Cartridge alignment protractor

Universal protractors, ready to print

Two-point protractors that fit any turntable. No sign-up, free to share; link to this page rather than to the files.

• Baerwald (Löfgren A) · IEC · A4 (PDF) · Letter (PDF)
• Löfgren B · IEC · A4 (PDF) · Letter (PDF)
• Stevenson · IEC · A4 (PDF) · Letter (PDF)

How to align a cartridge with a printed protractor

You need the printed sheet, a small screwdriver for the cartridge screws, and good light. A magnifier, or your phone camera zoomed in, makes the cantilever easier to see.

1. Print at the right size. In the print dialog choose 100 % or Actual size and switch off "Fit to page". On an iPhone or iPad, save the PDF to Files and print from there. Then lay any bank card or ID card on the box at the bottom of the sheet: if its edges match the outline, the scale is right.
2. Fit it on the spindle. Cut the spindle hole a little smaller than the circle with a craft knife and press the sheet down over the spindle, so it turns without play. Put it on the mat you play records on, not on the bare platter: the mat sets the height.
3. Set tracking force first. Balance the arm and set the tracking force your cartridge maker gives, so the stylus rests on the paper the way it rests on a record. Loosen the cartridge screws just enough that the cartridge slides with a little friction.
4. Set the overhang. Swing the arm over the spindle and lower the stylus. On the arc protractor it has to land on the overhang mark, where the arc passes the spindle. If it lands beyond the mark, slide the cartridge back towards the pivot; if it stops short, slide it forward. Then turn the sheet and lower the stylus at a few more points: it should follow the arc all the way out.
5. Set the angle at both null points. Lower the stylus onto the dot of the inner null point. Look straight down with one eye closed and twist the cartridge until the cantilever, the thin tube that holds the stylus, runs parallel to the long lines. Do the same at the outer null point. If it is parallel at one point and not the other, the overhang is off: go back one step.
6. Tighten and check again. Tighten the two screws a little at a time, in turn. Tightening often twists the cartridge slightly, so lower the stylus on both null points once more.

With the two-point protractor there is no arc and no overhang mark: you set overhang and angle at the same time, moving and twisting the cartridge until the cantilever is parallel to the lines at both null points.

Baerwald, Löfgren B or Stevenson?

A pivoted arm swings in an arc, so the stylus is exactly tangent to the groove at only two radii: the null points. Everywhere else it sits at a small angle, the tracking error, and the distortion that angle causes grows as the groove gets closer to the label. The three alignments use the same arm and the same cartridge. They only choose where the two null points go, which decides where the error ends up.

Baerwald (Löfgren A)

Makes the distortion peaks equal at the start of the side, in the middle and at the end. It is the default here and the geometry most printed protractors use.

Löfgren B

Gives the lowest average distortion over the whole side, paid for with a little more at the first and last grooves. It needs the most overhang of the three.

Stevenson

Puts the inner null point on the last groove, where distortion is worst, and accepts more error in the middle and outer part. It needs the least overhang of the three.

The chart in the generator draws all three for your arm. For a typical 215 mm pivot-to-spindle distance, the difference between Baerwald and Löfgren B is smaller than what half a millimetre of overhang or half a degree of twist costs: careful setting matters more than the choice of geometry.

Some makers publish their own geometry. The Technics SL-1200MK7 manual gives 15 mm overhang and a 22° offset angle, which puts that arm's null points near 58.8 mm and 113.5 mm: closer to Stevenson than to Baerwald. It is a valid alignment too. If your headshell has no room to move the cartridge, keep the factory setting.

IEC or DIN?

Two standards for where the music on an LP may start and end. Both put the outer groove at 146.05 mm from the centre. IEC puts the innermost groove at 60.325 mm, DIN at 57.5 mm, so DIN null points sit slightly further in. IEC is the usual choice. Pick DIN if many of your records play almost to the label. JIS, the Japanese standard, is not offered: we could not find its figures in the standard itself, and we did not want to print numbers taken from a forum.

Arc or two-point protractor?

The two-point protractor needs no turntable data, but you set overhang and angle together, by trial. The arc protractor splits the job into two steps (overhang first, then angle) and is quicker to get right, but it is drawn for one pivot-to-spindle distance. If you measure that distance yourself, measure from the centre of the spindle to the centre of the tonearm pivot to within half a millimetre: an error there goes straight into the overhang.

Tonearm figures from the makers

The turntables in the generator, with the figures their makers print. Pivot-to-spindle is effective length minus overhang.

Your turntable is not on the list?

Look in the specifications at the back of the manual. Most give effective length and overhang: pivot-to-spindle is effective length minus overhang. Some print the pivot-to-spindle (or "mounting") distance directly. Choose "My turntable is not listed" and type in what you have. We only add a turntable to the list when its maker publishes these figures, and every one of them links to the document it came from.

Turntables that do not need a protractor

If the cartridge is built into the arm, or the maker says it cannot be changed, there is nothing to adjust: the factory has already fixed where the stylus sits. The same goes for arms made for P-mount (T4P) cartridges, which lock the stylus position by design. On these decks a worn stylus is replaced, and the alignment comes with it.

Turntables on our list with a fixed cartridge:

• Audio-Technica AT-LP60X
• Audio-Technica AT-LP70X
• Crosley Cruiser
• Sony PS-LX310BT
• Victrola Journey