both specified points. When the longitudinal axis of the cartridge is parallel to the horizontal lines, the tracking error is minimal.