Dr Feickert Protractor

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D

Deleted member 108165

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Well, been playing with this for about a week now and can highly recommend this nifty gadget. It's a little on the expensive side and is probably really only worth half of the asking price, but I guess we all know that anything related to hi-fi will always incur a hefty mark-up. But to put this into perspective this is still only the price of a semi-decent MM cartridge upgrade, so if you have an expensive cart fitted then this is a reasonable outlay.

Cartridge set-up is a doddle using this. I had initially set the cartridge (MP300) using the recommended overhang stated by Marantz, this produced pleasing results but it could not pass the 3rd bias track on the HFN Test LP without distortion. Using the Baerwald setting on the Feikert protractor I found I was miles out with my original setting, once corrected this now breezes through 3rd bias track with ease. The only problem is that the bass has been measurably reduced with this setting... strange... any ideas why this would be so?

I do like the MP300 but trying to eye-ball the stylus on the cross-hairs during the set-up stage is a right pita as it is mounted so far under the cartridge. I'll give the Nag a good run to see if it beefs up, the detail is all there, it just sounds a little anaemic at the moment.
 

Petherick

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Oct 29, 2008
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May be a daft and possibly slightly insulting question but have you re-adjusted the tracking weight since the change in alignment? This may affect the bass response.
 
An interesting write up. I was considering getting one of these protractors myself but the cost dissuaded me as the protector that came with the deck is of good quality.

Regarding the loss of bass, I suppose you have looked at the Vertical Tracking angle since realignment.
 
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Deleted member 108165

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Cheers to all. VTA and VTF has been adjusted and checked to suit the Baerwald setting. Currently running the Nag in the middle of its VTF setting at 1.55 grams.
 
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Had some time to contemplate your replies; so this afternoon I increased the VTF to 1.8 grams and hey presto the bass presence is back where it was *fool* but sounding much sweeter than before *biggrin*

Like anything once the initial euphoria of a new deck wears off and you start to pursue the ocd route of perfecting the set-up it is both amazing and confusing how small adjustments can have such a significant effect to the overall presentation. Add to this the fact that the Nag only has about 10 hours on it and I guess things can only get better form here on in. Cheers guys.
 
DougK said:
Had some time to contemplate your replies; so this afternoon I increased the VTF to 1.8 grams and hey presto the bass presence is back where it was *fool* but sounding much sweeter than before *biggrin*

Like anything once the initial euphoria of a new deck wears off and you start to pursue the ocd route of perfecting the set-up it is both amazing and confusing how small adjustments can have such a significant effect to the overall presentation. Add to this the fact that the Nag only has about 10 hours on it and I guess things can only get better form here on in. Cheers guys.

Excellent news. Small adjustments can make a big difference with such sensitive pick-ups. As a rule of thumb I have generally found that most cartridges perform better towards the top end of their suggested tracking force range so I tend to start at the top then gradually back off the weight.
 
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Deleted member 108165

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Today I found out the real culprit behind the loss of bass. It was me!

I had the two turntables connected to the amp via a splitter so I could run both on the same phono input. Whilst playing with the carts today I unplugged the Pioneer, removed the splitter, and wired the Marantz directly to the amp.... what a difference!! (I had completely forgotten that I had connected the splitter just before I started using the protractor *dash1*). All I can say is that the splitter I bought was not very good *biggrin*

Another learning experience....
 
DougK said:
Today I found out the real culprit behind the loss of bass. It was me!

I had the two turntables connected to the amp via a splitter so I could run both on the same phono input. Whilst playing with the carts today I unplugged the Pioneer, removed the splitter, and wired the Marantz directly to the amp.... what a difference!! (I had completely forgotten that I had connected the splitter just before I started using the protractor *dash1*). All I can say is that the splitter I bought was not very good *biggrin*

Another learning experience....

A clear case of keep-it-simple. :)
 

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