UNI-Protractor - Acessório para vinil
Matriz para alinhamento profissional de braço/célula.
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Compra 100% Segura
Descrição
It is about getting the very best possible from a given cartridge / tonearm combination. To get that, the best possible geometrical set-up and alignment is the very first step. What is lost here to imperfect alignment can’t be recovered anywhere else in the audio chain.
Any cartridge’s stylus should track the groove with as little error as possible. The SMARTractor and UNI-Protractor were designed to ensure exactly that.
Now what then is so difficult in setting the "record straight" - i.e. aligning the cartridge’s stylus and the tonearm to do its job?
The difficulty lies in the dimensions.
We are entering the first microcosmos here and go well past the boundaries of human visibility.
Smallest errors – hardly noticeable to the mere eye – have huge impacts here. A good phono front end shall produce clear sound, reveal the most tiny detail in a recorded performance and by doing so can create a fascinating sonic and emotional experience.
Tracking distortions, blurred dynamics, aggressive yet thin highs and a constrained soundstage do not add positive to that experience. But it is not that much about huge and immediately apparent sonic dissonances resulting from set-up faults.
Any cartridge’s stylus should track the groove with as little error as possible. The SMARTractor and UNI-Protractor were designed to ensure exactly that.
Now what then is so difficult in setting the "record straight" - i.e. aligning the cartridge’s stylus and the tonearm to do its job?
The difficulty lies in the dimensions.
We are entering the first microcosmos here and go well past the boundaries of human visibility.
Smallest errors – hardly noticeable to the mere eye – have huge impacts here. A good phono front end shall produce clear sound, reveal the most tiny detail in a recorded performance and by doing so can create a fascinating sonic and emotional experience.
Tracking distortions, blurred dynamics, aggressive yet thin highs and a constrained soundstage do not add positive to that experience. But it is not that much about huge and immediately apparent sonic dissonances resulting from set-up faults.
I want to illustrate the point by adapting the dimensions to our every-day world. A modern stylus does feature a polished area – and it is actually that area alone which should have contact to the groove’s wall – of 1-2 µm by 5-6 µm.
That is 1-2 millionth of a meter ...
A 12" tonearm is approximately 300 mm effective length.
That is 1-2 millionth of a meter ...
A 12" tonearm is approximately 300 mm effective length.
Now what if we have an error of say one tiny 0.5 mm ... just half a millimeter ... away from the calculated point of zero tangential error? No big deal and well within the tolerances of many alignment templates.
Most "sweet spots" on templates are already up to double that figure in diameter.
Most "sweet spots" on templates are already up to double that figure in diameter.
Now let us transform those dimensions to our real world scale. We simply amplify every figure in the tonearm and stylus by 1000x to illustrate the relations.
Características
Enlarge everything by x 1000 ...
Now the tonearm is 300 meter long.
The cartridge now has the size of a big 4-family house.
The stylus is as large as a VW van.
And the polished area of the cartridge ? It is now still only 1-2 mm by 5-6 mm.
And that tiny pin-point is hanging at the tip of a 300 meter long tonearm !!
That 0.5 mm error we were talking about is now 50 cm - or ½ meter - off the perfect line.
50 cm = 500 mm - off with a contact area of 2 x 6 mm ........
We are not just missing the correct "street address", but are actually several blocks away from where we wanted to arrive.
0.5 mm off means in fact we are totally lost .....
In analog phono reproduction great expenses are made to get perfect sound. Starting with the most precise and correct possible alignment – a pure mechanical issue – seems not only advisable, but vital for true high-end sonic performance.
What is lost here is nowhere to be found or can be restored again.
The SMARTractor and UNI-Protractor were designed to ensure the most precise alignment of any given tonearm and cartridge.
Now the tonearm is 300 meter long.
The cartridge now has the size of a big 4-family house.
The stylus is as large as a VW van.
And the polished area of the cartridge ? It is now still only 1-2 mm by 5-6 mm.
And that tiny pin-point is hanging at the tip of a 300 meter long tonearm !!
That 0.5 mm error we were talking about is now 50 cm - or ½ meter - off the perfect line.
50 cm = 500 mm - off with a contact area of 2 x 6 mm ........
We are not just missing the correct "street address", but are actually several blocks away from where we wanted to arrive.
0.5 mm off means in fact we are totally lost .....
In analog phono reproduction great expenses are made to get perfect sound. Starting with the most precise and correct possible alignment – a pure mechanical issue – seems not only advisable, but vital for true high-end sonic performance.
What is lost here is nowhere to be found or can be restored again.
The SMARTractor and UNI-Protractor were designed to ensure the most precise alignment of any given tonearm and cartridge.