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Micro Seiki MA 505 Arm - how good is it?

I have a Micro Seiki MA 505 Mk I arm on my Spacedeck. I am wondering just how it rates against more modern - and expensive - arms such as, say, a Kuzma Stogi Reference, a Graham Phantom, a Triplanar, an Ortofon, or maybe an SME M2.

The arm is being used with a 15g AT headshell and extra sub-weight with a Koetsu Rosewood and the sound is truly excellent. It certainly sounds a lot better than the SME IV which it replaced (which sounded boring with just about any cartridge I tried with it). The MA 505 is also more versatile and by using different headshell weights I am able to use a wide variety of cartridges with it.

The real test of course is how it sounds, and it really does sound excellent, and I have nothing to complain about, as I did when I had an ARO on my LP12 (sounded thin and lightweight) and the SME IV (boring). And yet I have a nagging doubt that I should be spending a lot of money on a more recent arm, particularly as the MA 505 was not even one of Micro Seiki's "high end" arms.

I'd be interested if anyone has any thoughts on how the MA 505 Mk I compares to more recently produced and more expensive arms.
rossb
thom_at_galibier_design's avatar
thom_at_galibier_design
729 posts
 
The 505 (in all three incarnations) was the baby brother of the MAX-237/283.

It was a nice arm. I have a marginal preference for the Fidelity Research FR-64FX, but 10 different people could easily split their preferences for these two tonearms 50/50.

I'd put the little Jelco 250 (which my buddy and I modify under the Artisan name) as being in the same class of arm.

In my experience, the next step after these arms is the Tri-Planar/Graham/Kuzma/Reed/Durand/etc. class of tonearm (pick according to your taste). In my experience, there doesn't appear to be an intermediate point worthy of your opening your checkbook.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galiber
thom_at_galibier_design's avatar
thom_at_galibier_design
729 posts
 
The The MA-505 Mk-III does *not* have adjustable azimuth. The Mk-I (with its "S" shaped wand and removable headshell) does. I have not handled the Mk-II.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier
pryso
1,928 posts
 
I have a MA-505S which designates silver wire. Not certain of this but I've read some call that the Mk II.

Isn't the Mk III a straight arm tube rather than S shape?
bpoletti
1,552 posts
 
I had a MA-505/II for a while on a VPI TNT. I thought it was very good on that table with a Clavis da Capo. I would personally avoid silver conductors ANYWHERE in a system, but YMMV.
thom_at_galibier_design's avatar
thom_at_galibier_design
729 posts
 
Yes Pryso. The Mk III has a straight removable arm tube (headshell is fixed).

A point of clarification on the "no man's land" of tonearms between the $5-800 price-point and $5K and upwards.

1. I haven't tried every tonearm extant.

2. I intentionally omitted the Analog Instruments Elementum for two reasons: (a) I've had private dialogs with James Grant (its designer) and we may be taking on a project together, and (b) James has come to realize it is far more expensive to manufacture than the unipivot arms on which he based the pricing. Knowing what goes into its manufacture, I'd asses it fair price to be in the $4,500 to $5K range.

Cheers,
Thom
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