Discuss The Viv Lab Rigid Arm

@mijostyn has stated that along with @clearthinker, they both are aligned in their thoughts on the following,  " we are all subject to modifiers based on mood " -

Music being the stimulus that it is, and when detected being present, is going to have a effect on the mood, it is used in many situations as a method to modify a mood, and even used in conjunction with other stimulus to manipulate a mood.

Music is an attraction because of its effect on a mood, and the continued use of music is certainly one carried out with a intent to stimulate and change a mood.

Does not an 'Audiophile' have a desire to encounter mood changes as a result of a auditory stimulus?     

@mijostyn also states " An audiophile is never entirely happy with their system "

This is explained in the context of Racing Cars and the Competitive need to pursue the engineering and aerodynamic formulas to give a Team the leading edge in the competition, the want to shave a 100th of second of a Lap.

I have spent time with the best known designers/producers of HiFi Equipment on the planet, some dead now. I have witnessed on numerous occasions, content supplied by individuals who are well known and respected for their products used for the purposes of replaying music.

Never has one suggested I am to be competitive with another or the system. As a layman's description, I would say the individuals are presenting a design based on their philosophies, for what is their belief of what is a requirement for a device to function and meet a certain criteria of performance. I am sure they are appreciative of ones recognition, and the adoption of the design to be used in a system.

I have no doubts a sales person when encountered in an environment that is solely created to create revenues through sales of a particular limited range of devices will be quite keen to inject the notion of being competitive and to rise above other Brands failings, taking ones system to stratospheric levels, as a result of adopting their wares.

Has @mijostyn found this type of sales individual in their experiences and is quite influenced, using the spiel offered to extract monies, as a justification of the substantial monies spent, and is now delusional as to the real value of the parts purchased, but are happy to use the purchases as the reason to create the alter ego of being a unique type of Audiophile. It does sound more like a Equipment'o'phile, throwing oodles of $$$$$$$ at fanciful purchases.

It is amazing how a Filter Fresh Coffee. and a Plate of Exotic Confections, at the price of a few $'s, and a Clever Play on Words can transform ones budget, to finding another few hundred to few thousand $'s. The Sales Team do know a good loss leader and methods required for setting the environment for the steal.      

1st

The ViV performs in the best possible way with all cartridges we tried out.

And the best means the best.

We tried everything 

light MMs, heavy MIs, light MCs, SPUs, all kind of DS Audio

all cartridges worked better in this arm than in all "normal" contenders

 

2nd

Forget about the "angle distortion". Of course we were eager to find any

negative points with this arm. Especially in the first and last grooves we

"wanted" to hear any distortions.... but nothing, really nothing!

 

3rd

The arm uses no anti skating. There is a small bit of skating force, but this

is way smaller than in conventional tonearms. When you put the cartridge

down on a non grooved vinyl the arm moves SLOWLY to the middle. Even if

you do this to the non existent outer or inner "grooves". Do this with a

conventional arm and it will dangerously speed up.

 

4th

We compared the ViV 9" with a huge variety of conventional tonearms from

Ortofon to DaVinci, from Shindo to Ikeda. There was not one arm better than

the ViV with only even one cartridge.

 

After all these tests I sold my conventional arms of my main turntable and

now I happily live with two Rigid Floats and can only smile on discussions

like this.

:-)

@racedoc fantastic, someone who has actually done the same as me and auditioned the Viv against other arms and therefore can speak with 1st hand experience and not theory. I applaud you sir.

Naysayers take a leaf out of this book and go listen.

@neonknight - so? Are you going to order one after hearing all of these opinions?  

@racedoc I am impressed the ViV 9" Arm superseded in use a combined value of Tonearms that must be near $12-15000 in total value. Must have been a great time doing the evaluations.

Myself on occasion receives a invite to play the role of an evaluator of a work going through R&D and as a working Prototype.

Usually there is a situation where a pre-version of the device under scrutiny can be introduced to the assessment and used as a exact mimic, albeit, as a earlier guise.

This is my interest in equipment and even though used in conjunction with listening to music, it is not anything to do with my interest in listening to music. The listening to music interest, starts with a passion for being present and sharing in a live performance, it can be a Busker through to a Stadium Concert. The listening to recorded music is secondary and a form of home entertainment, and the more the social activity achieved during any of the former are for myself for the betterment.

I really enjoy the creative work carried out by others, learning about the reasoning for the designs and how the designs are produced to reduce known flaws of other designs created and of certain Branded Designs.

I get to experience this through mechanical, micro engineering work, such as works done on Tonearms or Platter Bearings, or alternatively through electronics, such as Signal Path, Speed Control, or Power Supplies.

Fortunately, such days set aside aside for demonstrations are built on a social gathering and the fundamental aim is to spend time with like-minded company.

The work undertaken and being assessed is the secondary aim.  

My experiences of sharing in the works undertaken by others, leaves me confident in my knowing these individuals are not lost, they are extremely open minded, a little insular with their IP, but quite interactive and willing to readily share the creation produced with over. Certainly not expectant to win favour with all, or in any way suggest another's choices are faulty and not worthy of a place. This is the antithesis of some of the most recent statements made within this thread by a few contributors. 

I get the sense the ViV Arm has something of the above attached to it, maybe this is one of the reasons the Arm has an attraction to me.    

In a recent post, it is made known I am soon to be involved with upcoming A/B Comparisons, where I am once more invited to be taking part in as an evaluator. This new period of assessments are designed to enable a much more broader usage of a range of Tonearm models are to be put under the knife, where a subjective assessment will be attributed to all models being demonstrated.

Your description does lead myself to believe there is a like-mindedness shared between us.