MINI LEVELER tonearm bubble - Analogis

If you really want to set up a turntable correctly, you need a spirit level in three places: on the turntable itself, on the tonearm and - most challenging of all - on the headshell. This is exactly where standard spirit levels fail: they are too big, too heavy or simply not designed to rest on a tonearm connection without slipping. The Analogis Mini spirit level solves this problem with consistent miniaturization: 17 mm diameter, 8.5 mm height - handy enough for the headshell, precise enough for all relevant adjustment steps on the analogue turntable.

Analogis is a German accessories company from Falkensee with decades of experience in the development of practical adjustment and maintenance tools for analog listening. All Analogis products are developed and thoroughly tested by experienced analog enthusiasts - without audiophile mysticism, but with real user know-how. The Mini Libelle is a good example of this: small, light, immediately ready for use, and easy to understand without any familiarization time.

A record player that is not level affects the synchronization of the platter: The bearing friction changes, the platter rotates unevenly depending on the direction of inclination and the synchronization deteriorates measurably. Tilting has an even more direct effect on the cartridge geometry: The stylus no longer lies symmetrically in the groove, the channels are loaded differently - the sound result is a shifted stereo stage and increased sampling distortion. Correct basic leveling of the drive unit is therefore not an audiophile subtlety, but the prerequisite for everything that follows.

Things get even finer at the level of the headshell adjustment: the azimuth - the rotation of the cartridge around the vertical axis - has a direct influence on channel separation and crosstalk. If the headshell is tilted even slightly, the stylus is skewed in the groove, which samples one channel more than the other and leads to distortion and channel imbalance. This is where a tiny level that can be placed directly on the headshell is the most precise and simplest tool - and that's exactly what the Analogis Mini Level is.

The Mini Level can be used at three central points in the setup workflow. Firstly, on the turntable itself: Place the bubble level on the turntable - if the feet of the device are not adjustable, felt pads or thin rubber pads can be placed underneath until the bubble is centered. Secondly, on the headshell: Place the bubble level on the flat top of the mounted headshell and correct the cartridge insertion angle accordingly - for the rough azimuth setting before using finer methods such as channel separation measurement. Thirdly, on the tonearm: Depending on the design, the level can also be placed on the tonearm shaft or the headshell mount to check the arm parallelism to the record surface - an important basic check for the VTA.

Its small size also makes it a practical tool for all flat surfaces of the hi-fi setup: amplifiers, phono stages, DACs or speaker cabinets can be checked just as quickly. One user on Amazon reported that he placed it directly on the tonearm - as a first step towards setting an SRA (Stylus Rake Angle) of 92 degrees - and thus used it in a much more versatile way than expected.