Hudson HiFi Premium Acrylic Turntable Mat - Cartridge & Needle Alignment Tool

If you own a turntable, making sure your cartridge is properly set up is essential. Not only does it ensure you’re getting the best performance possible out of your cartridge, it helps protect your records from damage caused by mistracking. This alignment disc makes the job easy. If you want to go down the rabbit hole of various alignment methodologies, there are downloadable protractors out there. I’ve always had a tricky time getting a perfectly punched spindle hole when printing those, so this disc took that user error out of the equation and made the job simple. A good protractor and a good tracking force gauge should be in every turntable owner’s accessory collection.

If you find yourself wanting to buy a device to align your phono cartridge and you're lucky enough to run across this review before you actually buy one - don't buy it. Get this turntable mat instead. Not only does it have the alignment guide printed on it, it also gives you the perfect platter to calibrate the anti skate. In the end, you'll save money with this mat. I was very surprised by how much my anti skate was wrong. I used the manufacturer's instructions on setting anti skate and let me tell you, that wasn't even close to being correct. In addition, my crappy Fluance turntable doesn't have the ability to level the tonearm, but by keeping this mat on the platter along with the original rubber mat that came with the table, it raises the tonearm a bit so that it's now really close to level. A happy, unexpected bonus.

First off, this disc is thicker than I expected. It's nice and heavy, the printing on the surface looks clean and crisp, and the reverse side is great for configuring anti-skate. It comes in a quality black sleeve as well so I can keep it on the shelf with my records for when I need it again. It's not mentioned in the listing that it includes this sleeve so it was a nice surprise! It's great to finally know for sure that my tonearm is properly aligned and my player's anti-skate is set right. Even with a turntable that has coordinated tracking weight and anti-skate controls (Technics SL-Q30), matching the two did not do the trick and I ended up setting the anti-skate to 1 with the tracking at 1.5.

This is an easy and convenient tool to help you get your cartridge somewhat aligned. At this price it works for a beginning audiophile. If you want a more accurate alignment, spending more money is required. But having spoken to some cartridge and turntable experts, this simple tool well get you aligned so that you are getting 98% accuracy. It works well, and I like the packaging, and you can store it with your lp's as if it were just another lp.

amazing quality

Nice white acrylic disk. Nice 2-point cartridge alignment scale. Will work for any platter that does not have step on edge for the oem mat to fit in. Case in point my vintage Pioneer PL-260. You have to have an oem mat or have a custom one made if you need to replace mat. I guess I can buy a cork one and cut it too fit. This one sits on raised edge with no support under till spindle. So as a replacement mat, no good. For 2-point calibration this is a good solution with a premium price attached to it. So, Hudson HIFI this part is for you. 2-point calibration in most cases will not properly align the cartridge for arc travel across the whole record surface travel. When you perform this calibration, the default overhang recommended by turntable and or tonearm manufacture is based off the cartridge that is part of the new turntable or is used for specs by tonearm manufactures. In my case the PL-260 says the overhang for the tonearm/cartridge combo is 15.5mm. Since I have an aftermarket cartridge, the overhang will be different. So, I use an arc protractor from a website I have used before, and the calibration gives the sound you would expect with a properly aligned cartridge. My photo shows my Hudson mat with two different but similar arc protractors. After calibrating the cartridge with arc protractor, my overhang is now extremely close to the calculated value on the AP protractor. The results is excellent sound. IGD is reduced to almost nothing. So, Hudson, you might want to offer a service to print an arc protractor with specs given to you by customer so they too can setup their turntable for excellent sound. Also, I would like to know how you would check overhang with the 2-point alignment scale. No mention in video by happy Jack.

I found using this very easy. I recently had purchased an Ortofon 2M Blue from a local store that offered to mount the cartridge on my Technics SL-1200 Mk5. I discovered after picking up the turntable that they did not properly set the overhang for the cartridge or its tracking weight so I decided to buy this and a scale and do the job myself. I found that this tool made the process very easy, even on the Ortofon 2M Blue, which has a small face to align with the grid on the surface of the device. The lines are fine enough and close enough that you can get a good alignment. After setting up my turntable myself the sound and performance of the cartridge is much better. You can follow the instructions that Hudson Hi-Fi has on their website if you are a first timer.

The protractor works good and also great for dialing in the antiskate setting on the blank side. Seems sturdy, the prints are clear - simple but well made. One thing to note is that it is bit on the thick side - thicker than 180g vinyl - so I use it without the mat when calibrating.

I bought one "Hudson Hi-Fi Turntable Cartridge Alignment Protractor Mat" and I found the markings on the Disc are too thick. However, it perfectly usable.

Gute Verarbeitung, gute Qualität. Hab mit dieser Schablone eingestellt und mit anderer Schablone kontrolliert. Hat alles gepasst. Aber Achtung, man muss schon ein Plattenspieler Nerd sein und sich mit Schablonen auskennen, eine Anleitung wird nicht mit geliefert.

El envio fue rapido y llego bien protegiddo. Ya he calibrado varias agujas y brazos de tornamesa. Este producto es lo que en realidad dice el vendedor. Se nota la diferencia en el audio despues de la calibracion. El antiskatimg tambien se calibra para evitar un mal desgaste en los disco. Se recomienda tanto al vendedor como el producto ampliamente.

The head alignment tool is easy to use.. some reviews complain there's no instructions , I would imagine if your changing stylus and aligning your head for the first time going in blind would be daunting but youtube has thousands of clips there to help. Also the back of this disk is nice and glossy so it's perfect to also check your anti skate. The only downside is, it could do with a deeper label dip.

Very clean neat look, & good sound damping for belt drive.