Why will no other turntable beat the EMT 927?


Having owned many good turntables in my audiophile life I am still wondering why not one of the modern designs of the last 20 years is able to beat the sound qualities of an EMT 927.
New designs may offer some advantages like multiple armboards, more than one motor or additional vibration measurements etc. but regarding the sound quality the EMT is unbeatable!
What is the real reason behind this as the machine is nearly 60 years old, including the pre-versions like the R-80?
thuchan
Dear Peterayer: The SME V and the V-12 are way different tonearms and that's why you listen different performance level as the other persons you name it. So, it is not a good comparison.

Please read my post to Tbg and remember that we are talink of a tonearm/cartridge in motion not static.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.
Hello Raul, I know this thread has gone off the original topic of the EMT 927. But in the last few posts the topic has been the differences between 9" and 12" tonearms. How is my experience with the SME V and V-12 not a good comparison? I agree they are different, and I attempt to explain how they are in my post above, but what do you mean by "way different" and "not a good comparison"?

You seem to suggest or, emphatically state, that 9" arms are better than 12' arms. Why is the SME V-12 not relevant to that discussion?

I read your post to Tbg and it does not explain to me why I and many others prefer the V-12 to the V.
The fact that the considerable mass of the cartridge is way out on the end of the "lever" means that inertial mass is higher with a 12" arm. With modern materials and technology, it is possible to make the mass of the arm itself much less so that the inertial mass (same as "effective mass" is in the proper range for the compliance of most low compliance cartridges. But, that lower mass means some compromise in rigidity and dampening of vibrational energy transmitted down the arm tube. In other words, for the same effective mass, a 9" arm can have more material to make the arm more rigid. This is a matter of a tradeoff, with modern material making the negatives of longer length less than in the past.

By the way the benefit of a longer arm that I like is the smaller change in VTA from different thickness records. I am NOT one to fiddle with VTA changes for different kinds of records.
If it were possible the best tonearm length would probably be no tonearm, or 0 length. Tonearms are necessary evils given the inherently flawed design of vinyl and teh systems needed to play it. Bigger/longer might be OK if done well but is definitely not better.
The thing is almost every aspect of vinyl record playback is a compromise. I suppose that's what makes it so interesting say compared to digital, there are lots of ways to do it yet no approach is perfect, much less any record being played.

So it is what it is. Long tonearm, shorter tonearm, whatever....it is what it is. WHatever you do there will always be a compromise somewhere. Its part of the vinyl mystique I suppose.