© Pro-Ject Audio Systems · Pro-Ject Align it DS3 · Revision 2022.10.14
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We recommend rechecking all the previous settings once done.
This template is made for Pro-Ject tonearms or other tonearms which have the following pivot to spindle
lengths:
200 mm (used on Pro-
Ject 8,6” tonearms)
212 mm (used on Pro-
Ject 9” tonearms)
238 mm (used on Pro-
Ject 10” tonearms)
291,6 mm (used on Pro-
Ject 12” tonearms)
Please consult the manual of your turntable or tonearm, should you use a different brand.
The Align it DS3 comes with 3 different alignment geometries. Each geometry is defined by a different
overhang and different null-points. Baerwald has an overhang of 16,21 mm, Lofgren B has an overhang of
16,64 mm and Stevenson has an overhang of 14,44 mm. The effective length of your tonearm is the pivot to
spindle length plus the overhang added together. So, each geometry will result in different effective lengths
AND different null-points, which optimizes your vinyl playback for different scenarios. Feel free to choose the
geometry which suits your listening habits most!
Your Pro-Ject turntable comes factory aligned with an overhang different to any of the methods that
the Align it DS3 offers! For example: Debut Carbon EVO and Debut PRO come aligned with 18,5mm
overhang. X2 B with 18mm overhang
. Check your turntable’s manual for the factory adjusted
overhang, and don’t worry if your factory fresh turntable doesn’t align by default with the Align it DS3
and its curves. That is because the factory alignment is done using a different curve!
The effective length of your tonearm is the result of pivot to spindle distance PLUS overhang added together.
For example: Pro-
Ject turntables with 8,6” tonearms use a pivot to spindle distance of 200mm, add
the
overhang to that and you are at 216,21 mm effective length (=8.5”).
Pro-
Ject 8,6” tonearms use an overhang of 18,5 mm and the above
-mentioned pivot to spindle
distance of 200 mm. This results in an effective length of 218,5 mm (=8,6”). A cartridge a
lignment
protractor for the Pro-Ject standard is included with all our turntables. The Align it DS3 gives you access
to 3 new alignment curves!
Technical Deep Talk: Tonearm geometry and null-points
The optimum geometry of tonearms has been the subject of several articles over the past decades. However,
the earliest complete mathematical study was that of H.G. Baerwald in his paper on optimum geometry in
1941, where an analytical survey of tracking error distortion showed that optimum geometry of a tonearm of
given effective length would have a corresponding offset angle and overhang. This seems obvious today, but
H.G. Baerwald was the first to show these facts.
