Comparison of sonic qualities of some tonearms


I’m relatively new to the world of vinyl, listening seriously for probably only 2 years.  Of course, many big picture items (e.g. turntable, phono stage, cartridges) are discussed extensively on this forum, but I haven’t seen much discussion comparing different tonearms.  I would be interested to hear about different people’s experiences with different tonearms, mentioning the audible advantages and disadvantages of each tonearm, realizing that there is no perfect sound, although from what I read about others’ experiences, SAT tonearms may come closest, albeit at a very high price.  

drbond

@mijostyn said "The air bearing does absolutely nothing to alleviate the high horizontal mass, that would be magic. "

I understand- I guess, from my crude understanding of mechanics/physics, this is the difference between "weight" and "mass,"- that is, while the air bearing, properly designed to account for the load (of the entire arm "carriage") will relieve the weight or friction between the arm tube and the travel rail, the mass of the carriage remains the same. 

@mijostyn  : I'm sorry but you are wrong when posted:

 

" because of it's very low compliance.  " NO, it's not. It's around 14cu-15cu.

 

and you are wrong but I respect that you do nt cares about when psted:

 

" I can't imagine rewiring an arm would bother you that much "

it's crucial and way important to have the best internal wire in tonearm an that the re-wiring be made by professional people.

 

R.

@billstevenson  : my advise this time to rewire not only your tonearms but any tonearm is using the silver Audio Note UK dedicated for tonearm rewiring or you can pay way more using the Audio Note Kondo ( Japan ).

Those are the best for the tonearm rewiring but if you have some " inferior " resolution link item in your system you will know because that cable does not permit to hide nothing at all.

 

R.

@mijostyn Thr design I am referring to is a Tonearm that has also been converted to a Continuous Wire TA.

I am not instrumental in the decision made to use Continuous Wire, but very much influential in the decision made to use PC Triple C Wire.

The only other Models of TA using PC Triple C is a SAEC Arm costing approx $15K, and the returned models to the TA Designer/Builder as a Signal Path Upgrade, which has proved to be a substantial upgrade to the previous wire used. 

I always use my headshell arm to play Leonard Cohen : “ i’m just a lazy bastard living in a suit “…..