used goldmund T-3f at $4750?

I will likely incur the wrath of people with my opinion, but I would not choose either of those tonearms.

The Goldman is discontinued and parts are difficult to come by and in addition, it‘s performance is nowhere equal to the $4750.00 price tag.

As for the Airtangent, I owned one for three months. At that time my reference tables were Versa Dynamics 2.0 with linear track arm and a Basis Debut Gold Mk 4 with a Walker Motor controller. The Basis was set up for the test against the Versa with the Air Tangent, the Graham Tungsten-Ceramic and the Triplanar.

The Airtangent produced the poorest image, drastically reduced bass extension and dynamics and exhibited the most difficulty with high energy, high frequency passages on difficult classical music, such as the 45 RPM Classic Records reissues.

The Triplanar had the tightest bass, and was a great overall tracker, but I fell in love with the Graham Tungsten because of the magic midrange. The Graham equaled the Triplanar in bass depth, but slightly less taught and defined (this was minor).

You did not mention the SME 5, I personally prefer it and the others I mention to your listed choices. Perhaps others will add comments about their own listening experience.

For reference, at that time I was using the Aesthetix Io (non-signature) for phono stage, a Benz Ruby 2 and a Koetsu Rosewood Platinum Signature MC cartridges.

In my current system I choose the Walker Proscenium with the Black Gate motor controller.

Based upon what I have read and heard from others, the T3F is not a desirable arm, at least in part due to reliability or staying set up correctly. For $4750 you can do better, in my opinion. The Air Tangent is a really good arm, although about twice the price. I do not care for the Clearaudio/Souther arms with their very short cantilevers which are very susceptible to warps and critical of VTA settings, and they are not air bearing type which I prefer.

Brian

I have owned both the T-3F and T-3B, both mounted on a Goldmund Reference. Both are extremely tweaky with the sound varying widely depending on set up. The electronics that control the arm are also prone to problems. I would not own either unless I had a dealer who knew how to set them up and would support them. Even then $4750 seems steep. I would go with Albert's recommendations but wish that he had said a little more about the SME. i am currently using a Rockport with a Lyra Titan.

Gentlemen Albertporter, Brian and Fcrowder have systems to die for. I'm most interested to know what they think about tables mortals could afford like the LP12 or the Teres.

What say you, sirs?

Thanks,
George

I enjoyed owning an LP12 for years, with Ittok arm and Asak cartridge. It was sensitive to floor vibrations and somewhat to acoustic feedback at higher volume levels, but it served me well. Placing it on a Machina Dynamica Nimbus stand was interesting. (www.machinadynamica.com) The Teres is a different animal altogether, although it looks intriguing. I haven't had the opportunity to hear one in a system I'm familiar with, although a friend is getting one.

Brian

Thank you for your suggestions. For your information, I am currently using 2 turntable systems. First system is a Audiomeca J-1 with SL-5 tonearm equipped with Koetsu Onyx(old model), and second system is Micro Seiki RX-5000 with Goldmund T-3 tonearm also equipped with Koetsu Onyx driving the Levinson HQD. In fact, the second turntable system is a loan from my friend, and after I installed this turntable to my system, I found this sounded better than my Audiomeca turntable system. Thus, I started thinking about purchasing the Goldmund tonearm, and install this on a Verdier Platine turntable. I would like to know your opinion regarding the Verdier Platine turntable? Also, is it a good idea if I combine Verdier turntable with SME 5 tonearm? I will wait your good suggestions. Thanks.