Instruction Manual
The 
Reference
 
Dear 
customer
 
Congratulations! You have purchased a 
tonearm that, in order to allow the most accurate AND musical reproduction of 
your records, features a bearing that differs from all other tonearms available. 
To take full advantage of this inherently superior design even experienced 
"vinylists" should take the time to study this 
manual.

 




I hope you’ll enjoy mounting and 
adjusting your tonearm as much as the following rediscovery of your record 
collection.
 




1) Mounting The 
Arm


Mounting the arm requires drilling two 
M4-tapped holes in your plinth or mounting board. The location can be determined 
from the supplied drawing.  Most turntables differ somewhat regarding the 
position of the mounting boards relative to the platter. 

 




While keeping the spindle to pivot 
distance constant, rotate the armbase until you have found a position that 
allows both free movement of your armwand  and results in a resting position of 
your arm where the armwand is parallel to the plinth (or offering enough 
clearance in regard to the edge of the platter).  It is not hypercritical to get 
this distance spot on since overhang is adjusted by turning the armbase clock-or 
anticlockwise (same principle as utilized in the "sliding base" 
SME-arms).
 




The following schematics (not to scale) 
will help you to identify the tonearm parts and screws necessary to properly 
align your arm and cartridge:
 





a: overhang adjustment locking 
screw
e: bearing thread
f:  VTA locking screw
g: VTA adjustment screw, raises or 
lowers the tonearm block
h: Antiskating/damping adjustment 
disc
i:  M3-damping adjustment 
screw
l:  M4-tonearm mounting 
screw
 




As seen from 
above:
 
d: counterweight 
set-screw
b: cartridge 
mounting-screws
c: headshell 
mounting-screw
m: damping trough 


 




As seen from 
the side:
 
d: counterweight 
set-screw
j:  tonearmwand
k: azimuth adjustment 
screw

 




The tonearm is to be screwed to the 
turntable plinth or mounting board using two non-magnetic (V2A-supplied-, V4A, 
brass) M4-cylinderhead-screws (l) from below. Choose the length of the screw so 
that a minimum of 6mm of the screws will be sticking out from the tonearm base 
once you have inserted the screw. Make sure the overhang-locking-screw hole 
(a) points to the right (seen from above) while tightening the mounting 
screws (using excessive force yields no 
advantages).
 




2) Dressing the 
tonearmwiring


This tonearm comes standard with a cable 
that was chosen for it’s sonic and mechanical properties. The signal is carried 
in a single run from the cartridge clips to the headamp or phonostage omitting 
additional soldered connections..
 




Depending on your turntable the cable 
can be fixed to the plinth/armboard by means of a clamp to be screwed to the 
side of the plinth or utilizing a circular cable dressing base (provided upon 
request) which requires an additional 16mm hole. To reduce the "spring"-effect 
of the wiring put the arm (wand), still without the counterweight mounted, 
towards the inner groove. Whether you’re using a clamp, the wiring base or just 
tape to fix the wiring to the plinth makes no difference as long as the 
non-shielded section from it’s exit point in the armwand to the fixation point 
on the plinth forms an arc(180° – 270°) allowing for the arm to move freely 
without the wiring touching the plinth. Please try to keep a distance of at 
least 10mm between the magnet assembly and the wiring. The restoring force of 
the supplied wiring is small and it can easily be "bent" into shape, though 
sharp bends are to be 
avoided.



 





3) Electrical 
connections, grounding


The conductors/connectors are 
colour-coded according to the international standard:
 
Red = right channel, hot 

Green = right channel, ground 

White = left channel, hot 

Blue = left channel, 
ground
 
RCA plugs: red = right channel ; black = 
left channel
 
The standard wiring is shielded from the 
arm to the RCA-plugs. The "ground" wire is to be connected to the following 
amplification stage’s "ground". If you use a "star grounding" pattern, connect 
the ground wire to your "central" 
ground.



 





4) Adjusting your 
tonearm/cartridge


4.1) Prepare 
Magnets
 
First remove the cardboard/foam strip 
sitting between the magnets. It was placed there to prevent excessive movement 
during shipping. This bearing is, unlike many other bearing types, not 
susceptible to shock induced damage. It is still advisable to keep the cardboard 
strip for later transports (any appropriately folded piece of paper will do). 




 

4.2) Mounting your 
cartridge
 
The cartridge can be mounted in the 
headshell using the supplied M2.5 non.magnetic stainless stell screws (b). You 
might prefer to first seperate the mounting plate from the armwand by unscrewing 
the M3-connection-screw (c) . 
 
Usually it is sufficient to tighten the 
M2.5 screws well, but not excessively so. Overtightened screws can result in 
internal tensions in the cartridge body, negatively affecting the sound or even 
damaging the internal structure. Don’t forget: the next step after "REALLY 
tight" is "totally loose". 
 
Connecting the mounting plate with the 
armwand requires tightening screw c, the same rules apply. 




 

4.3) Tracking force 
and overhang
 
Take the counterweight and slide it onto 
the back section of the armwand. Leave your "stylus cover" (if your cartridge 
features such a device) on and set the tracking force to approx. 1.5 gr. Tighten 
the counterweight set screw (d) just so that you can still slide the 
counterweight without applying  much pressure. 
 
Using a proper template (i.e. Dennesen 
or the one that comes with the arm) the overhang is now adjusted by rotating the 
entire armbase around it’s central post after loosening the 
overhang-locking-screw (a). Using the aforementioned alignment gauges will 
automatically result in achieving a proper "outer" zero-point (120.9mm) once you 
have managed to get the "inner" zero-point(66.04mm) right.
 
The overhang-locking-screw (a) should be 
tightened now.
 
Next, check the tangency of the 
cantilever as seen from above – with the stylus not quite touching the alignment 
gauge – and, if neccessary, turn the headshell mounting plate after loosening 
screw (c) in the right direction. 
 
Finally, tighten screw (c) 
again.



 

4.4) VTA-adjustment
 
As a starting point you should raise or lower the 
tonearmblock until the armwand appears to be parallel to the record surface with 
the needle in the groove.
 
Just unscrew the VTA-set screw (f) une 
full turn, insert a 3mm Allen key into the center hole and turn the (hidden) 
VTA-adjustment screw (g) clockwise to lower the arm or counterclockwise to raise 
the arm (make shure that the Allen key caught the screw). 
 
Don’t forget to tighten the VTA-set 
screw (f) again.
 
This adjustment is NOT to be carried out 
during play!
 
You can use your Allen key and it’s 
position relative to the four screw heads holding the top plate of the armbase 
as a gauge/reminder how far you’ve turned it. One full turn alters the VTA by 
0.7mm. 



 

4.5)  
Antiskating
 
To compensate for the skatingforce turn 
the antiskating-adjustment-disc (h) counterclockwise to increase force 
(initially, several turns might be required!) and clockwise to reduce it. A good 
compromise will be achieved once mistracking occurs in both channels 
simultaneously while playing the tracking ability test tracks on the ORTOFON 
test record (0002 or 0003). In case you have no access to any such test record 
just put the diamond on the space between the leadout grooves (or a "blank" 
record, i.e. Cardas sweeper record) and adjust antiskating until the 
arm/cartridge combo wanders slowly towards the center of the record. 

 
From then on, use your 
ears...



 

4.6)  Adjusting the gap between the 
magnets
 
With a decent light source placed behind 
your record player it is easy to make out (and control) the gap between the 
magnets which facilitates friction-free movement of the tonearm. 

 
The distance between the magnets 
determines the effectiveness of damping both tonearm/cartridge resonance and 
"parasitic" energy, generated by the cartridge or the turntable. 

 
The smaller the gap the higher the damping and vice 
versa.
 
The gap between the magnets is altered 
by first inserting a 1.5mm Allen key into the set screw (i) , sitting in the 
middle of disc (h).  You then hold the Allen key steady while turning the disc 
clockwise to widen the gap or counterclockwise to close it. 
 
This sounds a lot more difficult than 
what it is..
 
The gap should be at least 0.3mm wide, 
enough to allow for a common business card to be slid in without to much 
resistance.
 
If the magnets were to touch each other 
during play the resulting friction would cause the cartridge to 
skip.
 
The suspension thread used has an 
extremely high tensile strength, a very hard surface and will not deteriorate 
over time. 
 
It does stretch (break in) though over a 
period of two weeks max. (usually, it takes three days only). Once it has set, 
only under extreme conditions (very high temperatures + high humidity) can  the 
thread exhibit a tendency to "give" a little more.  So check the gap after a 
summer thunder storm (no more stretching after three of 
those).



 

4.7)  Silicon damping 
or not
 
The arm features the option to use 
silicon oil (i.e.SME2013) to dampen the tonearm resonance – predominantly in the 
axis of the armwand – resulting in a reduction of the "wiggliness" commonly 
associated with unipivot tonearms. This has almost no bearing(pun intended) on 
the tonearm/cartridge resonance whicht is a function of the eff. mass of the 
arm, the compliance of the cartridge and it’s mass.
 
Simply dip a piece of non-magnetic wire 
(brass, copper...) into the silicon fluid, wait until a drop has formed and wipe 
it off onto the thread (near it’s upper end). The drop will slowly travel down 
the thread until it finally vanished in the small oil well where the thread 
enters the armwand. Repeat until you’re satisfied with the sonic results (do not 
overfill). Common silicon fluid has no adverse effect on the thread or the 
bearing in general, excess fluid can be wiped off using a cotton 
swab.
 
The effect resulting from that procedure 
depends upon the cartridge used and usually increases perceived "blackness" 
between notes and solidity of images without sacrificing "attack" and "air". 
Some cartridges (recent Lyras for example) sound better without any additional 
damping.



 

5)  The 
"Finetuning"
 
Everyone who has to mount cartridges 
frequently understands the importance of  precisely adjusting an arm/cartridge 
combination to release it’s full potential.
 
Overhang, azimuth, VTA, tracking force 
and, if featured, variable damping of the arm movement are all important 
parameters. 
 
The overhang adjustment was described 
already, nevertheless let me add that a single "perfect" overhang setting does 
not exist. Should you own a lot of records that are cut close to the inner 
groove you might consider using 63mm instead of 66mm as your inner "zero point" 
– many crescendo finales of symphonic works could be tracked with reduced 
distortion this way. 
 
On the other hand exist a lot of 
"pop"-records with no modulation, but leadout groove already where the "inner" 
zero point is located. One doesn’t even benefit from this second distorsion 
minimum..
 
Correct overhang adjustment results in 
max. tracing-error-related tracking distortion of barely more than 0.6% for an 
arm with 239mm eff. length, 0.47% for a 305mm 
arm.



 





Fine-Tuning VTF and Azimuth




 





Please 
refer to the above photo for fine-tuning VTF.  After getting the tracking force 
somewhere in the neighborhood of the cartridge manufacturer's suggestion, you 
can screw the knurled wheel ("A" on the photo) on the back out (away from the 
bearing to decrease the VTF and in (towards the bearing) to increase VTF. To 
start out it might be best to screw it out a little, this gives you more leeway 
in both 
directions.



 





Next, the azimuth should be adjusted so 
that crosstalk is the same for both channels. Taken that both channels of your 
cartridge are identical, a close approximationof the correct setting can be 
achieved by playing a mono record  back via an X-adaptor or through your preamp 
switched to mono.
 
Reverse the headshell clips on one 
channel only (switch red and green i.e.) and adjust for the weakest signal 
coming from your speakers. But: If your cartridge has different output levels 
for each channel, this method will result in a less than perfect 
setting!
 
To achieve consistently optimal results 
use a test record (i.e. Ortofon 0002) and follow the directions, alternatively 
Wally Malewicz (contact : wwmalewi@aol.com) offers an appropriate set 
of measuring tools.
 
Once you’ve "hit it on the nail" a 
centrally recorded female voice should be precisely located in space with no 
difference in the decay caracteristics between channels.
 
The proper way to adjust azimuth is by 
turning the counterweight set screw loose enough to allow turning the 
counterweight clock-or anticlockwise until the headshell plate appears to be 
parallel with the record surface. 




 

Fine adjustment is achieved by inserting 
a narrow blade (<3mm) -screwdriver into the hole on the right side of the 
counterweight (hold the armwand with two fingers while doing this), then turning 
the internal grub screw (A in the photo above) inward or outward, altering the 
counterweight’s center of gravity ever so slightly. Please refer to the photo 
above, "B" is where the grub screw is located.  This adjustment covers a range 
of no more than +/- 1.5°. This should suffice to compensate for minor 
misalignments of the stylus/cantilever assembly.
 
Starting with the armwand parallel to 
the record surface, VTA adjustment can be carried out in small steps (i.e. 
0.2mm, ~ a quarter turn of the Allen key) until the best separation between 
individual instrument in space, the least amount of "grain" audible and the best 
integration of fundamentals and upper harmonics is 
achieved.



 

There is no "perfect" position, varying 
record thicknesses and a different cutting angle used for most records made 
before 1965 neccesitate a new setting for every other record. Stylus shapes are 
also more or less susceptible to changes in the VTA – the "sharper" the stylus, 
the more sensitive to changes..) The more time you spend on adjusting the VTA 
the less you’ll get to actually enjoy your records.
 
The tracking force determines the 
tracking ability and also the position of the coils in the magnetic generator. 
Follow the manufacturer’s recommendation and try increasing or lowering the 
tracking force by increments of 0.1gr. Low frequency tracking ability shouldn’t 
be lower than 70my. Soundwise more relevant is the high frequency tracking 
ability. The appropriate tracks on the Shure TT115 test record are helpful to 
get closer to the optimal tracking force. 




 

The damping is , as already mentioned, a 
function of the distance between the magnets, or, more precisely, the flux 
density in the gap between the magnets. 
 
It is to be adjusted so that the lower 
registers will be reproduced with control and heft without loosing the 
resolution of high frequency fine detail and "air". 
 
Overdamping this arm is close to 
impossible (often the case with silicone fluid damped arms) but rarely does the 
smallest gap result in the most satisfying sound. 
 
The amount of tightening of any of the 
arm’s screws has an influence on the energy transmission and therefore 
dissipation and should be experimented with.
 
Generally speaking, only screws a, l and 
f should be tightened well. Screws b, c, and d require some 
experimentation.
 
Oh,.. and leave the screw underneath the 
lower magnet alone. Once you’ve loosened it , the magnets require realignment 
for which the arm needs to be send back to 
me.



 

Should you have any 
questions regarding mounting/adjusting or technical details of this tonearm, 
feel free to contact me via phone or email.
 
Equally welcome is any 
sort of criticism or suggestions for improvements.
 
       Yours 
truly
Frank 
Schröder



 




email: 
berlin8@freenet.de 

phone: ++49 
30 / 611 51 81