looking at upgrading my tonearm from a triplanar

Some of Geoffrey's other business is involved with NASA-level space exploration. There is actually a superior alternative material already employed in the bearings contained in the Voyager spacecraft, I believe it is, but I don't feel entitled to repeat what was told me a few weeks ago regarding upcoming Helius products. I will just say that if I were looking into State-Of-The-Art tonearms, I would not buy one before next year. You heard it here first!

What Doug said (along with our friend at Helius) ...

Ralph, theory is fine, but the fact is that even our mother planet has a resonant frequency. I fear that it's a bit utopian to expect an armwand to accomplish what our planet cannot do (to dissipate all vibrations into heat).

Bearing precision (and perhaps hardness) are desirable attributes, and congratulations to Tri Mai for sourcing such good bearings, but to categorically state that one's bearings are superior for audio because one needs a Homeland Security clearance is a bit specious and obfuscates the big picture - that (as with all things audio), we're dealing with complex interactions.

I suspect that the relevant attribute of the Tri-Planar bearing has more to do with its ABEC specification (likely 9) - the fact that they are round and to a tighter tolerance, resulting in being less prone to rattling when excited (because the cartridge WILL try to excite them).

It's possible that its material (and possibly hardness) also contributes to energy transfer, but without identical bearing specifications of various materials, one couldn't prove this.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

The Schumann frequency is not actually the Earth's resonant frequency per se. It's the frequency of the electromagnetic wave that is created in the space between the Earth's surface and the ionosphere by lightning and other phenomena. Thus, it's not a mechanical resonance.

Cheers

Go with a Graham Phantom Elite. It is quite the step up from the Graham Supreme. I have two Supremes and one Elite 10" which is my go to arm. I use a 12" Supreme in the rear slot for mono. The Graham also has interchangeable arm wands so you can have a couple carts set up and ready to go save for the need to set tracking weight and arm height which is also easiest with the Graham because of the calibrated bearing tower bubble level.

Ralph, theory is fine, but the fact is that even our mother planet has a resonant frequency. I fear that it's a bit utopian to expect an armwand to accomplish what our planet cannot do (to dissipate all vibrations into heat).

Our planet is supposed do dissipate vibration in a tone arm??
Dang!