I have an STD 305M and an SME series 3 tonearm.
Attached is a photo of an STD M with an SME series 3 arm, both just
like mine.
I have two protractors, one an SME and the other is a "cart align",
and each is so far off that mounting the arm base would require me
to glue the arm base rather than the normal mounting.
Need help in finding the correct protractor to mount the arm.
Rusty, Thank You for the manual link. Much appreciated.
Attached are photos of the SME Protractor I purchased, Top view of base,
and bottom view of base.
What I found was that the sme arm base is maximum forward, the gears also
have the arm as forward as possible and the cartridge looks perpendicular
to the LP. Maybe 1 or 2 degrees off.
Rusty Messages: 1188 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
Do you belong as a member to The Vinyl Engine? If not, join up. They have manuals for your turntable and many types of cartridge alignment protractors. And knowledgeable people there to ask questions. Excluding me. But I get by.
gofar99 Messages: 1949 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
+1 on vinylengine. Great folks and lots of help. There are several "printable" protractors in the reference section. Generally the only thing you need to know is the effective length of the arm. Many are 222 or 235 millimeters. A few are shorter or longer though. The length is given in the specs for the arm. Probably someone either here or on VE will know immediately what it is for your arm. Mine are all 235.
I found an upgrade to my STD 305M table and SME lll arm setup. I have
also been learning some things.
While my SME has two holes between the cartridge mounting holes, there
is also a modified one hole head shell that SME offered. There is a
difference from my understanding, yet SME offers only one protractor.
I just found out that the Stevenson protractor with 2 null points at 60mm
and 117mm, from Vinyl Engine, out performed the SME protractor with a
single null point. Either it is just too difficult to set the arm
properly with a single null point, or the SME is different than the
Stevenson model.
Rusty Messages: 1188 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
I think the 2 point protractor system is common with all the Vinyl Engine protractors. Less distortion. Glad you resolved your dilemma. Time to listen to fine music now.
I think the 2 point protractor system is common with all the Vinyl Engine protractors. Less distortion. Glad you resolved your dilemma. Time to listen to fine music now.
Thanks Rusty. I ended up moving the SMEIII arm back some when using
the Stevenson protractor, less distortion was clearly noticed. It also
looks closer to others setups I have seen.
Thanks for your help, and others. Much appreciated.
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