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The Ken Willis ACCUTRAK Protractor with PICS

Posted by tubesforever (M) on March 30, 2008 at 20:02:47

Ken contacted me earlier this year about his ideas for a better mousetrap. I volunteered to be part of his beta group to evaluate his ACCUTRAK protractor. I was honored to receive the protractor below with 4 arcs for the tonearms I have lying around the place.

This is superb. I can have one single tool to help align all 4 of my tonearms. I like simplicity and Ken makes this a reality.

What makes Ken's protractor such a great investment might not be obvious to the naked eye. I will mention this feature at the very end of the post.

We all hear about how important it is to properly align our cartridges but for many of us we simply lack the proper tools or the tools we buy are cumbersome and difficult.

For instance some might use a Dennison or Freikert model. These can be ideal if you are trying to drill out an armboard and mount a tonearm as most stores did for us back in the day.

For day to day use, three years ago I purchased the Turntable Basics mirrored alignment tool. However upon receipt, the center hole was too small. I had to enlarge this for my Kenwood KD 500 turntable.

Then I constantly fought with the sight line aiming to the pivot of the tonearm. I eventually taped some brass thin gauge fuel line to the thing just so I could get the thing somewhat close to ideal.

When evaluating tweaks on my system I was always second guessing, wondering if the alignment was spot on or just in the ball park.

These issues are now completely eliminated. Ken has built a better mouse trap.

Picture one shows the protractor Ken designed. It has arcs for all four of the tonearms I own presently: The SME 3012R, the Magnepan Unitrac, the SME 3009 Series III, and the Empire 980 tonearms.

Picture two shows me aligning my Grado Ref Master that I mounted this afternoon. You can see how I simply set the cartridge in the slot so the diamond stylus would hit the outside arc line perfectly. Tighten the cartridge screws and you now have your effective length and overhang perfect. Perfect as long as the spindle to pivot point distance is correct for your tonearm. To confirm this, simply swing the tonearm in to the spindle area and see where the stylus falls.

This confirms your cartridge and tonearm are properly mounted. Now we move on to adjust the angle of the cartridge in the headshell.

Picture three shows me squaring the cartridge to the alignment grid at the outside Baerwald null point. Baerwald is one of several popular tonearm geometries to minimize tracking angle error. Ken simply utilizes the alignment null points as specified by your tonearm brand and model. For example if you have an early SME yours will be set for Stephenson.

I took this picture from the side angle to show you how helpful the grid lines are drawn to make alignment simple and easy to accomplish.

Picture four shows me confirming I am square at the inner Baerwald null point. The lines might look off a bit, this is just the angle of the camera. The ACCUTRAK makes it really easy to get the cartridge square to the index lines.

Alignment has never been more simple and it can be done in a few simple minutes without any concern that the you have missed something.

If you want the best protractor for the job, then contact Ken. His protactor makes alignment fast and simple. More importantly, with this tool you can confirm the alignment is perfect in mere seconds. This is nice if you have pets, kids, or cleaning experts that mess with your turntable.

I mentioned earlier that I especially like the ACCUTRAK for a reason that might not be obvious.

The reason is because Ken selected a soft laminate that allows me full confidence to rest my 1600 dollar Van Den Hul cartridge right on the protractor. I always worried about the polycarbonate model I used before. If the needle drops there is nothing to blunt the impact. With the paper and laminate material I have no worries.

If you are on the fence about the alignment tool that might be best for you, Ken Willis has eliminated the guess work. The ACCUTRAK is absolutely the best way to go.

I will be writing a full review of this later, but I wanted to post something with pictures so everyone can see why I find this protractor to be the best available to maximize the performance of our turntables.

Lets say you figure your alignment is good, but you are experiencing some distortion or sibilance. You check the VTF perhaps the VTA. You inspect the stylus to make sure it is clean. Simply grab the ACCUTRAK and drop the needle on the outer Null point. You can confirm correct alignment in mere seconds with a tool that is built to the exact specifications of your tonearm.

This is my idea of a better mouse trap. What more can I say about the ACCUTRAK? It is simply outstanding in every way.

Cheers!

Edits: 03/30/08

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