Got my cartridges all set up again. I had my two stereo cartridges mounted, but wanted to return to stereo + mono. I also wanted to re-dress the head shell leads and tighten the fasteners onto the cartridge pins a bit (the Lyra pins seem very slightly smaller in diameter than the Dynavector).
It’s all done, but here is the SMARTtractor in action…
The smarttractor is my go-to for a few years now. Nothing more satisfying than seeing the tip ‘plonk’ onto the minute identation on the tractor. Goldfinger is easy . Koetsu & all carts with slightly recessed cantilevers are nightmares
Sounding particularly good today. Better than the NDS even. Not technically but emotionally. And it seems the record player is a better match with the 252 than the 82. Also I accidentally installed Neotech Nemoi 3220 RCA interconnects, very good.
Bicycle torque wrenches won’t work. The range starts too high to be useful for cartridges. Mine is 3-15Nm and the smallest hex bit for it is M3. They run about $125 (Park Tool, PRO, Feedback Sports). I have the PRO and use it all the time (on my five bicycles).
My latest upgrade, a new cartridge (well new to me anyway, a great 2nd hand bargain) of a Dynavector XX2 and a move from MM to MC. Dramatic improvement in sound quality - more detail, clarity and bass.
The HiFi racks is good from an isolation perspective - the heavy shelves work really well. My criticism would be that the shelves are difficult to get level on 4 points - I’ve had a few that were rockers and needs tweaking before moving onto the next level