The toppermost of these pictures does not looked properley aligned tome (making an assumption that the outer edge of the headshell is at 90 degrees to the front edge.
Camera. Sighting down from above with a magnifying glass they are all extremely close
This is great news. Thanks to Naim for quick follow up
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Of Jasonās pictures? If so, remember that the unusual shape of the headshell can appear to be a bit misleading here.
The centre mount should align with the centre line and the edges of the slots likewise with the outer lines. The armtube itself should be dead centre of the tube alignment lines, and the spindle to pivot line exactly in line with the pivot. And of course it must be done with the mat and the LP in place otherwise it will be slightly out.
Naā¦itās wrong.
Incidentally, this is all 2-D geomety, as long as the (single) eye line is absolutely directly above the parameter being considered. The LP and mat then become irrelevant. In the picture, the R end of the line of the front of the headshell is too high.
In the pictures with the DV as far as I can tell and assuming that the stylus is at the correct point, the alignment looks good (to me).
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Iām not sure what you mean there. The mat and LP will have an effect on the armās angle which could put you out by a tiny bit.
Jason has likely set up more turntables than I even I have over the years, so until I can get hands on with one, if heās happy itās right then Iām happy to go with that. Certainly the pictures he sent look spot on to me.
Richard, if we start with the assumption that correct alignment is important for best performance, it seems rather alarming that there is scope to fix the arm board in such a way that the alignment is then incorrect. Is this fixing of the arm board something that is done at the factory, or by the dealer or even the customer? Given that the cartridge has a three point fixing, if the arm board is wonky then the only way to correct the problem is to attach the cartridge with only two of the screws, therefore doing away with the benefits of the three point fixing. Surely a fully competent design should not have this scope for error? It hardly inspires confidence.
Donāt be fooled by the headshell looking shifted over - itās just the shape - or the headshell lift which is not quite perfectly centred (likely down to the holes being slightly bigger than the screws). Look at the outer edges of the slots and the centre mount hole and they look in perfect line. Also the armtube looks nicely centred as you canāt see the lines or any deviation.
No. The vertical height has no influence in the lateral plane geometry.
For example, changing an angle in the vertical plane will not change an angle in the lateral planes.
My understanding is that the alignment should be with the outer edges of the slots, not the external sides of the headshell. Thereās a bit of an optical illusion created by the non-parallel sides of the headshell but the alignment relative to the slots looks OK, no?
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Nigel, I canāt fully answer that as I have not yet had a chance to use the deck - Iām just passing on Jasonās advice. I donāt think itās a case of a āwonkyā armboard at all just the need for careful assembly and care when tightening up the top of the board to the base. Apart from that I would have to defer to Jasonā¦
Iām not talking about the lateral plane. Iām talking about overall alignment - getting the stylus in the right spot. There, arm height and angle of the arm will have an effect.
Agreeā¦but the changes will be absolutely miniscule.
Thanks Richard. I guess the problem is that if the arm is not attached spot on, then you only find out that itās not right when you use the protractor. Assuming that an owner would want to use all three screws, then the only way to get alignment right is to make adjustments to the mounting of the arm on the deck, which seems far from ideal. I seem to recall pictures that show the deck coming without the arm attached and that some customers have fitted the arm themselves.
Whether any of this makes the slightest difference in the real world is something else entirely and presumably itās something that applies to all Clearaudio decks and not just the Solstice. If thatās the case itās highly likely that itās the reddest of red herrings.
Nigel I think taking care in assembly and setup applies to any and all decks. Some of course arrive with everything or almost everything already assembled - your Rega I guess? Others require a bit of assembly, some come like a kit. We are always being shown just how critical painstaking assembly of some decks makes or breaks them. Some require the magic dealer touch to really come together properly. I think by comparison the Solstice appears quite straightforward. However, Iāll let you know what I think about then when I get to assemble one for myself.
It would however mirror how one adjusted alignment on the original Aro with the LP12 armboard and a tiny amount of play on the interface with the subchassis.
To be honest, with any of the other 3pt mounting arrangements (Regaās and Linnās come to mind) there is still at least a tiny amount of play introduced by the headshell holes for the cartridge bolts. Iād always expect dealers to check for this when assembling anny turntable.
Yes, my Rega came fully assembled. Iāve no idea whether there is any scope for movement in the arm mounting into the body of the deck. It came without a cartridge because I already had one, but I then swapped to the Apheta 3 and fitted it myself. As @ricsimas rightly says above, there is a bit of wiggle room even with three bolts, so I used Regaās supplied protractor to get it spot on. I do wonder how much difference a couple of degrees here and there actually makes, especially as there are so many variables at play, and whether some of this is merely overcomplicating things.
One on orderā¦ā¦you deserve itš
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