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RE: Can't argue with that - the geometry IS weird

Posted by John Elison (A) on November 7, 2013 at 09:35:27

In Reply to: Can't argue with that - the geometry IS weird posted by travisty on November 7, 2013 at 06:39:39:

> The 308 is a VERY aggressive version of Stevenson.

You can call any alignment a Stevenson or a Löfgren. We actually use these terms incorrectly. They stand for a methodology used to determine a set of alignment null-points ― not the actual null-points themselves. Therefore, saying the 308 is a version of Stevenson's alignment is totally meaningless. The 308 is just as easily a version of Löfgren A or Löfgren B, depending on where you choose to place the innermost and outermost modulated groove radii.

The WE-308N has alignment null-points at 34.0-mm and 69.9-mm. These null-points would be Stevenson null-points for an innermost groove radius of 34.0-mm and an outermost groove radius of 89.6-mm. They would be Löfgren A null-points for an innermost groove radius of 30.7-mm and an outermost groove radius of 89.6-mm. Furthermore, they would be Löfgren B null-points for an innermost groove radius of 27.8-mm and an outermost groove radius of 100.6-mm.

The point is that regardless of how you label the WE-308N alignment, it is not designed for any sort of phonograph record ever made in the past or in the present. Its outer null-point is on the inner groove area and its inner null-point is on the record label. The same can be said for most other SAEC tonearms, three of which have no null-points at all.

To be fair, there are two with relatively reasonable alignments ― the WE-407TM and the WE-8000/ST.

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