12 TALEA™!!!!©2012 Durand Tonearms LLC.All rights reserved!!!!!!!! 13
It is best to leave the screws engaged in the upper arm plate after they are
unscrewed, to avoid losing them. Carefully lift the plate and set it aside (don’t
turn it upside down or on its side, or the little screws will fall off!).
!! Caution !!
The pivot is very sharp. Do not press it hard against the bearing, and avoid contact
with body parts at all times
Lower the armwand onto the pivot. Make sure that the pivot is centered
onto the female part of the bearing (inside the armwand); a few tries might be
necessary to achieve the proper position of the pivot at the bottom of the
bearing. Do not apply any pressure on the bearing.
Make sure that you support the phono cable all the time during this
procedure, until it is securely clamped on the turntable plinth (the cable
is fairly heavy so it will pull strongly on the thin wires). Failure to do this
could result in serious damage to the wires and render the tonearm
useless. Physical damage to the wire is not covered by the warranty.
Check that the thin phono wires are routed properly: they should run inside
the azimuth tower (not under the arm plate), first passing to the side of the
pivot (left or right, as is more convenient for your setup) then exiting to the
back of the arm plate without any hindrance. Attach the clamp of the phono
cable to the turntable plinth with the screw provided in the box. The clamp
should be roughly aligned with the tightening bolt at the back of the VTA
tower.
Before placing the upper arm plate back onto the lower arm plate, check the
cartridge position: if the arm is twisted toward the right, as viewed from the
front (cartridge not vertical), you need to insert one of the azimuth weights in
the azimuth bar before proceeding any further. Read carefully the SIDE
COMMENT on the facing page.
Do not change the setting of the azimuth adjustment at this point: since its
range is very limited, you need to first have the cartridge close to vertical so
that you don’t run out of range when you will later adjust the azimuth more
precisely.
Now is the time to install the anti-skating mechanism: see the Side Comment
on the following facing page (P.14).
SIDE COMMENT
The azimuth bar and azimuth weight
You might need to add one of the two azimuth weights
on the azimuth bar in order to balance the tonearm; this
will depend on the weight and shape of your cartridge,
so feel free to experiment with and without weight.The
goal is to make sure that, once the armwand is mounted
and the upper arm plate is in place, the arm is not overly
twisted in one direction of the other and the cartridge
is near vertical. The easiest way to ensure this is to
choose the appropriate azimuth weight before mounting
the upper arm plate back: place the weight on the
azimuth bar so that the cartridge is as vertical as
possible. (see P.23 below, for more information on the
topic on azimuth adjustment). Tighten the set screw on
these weights with the small 1,3-0.05” hex driver.
Note: when setting up the anti-skating mechanism, it is
important to place the azimuth weight on the azimuth
bar before engaging the anti-skating thread. See P.14.
