This is a really good question, variations of which I hear a lot, bravo for asking it.

The summary: cartridge alignment tools are typically setup tools, not measurement tools. These setup tools are designed for various unique tonearm setups and should therefore be used with the precise equipment they are designed to set up.

Cartridge alignment is a technical, but relatively straightforward process, once understood, but that’s the problem: cartridge alignment and tonearm-cartridge matching are some of the most misunderstood concepts in hi-fi. Alignment is based on math, so opinions about it are largely irrelevant. I’ve written more about the key parameters involved in cartridge and tonearm set-up, so check that out, also.

Rabbit-Holes

Before we go further, rabbit holes and those who dig them plague the world of hi-fi. The Dunning-Kruger effect is ever-present, yielding ‘experts’ at every turn, but proceed with caution. Many so-called experts have very little experience with and understanding of turntables, let alone own several endgame turntables, tone arms, cartridges, phono preamps, amplifiers, etc.

I’ve seen customers sucked into rabbit holes and disappear into the ‘matrix’ of misinformation, opinion and ‘gurus‘. Some return, having realised that the expert help they were seeking lies elsewhere, but it’s a learning curve. As a 15-year former science educator with an honours degree in science from a top-100 university, I’m here for those who want to learn and are seeking an experience and science-based approach. I make that point because it’s important: I don’t know of any other technical writer with that background.

Factory Alignment

Now, to the most important and yet most misunderstood point:

There is only one factory-correct alignment, and that’s one made to factory specifications.

Note: I’m not saying there is only one possible alignment; I’m saying there is only one factory-correct alignment, just like there is only one factory-correct specification for the wheel alignment of your car. This concept must be understood by anyone working with turntables, yet astonishingly, many folks don’t. Why? It’s like anything technical. Very few people properly understand technical details.

So what is a factory or manufacturer-specified alignment? It’s an alignment:

• Done exactly as the tonearm/turntable manufacturer recommends
• Made to exact, recommended specifications
• Achieved using a manufacturer-supplied alignment tool, overhang gauge, or protractor, or one that accurately replicates the original design and/or measurement capability.

Factory alignment usually involves setting the correct overhang and cartridge offset at one or two null points. This is most often achieved by setting a stylus tip distance with respect to the headshell-arm junction, which is how Denon, Kenwood, Sony, Technics and almost all manufacturers do it. They achieve this by supplying an overhang specification and/or a paper or plastic gauge or protractor that is unique for the arm.

I use manufacturer-specified alignments and tools wherever possible because the design engineers knew what they were doing, and I like to honour those design decisions. In rare cases where the original set-up data and/or tools are not available, I’ll select (or make) an alignment tool appropriate for the job, based on the arm design, its specifications and experience aligning and calibrating thousands of turntables, tonearms and cartridges.

Confusion

Cartridge alignment involves setting the precise geometric and positional relationship of a cartridge in a tonearm. This ensures correct geometry as the stylus traverses the surface of a record. The stylus describes an arc of a precise radius as it moves, calculated to yield the best (or a particular) total area under the curve distortion result.

The factory-prescribed alignment is designed to generate the lowest distortion at a significant place on the record surface, often an outer track, or the inner grooves, where distortion tends to be higher. Change the radius or this arc and/or angle of the cartridge, ie its alignment, not to mention tracking force, anti-skate and VTA, and you will change the result, and how the turntable sounds.

I must mention that most owners shouldn’t be aligning cartridges. This is simply because it’s a technical process that requires some knowledge, tools and experience to complete successfully.

Generic Tools

When a cartridge is correctly factory aligned, it may appear misaligned when checked with any of the multitudes of cartridge protractors and alignment gauges available. If you align a cartridge with a Shure paper alignment gauge, for example, when you check with a factory tool, the alignment will very likely appear wrong.

Why? Because those others are the wrong tools for the job. The simple answer is that each tool delivers a different alignment. Don’t expect five different alignment tools and methods to get you the same alignment because they won’t. None of them may be correct for your deck.

A generic paper gauge “designed for every turntable” (which is technically impossible) cannot render the correct factory-specified alignment for many turntables. Generic tools deliver generic alignments, approximations based on a ‘generic’ tonearm length, unspecified alignment geometry, mounting distance and type of alignment. A factory-supplied template, tool or protractor, on the other hand, is designed to give the precise alignment specified for your deck/arm.

An example some might better understand would be getting a car wheel alignment done using data from the wrong vehicle. This happened to me years ago when I took my car to a supposed wheel alignment specialist who had no idea what they were doing. My car’s wheels were technically ‘aligned’, just to the specifications for a different model vehicle! idiots!

Generic protractors have a role to play in ‘quick and dirty’ alignments and work well in situations they were designed for, but there is no substitute for the correct factory alignment, tools, or a custom-made gauge specified with factory alignment parameters for your deck.

Multiple Alignment Syndrome

There are three common alignments – Baervald, Lofgren and Stevenson alignments – each yielding measurably different total ‘area under the curve’ distortion. Your arm will likely use one of these alignments. These alignments each sound different, some good, some not so good and random owner and retailer-made alignments can sound bad!

Which alignment is correct in your case? The factory alignment is technically the correct alignment, as the designers intended. It is always best set with a factory gauge, protractor or tool, or a precisely calculated and printed arc-type protractor. Other alignments are possible as we’ve discussed, but in my opinion, it’s preferable to stick with the factory-specified alignment.

Now, it’s technically true that one can improve on some alignments, in certain circumstances, but this is tweaker’s territory. Some alignments (Stevenson) are designed to perform best on 45s and on the inner grooves of 12-inch vinyl, where classical music crescendos often appear. Is it worth deviating beyond factory recommendations for most users, though? No.

Of the 1000+ turntables I’ve worked on over the years, only a handful have been correctly set up. Every turntable leaves Liquid Audio correctly set up, per the manufacturer’s specifications.

Summary

• A phono cartridge must be correctly aligned for maximum/predicted performance
• Correct alignment refers to setting cartridge overhang and offset, azimuth, VTA, tracking force and anti-skate
• The best alignment is usually the manufacturer-specified alignment, made with the factory-supplied tools
• Deviations from a correct manufacturer-specified alignment should only be made by those who understand the technical implications of doing so and can accurately assess/measure the alignment and any changes made to it.
• Don’t ‘believe’ this or think you know better? Dunning-Kruger is real, trust me on this.

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