First impressions of the protractor were very good. Solid, fits around the spindle 'just so', lines fine but clearly drawn. I.e Professional.

I compared the sound with aligning using the SME protractor then went on with the Mint Best Tractor.

The SME and Mint Best Tractor disagreed by about 0.5 to 1mm on the alignment - however the SME gauge is a bendy piece of card with a indentation pierced into it...

Contrary to some of the stories on the internet, I found alignment easy with the Best Tractor. I followed your instructions and just got on with it....20 minutes later it was aligned all the away along the arc.

I used both the 3x and 10x magnifiers and would recommend to anyone getting the 10x.

Then onto aligning with cartridge's motor...the protractor indicated that I needed to re-align the cartridge in the headshell...which took about 5 minutes total.

Again, it was easy. A quick re-check and all was done.

And the result. In a word superb.

Much cleaner, smoother, ticks and pops are suppressed and any last remnants of end-of-side distortion have gone.

Just about the best $110 I've spent on the record player!"

Martin, from United Kingdom SME V on SME 20 " I finally used the protractor (we have been renovating our house hence no music!). First impressions of the protractor were very good. Solid, fits around the spindle 'just so', lines fine but clearly drawn. I.e Professional. I compared the sound with aligning using the SME protractor then went on with the Mint Best Tractor. The SME and Mint Best Tractor disagreed by about 0.5 to 1mm on the alignment - however the SME gauge is a bendy piece of card with a indentation pierced into it...
Contrary to some of the stories on the internet, I found alignment easy with the Best Tractor. I followed your instructions and just got on with it....20 minutes later it was aligned all the away along the arc. I used both the 3x and 10x magnifiers and would recommend to anyone getting the 10x. Then onto aligning with cartridge's motor...the protractor indicated that I needed to re-align the cartridge in the headshell...which took about 5 minutes total. Again, it was easy. A quick re-check and all was done.
And the result. In a word superb. Much cleaner, smoother, ticks and pops are suppressed and any last remnants of end-of-side distortion have gone. Just about the best $110 I've spent on the record player!"