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TONE ARM SETUP
TONE ARM SETUP
A properly adjusted tone arm and cartridge setup will minimize vinyl record wear and optimize the
performance of the turntable. Follow these simple steps for setting the tone arm on the turntable:
Balancing the Tone Arm
1. Begin the balancing process by lifting the cue lever to the up position (or make sure that the stylus
protector is on the cartridge.)
2. Next, rotate the counterweight clockwise until it is in the complete forward position (NOTE: this is also
the maximum amount of pressure that can be applied to the cartridge.)
3. Now there should be a feeling of weight and resistance when the head shell is raised and lowered.
Begin rotating the counterweight counter-clockwise (away from the pivot point) until this weight and
resistance feeling is gone. If done properly, the tone arm will pivot with very little resistance back and
forth indicating that there is exactly 0 grams of stylus pressure.
4. With the counterweight in its new position further away from tone arm pivot point, grasp the scale ring
of the counter weight and rotate it until "0" is in the vertical position.
5. Finally, rotate the counterweight (and scale ring) clockwise (towards the pivot point) until the desired
amount of weight is reached. If the scale rotates 360 degrees beyond the zero point, the new scale
ring reading should be added to 3.5.
*The included head shell and cartridge assembly requires a minimum of 3 grams and no more than 5
grams for optimum performance.
Setting the Anti-Skate Adjustment
In most cases, the Anti-Skate should be set to its minimum setting. Anti-Skate compensates for inward
tracking forces that occur with certain cartridges when the stylus nears the center of the record. If the
turntable is experiencing excessive skipping during back-cueing and scratching while nearing the center
spindle, try increasing the Anti-Skate in the increments indicated on the dial. Start by adding an
increment of 1, test its performance, than increase it more, and so on.
1.
2.
3.
+
-
=
=
4.
0
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
Only Rotate
Scale Ring!
5.
0
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
+
360
o
4.5 grams =
MIN
MAX
