Ortofon - Cartridge Alignment Tool

A two-point Baerwald protractor for setting cartridge alignment — the cheapest meaningful upgrade to how your existing cartridge sounds.

A cartridge bolted into a headshell at the wrong angle mistracks everywhere except the two points where it happens to be correct, and most cartridges are fitted by eye. An alignment protractor fixes that, and the improvement on a badly aligned setup is not subtle — inner groove distortion, sibilance and channel imbalance all come from geometry before they come from anything else.

This tool uses two-point Baerwald geometry, which places the two null points where tracking error falls to zero so as to minimise weighted average distortion across a whole record side. It is the most widely used alignment in hi-fi and the right default for almost everyone.

In use: drop the tool over the spindle, set the stylus down on the first null point and rotate the cartridge in the headshell until the cantilever sits square in the grid, then repeat at the second null and go back and forth until both agree. Ortofon describes it as a straightforward design suitable for beginners and experienced users alike, and it is a genuinely small price for getting the single most consequential setup parameter right.

Features

• Two-point Baerwald alignment geometry — the most widely used standard in hi-fi
• Ortofon’s updated standard version
• Straightforward to use for first-timers and experienced setters alike
• Fixes inner groove distortion, sibilance and channel imbalance caused by geometry
• The cheapest meaningful improvement to a cartridge you already own

Specifications

• Type: Two-point cartridge alignment protractor
• Alignment Geometry: Two zero points, Baerwald. Note that Baerwald and Löfgren A are two names for the same geometry — this tool offers one alignment, not a choice of several
• Method: Place over the spindle, set the stylus on the first null point and rotate the cartridge until the cantilever squares to the grid, then repeat at the second null and iterate until both agree
• Origin: Ortofon A/S, Nakskov, Denmark
• Not Published: Material — Ortofon states neither card, plastic, acrylic nor metal; dimensions and thickness; weight; which tonearm pivot-to-spindle distances the tool covers, which is the most-asked question about any protractor and is unanswered by the manufacturer; box contents
• Note: Ortofon also sells a Premium version using the identical geometry in a larger, stiffer body. The alignment it produces is the same; what you buy is a tool that does not flex while you work