Cartridge set-up

Well, I am relieved I got my SL1210 mark2's original P2S right at 215mm but apologise for not realising the mark 1 was 200mm.

Andrew is right. There is a delight in aligning your cartridge (probably not the 1st or 2nd time) and enjoying the sound that results from it being just right. Or near enough!

I've printed CH arc protractors on several decks and arms (so less experience than many here) and found them easy to use with consistently good results. I even worked out how to paste one accurately onto a duff LP that a screwed onto the base of my Clearaudio protractor.

Paul H wrote: .....on first attempt I was interested to see that, while the stylus didn't follow the printed arc (it drifted out by a few mm) it did appear to arrive safely at each null point. That may have been because I hadn't lined it up accurately enough with the pivot but, assuming that I do get that alignment correct, do I need the stylus to line up with all points on the arc or with just one or both of the null points?

Yes, this may happen & it can be frustrating & time consuming to get the final result. 

Andrew, that's a fabulous post and very enlightening. The wonderful thing about the internet is that it's full of people telling you what to use, but very little actual explaination of how. I had assumed that the correct method was to roughly align the protractor with the pivot (there's a line drawn on Hoffman's protractor that points to the pivot, so I assumed that was its purpose) and then carry out the adjustments you mention.