Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Better alignment through technology: the SMARTractor

The commentary is in German but the visuals are excellent enough that they should be self-explanatory. The secret sauce is the proprietary Uni-Din alignment on offered which from what I can tell, is an original calculation designed to reflect the type of stylus and grooves found in modern stereo LP reproduction.  Not too sure I see what he sees at 1:28 but that might just be the camera. You know you want one, only $750 -- start saving :)



I requested a review sample but it seems this won't work out any time soon but I am assured these will be on display at RMAF in Denver. 

2 comments:

Brian Walsh said...

What you see at 1:28 is a view of the stylus and the alignment point (small indentation in the mirrored surface of the protractor) through the magnifier.

I just set up a cartridge for a customer using this. When the overhang is set correctly the stylus drops into the small indentation, almost like a golf ball going into the cup, except the cup is about the same size as the ball.

PatrickD said...

Thanks Brian -- that is very helpful. I admit, it looks like a great piece of kit but I'm getting good results with my AccuTrak (I should get a review of that done) so am not inclined to give that up yet.

Of course, using an SME V, there is some argument that any adjustment that alters the pivot-to-spindle measurement just throws all measurements into confusion so I'd not be getting the best value from the SMARTractor, but it's hard not to want one when you see it in action.

Anyway, thanks for taking the to outline what is going on in that set up. Feel free to tell us more anytime.