New Video: How to Fit Houdini + Cobra (And Avoid the Setup Mistakes That Kill Performance)

Creating YouTube video for Houdini and Cobra

We’re filming a new YouTube video this week, and it’s one we’ve wanted to make for a long time:

A clear, practical, close-up guide to fitting Houdini and Cobra properly.

Not a theory lesson. Not a “watch me do it once” montage. A real, repeatable fitting process you can follow at your benchwith the tiny details that decide whether you get the full musical payoff.

Why we’re making this video

A lot of people don’t return products because they don’t like the sound.

They return them because fitting is stressful, and one small mistake can:

• throw alignment off

• add stress into the cartridge mounting

• cause mistracking

• make the sound harden or thin out

So this video is designed to do one thing: make fitting Houdini + Cobra feel straightforward, not intimidating.

What the video covers (so you know exactly what you’ll get)

1) The “before you start” checks

We begin with the boring-but-essential stuff that prevents accidents:

• protecting the stylus

• securing the arm

• getting the deck stable and level

2) Fitting Houdini: the parts people get wrong

Houdini is simple, but it’s also precise.

In the video we show, close-up:

• how to handle Houdini safely

• how to mount it so the cartridge sits square

• how tight is tight enough (without overdoing it)

3) Mounting the cartridge to Cobra cleanly

Cobra is designed to make setup more repeatable, but the fundamentals still matter.

We’ll walk through:

• getting the cartridge straight before you chase alignment

• tightening hardware properly (firm, not brutal)

• avoiding cable pull that can bias the arm

4) Setting VTA on Cobra (without the mythology)

VTA is one of those topics that attracts endless opinions.

So we keep it practical:

• where to start

• what to listen for

• how to make small changes that you can actually repeat

5) Tracking force + bias: a simple, reliable approach

Once Houdini is in the chain, you want to be methodical.

We’ll show a straightforward way to:

• set tracking force sensibly

• avoid the common “too light” trap

• set bias without guesswork

6) The final checklist: the fitting mistakes that cause most problems

We finish with a quick diagnostic list you can use any time:

• cartridge not square

• bolts over-tightened

• arm cable tugging

• VTA wildly out

• tracking force too light

What you should hear when it’s fitted properly

When Houdini + Cobra is right, the improvement isn’t a flashy “hi-fi trick”. It’s musical.

Most people report some version of:

• cleaner tracking (especially on demanding passages)

• more stable imaging (voices stop wandering)

• less glare and hardness at higher levels

• bass that’s easier to follow

• more separation without turning the treble up

When it goes live

As soon as the video is published, we’ll link it here and on our socials.

If you’d like us to answer your exact setup question in a follow-up video, leave a comment on YouTube with:

• your turntable model

• your cartridge

• what step you’re unsure about

Because the fastest way for us to make these guides better is to tackle the real-world sticking points.

Subscribe so you don’t miss it

If you’re planning to fit Houdini, Cobra, or both, subscribe to the channel and hit notifications.

This video is built to save you time, reduce stress, and help you get the performance you paid forwithout the trial-and-error.