Tonearm recommendations, thoughts, favorites?

SnowmaNick said:
Anyone here have any experience or thoughts on tangential tracking arms? The Clear Audio I’ve always written them off as audio exotica, but Clear Audio has a relatively affordable option in the TT5.
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The review states the vertical "drag" is 10 mg and lateral is 20 mg. Effective mass is 6-7 grams - don't try your Denon 103 without tweaking the mass. Absolute leveling is required to prevent the equivalent of "skating" forces on a pivot arm. Economical depends on your point of view - list price for my pivoted Sorane SA1.2 is less than half the TT5. Linear arms are interesting, but I will go with the internal slightly twisted wire inside my pivoted arm over the hanging out wire on the linear arm or certain unipivot arms. Clearaudio makes good quality stuff that is consistently over priced - believe me I know. I enjoy my Clearaudio setup as long as I don't dwell on the cost. I still complain even though some of it was gifted to me.
 
SnowmaNick said:
Anyone here have any experience or thoughts on tangential tracking arms? The Clear Audio I’ve always written them off as audio exotica, but Clear Audio has a relatively affordable option in the TT5.
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More opinion, no experience. I’ve not seen a whole lot of evidence that pivoted tonearms audibly underperform tangenial ones. I get the theoretical advantages, but vinyl as medium has a lot of inherent limitations.

A center hole drilled 1 mm off center is likely to create more distortion than a 10” pivoted vs tangential arm.
 
SnowmaNick said:
Anyone here have any experience or thoughts on tangential tracking arms? The Clear Audio I’ve always written them off as audio exotica, but Clear Audio has a relatively affordable option in the TT5.
Click to expand...
I fiddled with the Eminent Technology 2 for several years and it had its wonderful moments but man was it fussy. A wandering soundstage, lack of serious bass and, finally, an exploding surge tank put me off it. Certainly not helping was the HW 19 mk iv supporting the arm which added to the moveable soundstage. This “feature” was most noticeable when listening to a well recorded symphony or opera. It was over 30 years ago and I’m sure technology has improved but I would want to have the opportunity to live with one for a while to see if its requirements weren’t too much of a bother. As noted, the ET did have its moments of glorious sound.
 
This one is for the geeks and nerds only...

I found this whitepaper from 1977 which describes the "audible effects of mechanical resonances in turntables". What I found particularly fascinating was how differently tonearms performed using the same turntable and cartridge. The only person I know today who still performs these measurements for mass publication is Paul Miller.

 
Angsty said:
This one is for the geeks and nerds only...

I found this whitepaper from 1977 which describes the "audible effects of mechanical resonances in turntables". What I found particularly fascinating was how differently tonearms performed using the same turntable and cartridge. The only person I know today who still performs these measurements for mass publication is Paul Miller.

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For non-nerds & geeks, the short version - "turntables are clusterfucks".
 
I kind of forgot about Audiomods until I just came across one of their Rega based arms in another forum. Looks like they've made some design updates. Would be interesting to hear one of these on a 1200g.

1740497761425.png
 
displayname said:
I kind of forgot about Audiomods until I just came across one of their Rega based arms in another forum. Looks like they've made some design updates. Would be interesting to hear one of these on a 1200g.

View attachment 227671
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I have a Series VI 10.5” as my second arm on my Blackbird. I like it so much I may buy another for an upcoming table. Great arms and Jeff Spall is really easy to work with. They just came out with a 12” variant recently, which already has received a positive review.
 
I’ve been enamored with the Sorane TA-1 after seeing it on the Vinyl Nirvana site. The spartan good looks appeal to me.

vinylnirvana.com

Upgrade to new Sorane TA-1 tonearm - Vinyl Nirvana - Vintage AR and Thorens Turntable Sales, Parts, and Restorations

The new 9" Sorane TA-1 Tonearm "Reproduced sound is precise and clean, thanks to hand assembly by highly skilled craftsmen." Sorane was founded in 1974.. Upgrade to new Sorane TA-1 tonearm. Vintage AR and Thorens Turntable Sales, Parts, and Restorations
vinylnirvana.com
 
Angsty said:
I’ve been enamored with the Sorane TA-1 after seeing it on the Vinyl Nirvana site. The spartan good looks appeal to me.

vinylnirvana.com

Upgrade to new Sorane TA-1 tonearm - Vinyl Nirvana - Vintage AR and Thorens Turntable Sales, Parts, and Restorations

The new 9" Sorane TA-1 Tonearm "Reproduced sound is precise and clean, thanks to hand assembly by highly skilled craftsmen." Sorane was founded in 1974.. Upgrade to new Sorane TA-1 tonearm. Vintage AR and Thorens Turntable Sales, Parts, and Restorations
vinylnirvana.com
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That was the other choice besides the SA1.2 - which in part won because it was in stock and I was somewhat "impatient".
 
I've got a long savings road ahead, but I think I'm going to pause all other purchases until I can move up to a VPI. I'm honing in on the Forever Model One, unless there is a local Prim Signature 21 on the market when I'm ready to buy. I think that's the only one I'd take over the One, largely due to the used ones being about the same price and including the Fat Boy Gimbal arm.

BUT, I'm curious to hear others thoughts on the new S-shaped tone arm. Weisfeld has said directly that he wants this to fill the Jelco shaped hole left in the market, and has intent to work with other manufactures and will be selling the arm on it's own. Solid aluminum, cables are in a cutout on the bottom of the arm, not actually in a tube of the arm. Gimbal, 10", effective mass of 10.4 grams.
1744813469374.png

What are the thoughts? Solid looking choice, or wait until I put in a little more cash and order with a Fat Boy (this would potentially add 6 months to a year on the savings process).
 
displayname said:
I've got a long savings road ahead, but I think I'm going to pause all other purchases until I can move up to a VPI. I'm honing in on the Forever Model One, unless there is a local Prim Signature 21 on the market when I'm ready to buy. I think that's the only one I'd take over the One, largely due to the used ones being about the same price and including the Fat Boy Gimbal arm.

BUT, I'm curious to hear others thoughts on the new S-shaped tone arm. Weisfeld has said directly that he wants this to fill the Jelco shaped hole left in the market, and has intent to work with other manufactures and will be selling the arm on it's own. Solid aluminum, cables are in a cutout on the bottom of the arm, not actually in a tube of the arm. Gimbal, 10", effective mass of 10.4 grams.
View attachment 231795

What are the thoughts? Solid looking choice, or wait until I put in a little more cash and order with a Fat Boy (this would potentially add 6 months to a year on the savings process).
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That tonearm is yummy to me. I don’t think waiting for a Fat Boy will pay off that much. You can always sell the S tonearm if you choose to upgrade later.

I’m glad to see VPI is moving to fill the Jelco market gap, but Sorane got there first! However, in the current import market, it would be good to have a US-made alternative in the mix.
 
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