====== adjustingtheverticalandhorizontalanglesofthestylusonatonearm 3faction edit ======

| **Field** | Home Entertainment |
| **Went Obsolete** | 1990 |
| **Made Obsolete By** | Compact Disc |
| **Knowledge Assumed** | Turntable skills |
| **When useful** | Vinyl DJ |

Vinyl records are designed to be played with a stylus at the angle of 15 degrees from vertical.  First, ensure that when the stylus is on the record, the tone arm is level.  Second, the stylus should be at a precise distance from the pivot of the arm.  Most turntables come with a device to find the right spot.  Roughly speaking, imagine a line from the pivot of the arm to the spindle of the turntable.  Now imagine a line from the spindle to the edge of the record.  Consider the portion of the line that runs over the grooves.  Construct a line from the midpoint of this line to the arm pivot.  Turn the record so that these two lines form a right angle at that midpoint. Ideally the stylus would move along that line, but actually it traces an arc.  The arc should be about as far away from the line in one direction at the center as it is in the other direction at the ends.  Next, make sure that as you look at the cartridge and stylus from the front, they are straight up and down.  Next, when you look at the stylus from the side, it should be slanted at a 15-degree angle.  Cartridges are designed so that if they are attached correctly the stylus is automatically like this.  The "cantilever" goes downward as it comes out of the bottom of the cartridge and the stylus is perpendicular to it.  Finally set the tracking force according to the cartridge manufacturer's specifications, usually about 1.5 grams for LP's and 3 grams for 78's.