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TriPlanar Tips

The manual that comes with the TriPlanar Mk VII tonearm is fairly complete, but there are a few things I’ve learned only by living with the arm. Note: I do not know which if any of these would apply to previous versions of the arm. My only experience is with the Mk VII.

1. NEVER raise the cueing lever while the arm is locked in the arm rest. This pressures the damping cylinder and could cause a silicone leak. For this reason and also for safety, whenever the arm is in the arm rest the cueing lever should be DOWN. This is backwards from most arms and takes some getting used to.

2. If your Tri-Planar doesn't cue straight down there's a quick fix, which may be included on some new arms. The problem is insufficient friction between the arm tube and the hard rubber cueing support bar. Just glue a bit of thin sandpaper to the underside of the arm tube. Make it big enough and position it so it hits the cueing support bar at all points across the arm’s arc. (Note: after doing this you will need to adjust the cueing height, see Tip #3.)

3. When adjusting cueing height (instructions are in the manual) always do so with the arm in the UP position. This adjustment is VERY touchy, since the cueing support bar is so close to the pivot. Be patient and be careful of your cartridge. (Note: after doing this you may need to adjust the anti-skate initiation point, see Tip #4.)

Chris Brady of Teres told me of a way to improve cueing even more by re-shaping the cueing support. Moving the cueing support point farther from the pivot improves its mechanical advantage and makes the cueing height and speed adjustments less touchy. This mod is easier than it sounds and requires only a length of coat hanger (!), but I don’t have pix and haven’t yet done it myself.

4. Changing the cueing height affects the point where anti-skate kicks in. (Yes, it's weird.) Once cueing height is satisfactory, adjust the short pin that sticks out of the front of the cueing frame. That pin controls where the anti-skate dogleg first engages the knot on the string.

5. The Tri-Planar comes with three counterweight donuts of differing masses. Many cartridges can be balanced using either of two. The arm usually tracks best with the heaviest donut that will work, mounted closer to the pivot. Of course this also reduces effective mass, which may or may not be sonically desirable depending on the cartridge. It also leaves more room for Tip #6.

6. For fine VTF adjustments don’t futz with the counterweight, there’s an easier way. Set the counterweight for the highest VTF you think you’ll need (ie, close to the pivot). Pick up some 1/4" I.D. O-rings from Home Depot. To reduce VTF a bit just slip an O-ring or two on the end stub. Thin O-rings reduce VTF by .01-.02g, thick ones by .04-.05g. Quick, cheap, effective. (For safety, always lock the arm down while adding or removing O-rings.)

7. When adjusting VTA, always bring the pointer to the setting you want by turning it counter-clockwise at least ¼ of a turn. This brings the arm UP to the spot you've selected, which takes up the slop in the threads. You can easily feel this happening.

Hope someone finds these useful. If you know any more, please bring ‘em on!
dougdeacon
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
First up, I tried the Triplanar for a couple of days, then this morning took off the damping trough.
No brainer - it sounds better. better upper frequency extension and air, bass is a little faster and this has opened up the midrange for more realistic vocals and alike.

Well, the Arm is very problematic with energy transfer (It has none, the whole Arm vibrates with certain cartridges). It started as an Amateur Design and the new owner never was able to improve it. Of course it will sound better when you take off the damping trough, another part which does not add vibrations
.
The Triplanar is recommended for cartridges which do not reflect ANY energy into the Arm. The Arm looks solid, but it isn't.
But, to be fair, it also has its Fans, like everything else in "High End" :-)
(I had one)
downunder
1,329 posts
 
I am borrowing it and getting it up to speed for a friend.

The Monaco table was designed with the Triplanar and Atmosphere likes the arm a lot, so it must be a good arm.

It is a little agricultural looking in person compared to the Phantom and the vintage Pioneer Exclusive arms. Sounds seems good thou.

It would be nice to put my Phantom on the Monaco and see how it compares to the Triplanar, however that would need a new armboard.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,979 posts
 
The Triplanar is recommended for cartridges which do not reflect ANY energy into the Arm. The Arm looks solid, but it isn't.

All cartridges can put energy into the arm if they are not set up right. What is supposed to happen instead is that the stylus motion is transduced into electrical energy. That will be impaired if the cartridge is putting energy into the arm (usually the result of improper effective mass: the combination of cartridge compliance with incorrect choice of counterweights, resulting in a mechanical resonance outside the recommended 7-12Hz)

The strength of the Triplanar is that everything is adjustable so that the cartridge can be set up precisely. When this is done the energy applied to the arm itself will be minimized. The arm tube is also internally and externally damped- it is one of the more dead arm tubes made.
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
All cartridges can put energy into the arm if they are not set up right.

Well, I know it is a secret and - confidential - only between you and me:
All cartridges can put energy into the Arm even when the set up is perfect.
The next hidden secret, the resonance 8-12 is just an information but more or less useless because the materials in the Arm can vary (steel, aluminum, ceramic, wood .....) and it has absolutely no influence to the Arm geometry for example, or the bearing...(when it is done wrong it is wrong, even with a theoretical data of 10.0)
The Triplanar VII was ok when nothing better than a Graham 2.0 was available but when the first Phantom was launched, it was a total different chapter from the sonic result and the matching with all kind of cartridges.The strength of the Phantom is that everything is adjustable so that the cartridge can be set up precisely.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,979 posts
 
Syntax, that strength of the Phantom is one shared by the Triplanar. It really sounds to me that you had either incorrect setup or simply a poor match between arm and cartridge.

You are correct that all cartridges put energy into the arm- this is how the arm moves across the LP after all.

The trick in the setup is such that the information is transduced by the cartridge rather than applied to the arm tube. This is done by setting up the proper effective mass, which has nothing at all to do with the materials of the arm as long as the resulting mechanical resonance falls within the target area. IOW the last sentence of your first paragraph in the post above flies in the face of tone arm theory in general.

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