Rake angle adjustment wedge set for AudioTechnica VM95 cartridge

thingiverse

Extracting maximum quality from an LP requires precision. Your pickup cartridge must be precisely positioned on the tonearm, parallel to the housing, and longitudinally, vertically, and with a specific rake angle. The stylus contact patches must align perfectly with those of the cutting head used during mastering. Bloody complex, indeed! But that's what we're here for - to figure things out. Slots in the tonearm headshell allow for overhang and parallelism adjustment. Some tonearms have adjustable height arm bases or headshells that enable a slight rotation to address azimuth issues. Some tonearms don't offer these features, so you'll need to get creative. If the arm is fixed, insert a wedge between the cartridge and tonearm shell to tilt it to the correct rake angle. This 'thing' is a selection of wedges designed for Audio-Technica's moving magnet cartridges, tilting them slightly forward. I needed this when installing a VM-95SH cartridge on a Rega RB300 arm. The AT cartridge is taller than Rega's offerings, causing it to tilt backwards. A wedge was necessary to compensate. Three variants - 1.2, 1.4, and 1.6 degree angles - were created for experimentation. A revised set is under consideration, featuring a 'ridge' down the middle of the wedge to facilitate azimuth adjustment on fixed-headshell systems. This may address an issue with the VM95 cartridge contact plane. Instead, a 'generic edition' will be published for cartridges with a more usable topology. I expect few takers for this thing, but maybe you'll find inspiration in it. For educational resources on stylus shapes and turntable adjustment, check out these articles: https://www.sound-smith.com/articles/stylus-shape-information https://www.sound-smith.com/soundsmith-cartridge-alignment http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/setting-up-a-phono-cartridge/