There continues to be confusion among audiophiles on how to properly align your cartridge on its azimuth. In this article, we will:
Explain azimuth and why it should be optimized
Share two common (but mistaken) ways in which it is often aligned
Demonstrate using a video why the only way to align azimuth is by electrical measurements
Offer an easy and inexpensive method to measure for ideal azimuth angle
What is Azimuth Angle?
Imagine you are miniaturized, standing on your record and looking straight on at the front face of the cartridge. Now picture that cartridge leaning to the left or right while the stylus remains fixed in the groove. A cartridge tilted on its azimuth angle looks similar to how a boat leans to its port or starboard side if there is too much weight on one side of the boat. In a perfect world, we would simply have the top of the cartridge perfectly level to achieve the proper setting
Why Should We Care To Optimize Azimuth Angle?
Aligning your cartridge on its azimuth axis is how we maximize the stereo separation between channels. Who wants the left channel's signal playing in the right channel and vice versa? Certainly not us!
However, in vinyl playback there is always SOME leakage from one channel to the other channel. Given a record groove in which only the left channel is modulated (that's the inner portion of the groove / the part of the "V" shaped groove closest to the spindle) and the right channel is completely smooth (unmodulated) you will get plenty of signal from the left channel speaker, but you will also get a small amount of that same signal being heard through the right channel. This effect is called channel crosstalk.
By BALANCING the crosstalk between channels, we will achieve the largest possible soundstage, the finest pinpoint imaging and overall "realism" will improve. When we have balanced our crosstalk between channels we will have done so by finding our cartridge's ideal azimuth angle.
There is another component to ideal azimuth angle having to do with signal phase relationships, but this is more an artifact of the zenith angle being less than ideal (and to a lesser extent, rake angle) and not as much to do with azimuth angle. This will be a subject of a future WallySchool! article.
Setting Azimuth Visually - WRONG!
Many audiophiles are still under the impression that the way to align the cartridge for best azimuth is to visually ensure the cantilever is perfectly perpendicular to the record surface. It is common to use a mirror for this in order to increase your sensitivity to the angle by a factor of two.
If the cartridge manufacturer AND the company that made the stylus/cantilever assembly for the cartridge manufacturer (they are often NOT one in the same) had BOTH done their job perfectly then this method would be perfectly fine. Unfortunately, it is quite rare for this to be the case - and it is fair and reasonable that it should be so since all mechanical assemblies must have a tolerance for parts alignment - yet it could be easily and effectively argued that current industry tolerances are too large for fine-line contact styli.
In any case, the visual method isn't even a good one to ensure the cantilever is perfectly vertical unless you have a way to also remove parallax error. Imagine you are looking at what appears to be a truly vertical cantilever and its reflection in a mirror. If you were to then move the position of your eye a couple degrees to the right or left it would suddenly appear to have lost its perfect verticality. You then change the azimuth angle so it looks perfectly vertical from that position.
So, which position for your eye was the TRUE position that eliminated parallax error and therefore offered you the best position for your eye from which to determine true verticality? Without a reference to eliminate parallax error, it is hopeless.
Besides, you will soon see that the ideal azimuth angle has NOTHING at all do with the cantilever nor the stylus.
Setting Azimuth Using Mono Signal - WRONG!
Another common method is to play a mono signal and invert one channel's inputs in an effort to find the azimuth angle that gives the lowest monophonic output. Unfortunately, this has NOTHING to do with maximizing channel separation and everything to do with balancing the output between channels. If you are doing this, please STOP!
It's The Groove And The Coils!
As you will see in this video, ideal azimuth is determined solely by the relationship between the 45-degree groove walls and the coil assemblies in the cartridge motor.
Depending upon the coil bobbin/cantilever assembly construction type, manufacturers typically have between a 1.5 to 3.0 degree tolerance for the alignment of the coils on the cantilever. This means that your cartridge/headshell may have to be up to 3 degrees off level in order to get the biggest possible soundstage, best imaging and overall greatest sense of musical “coherency”.
I GOTTA HAVE IT! How To Do It?
We are currently working on the next WallyTool that will allow for both azimuth and zenith error measurements, but for now the easiest and cheapest method has already been shared by Michael Fremer on Analog Planet HERE. Check it out!
Below are two documents that will make Mr. Fremer's method a bit easier for you.
If you have Microsoft Excel, this worksheet will make things even easier as it will do the V-dB conversions and channel comparisons automatically.
What About The Stylus?
How the stylus sits in the groove doesn't have any direct bearing on maximizing stereo separation. It's a shocker, we know, but this old saw needs to be put out to pasture.
How the stylus sits in the groove on its own angle (let's call it "lateral stylus orientation") influences how well it tracks in the groove (and one other thing that WAM Engineering will be researching). After seeing the video above we hope this much is clear to you.
Here is the illustration of "lateral stylus orientation" - which happens to be how azimuth for maximum stereo separation is often INCORRECTLY represented visually:
Since the stylus is typically not perfectly aligned on the cantilever and since the cantilever itself can be twisted relative to the coil alignment, aligning for proper stylus orientation will have no direct impact on maximizing stereo separation.
How much is TOO MUCH azimuth angle? See our other WallySchool! article HERE.
As always, WallyTools owners may simply email or call us with any questions!
ENJOY ANALOG FOREVER! - Wally Malewicz
Why measure at the speaker terminal? Why not right from the riaa output?
To put it simply, you want the lowest reading in the unmodulated channel. Once you adjust the cartridge to give you the lowest reading in each unmodulated channel you have then created the best scenario for the widest soundstage your cartridge is capable of giving you. This guarantees you the unmodulated coil is not moving, as in your animated video.
I use the Fozgometer and pay attention to the analog meter needle and play tracks 2 and 3 of the AP Ultimate Test LP, I unplug the modulated RCA channel. Then adjust so that the needle is sitting on or as close to ZERO as possible.
I have also tried MF method with a DVM and calculated crosstalk to about…
I love the 3D video demonstration of the channels, very well made and clear, will link to it in the future. But to me the meaning of Azimuth and the importance behind it is to get the stylus in the right angle as I care most about tracking ability / record longevity. Especially since I prefer finer shapes with more contact area. This can only be set right visually as I understand it. This is about minimizing cross talk, which is fine, but that is a different matter from Azimuth which to me is about physical angles alone.