1/28/2009

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...........I have recently updated my Tonearm Alignment Geometry Spreadsheet in honor of the original pioneer and inventor of modern tonearm alignment geometry. You will find a revised Excel spreadsheet attached to this email. Graeme Dennes, Klaus Rampelmann and I would be grateful if you would replace the current spreadsheet on your website with the attached revision. Also, please change the link title to read "John Elison’s Löfgren Alignment Calculator."

Commonly, we think of the name Baerwald in conjunction with tonearm alignment geometry, but in truth it was actually Professor Erik Löfgren of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, who developed and published the first tonearm alignment equations in 1938. Baerwald, Bauer, Seagrave and Stevenson produced identical equations, differing only in notation and arrangement. Therefore, had there been no further writing by anyone other than Professor Erik Löfgren, we would still be able to mount and align a tonearm and cartridge today with the certainty that distortion due to lateral tracking error would be minimized.

In honor of Professor Erik Löfgren’s contributions, Klaus Rampelmann has translated Löfgren’s original paper from German into English. You can find a copy of the new English translation at the Vinyl Engine website.

Here is an announcement that was posted on the Vinyl Asylum in November of last year.

As a result of these recent developments, we would be grateful if you would update your webpage with the attached revision.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

John Elison

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