Tonearm recommendation

ct0517 -- further to "repeatability" when it comes to tonearm setup. Firstly I should discuss my approach to setup. It’s the typical iterative VTF/SRA approach using a Cartridge Man stylus gauge (best device of it’s type I’ve found, unreliable little buggers however that are prone to breaking down) and then setting SRA using a DinoScope. Azimuth is set roughly using a Fozgometer then fine tuned by ear using mono female voice (method per Durand, see his site for reference)

Critical to this is the ability to go backwards and forwards on tonearm height to dial in SRA very finely. Of the four arms I’ve owned recently the SME-IV is a joke (one way only adjustment and for that even you needed to buy the FD-IV setup). The Wand+ is a set screw and manual raise/lower, obviously rough but bear in mind the price of this arm is much less than all the others. The Triplanar at first glance seems fine but the reality is the dial based approach is quite confusing -- you have to remember a) which way you turn and b) how many times -- in reality I was always needing to do multiple turns to remind myself if I was raising or lowering and then dial back -- a real pain. The Kairos is a simple gradated dial on the base, easy as pie.

Finally to dial in azimuth on the Triplanar you do have a grub screw which is quite precise but again there’s no direct easily visible feedback between adjustment and the arm wheras on the Kairos being a unipivot you can directly see how raising the balance bar tilts the arm clockwise (as viewed from the front) and vice versa. The Wand+ is also quite intuitive once you get the hang of it, you move a set of offset weights left or right to tilt the arm to one side or another, seems clunky but it is actually very precise and repeatable.

In conclusion repeatability and ease in adjustment comes from a clear visible link between the adjustment and the impact therof which is true for the Kairos while it was not for the TriPlanar. My one knock on the Kairos however would be that I think the small VTF weight may wander (i.e. drift on the thread) in use -- keep rechecking VTF regularly and you are good however.

Hi Folkfreak - thank you for the reply and for sharing your experiences. If I may comment on a couple of your points.

Critical to this is the ability to go backwards and forwards on tonearm height to dial in SRA very finely.

My one knock on the Kairos however would be that I think the small VTF weight may wander (i.e. drift on the thread) in use -- keep rechecking VTF regularly and you are good however.

I am making an assumption here not having used this tonearm personally; that assumption being the issue of VTF drifting in this case, is not with the tonearm part itself, but physics. Please allow me to use a crude analogy to illustrate my point. Anyone can try this. Gather a blank piece of paper, flat shim whatever material - say one inch think, and a long marker. 

Place the piece of paper on a table, draw a straight line with the marker using the shim to make the line straight. 
Now hold the marker with your thumb, middle and index fingers, and lay your hand sideways, on the line. 
Hold the marker level like a tonearm armtube, and lower the tip until a dot is made on the paper. 
Now put the shim on the line and your hand on top of the one inch shim. This represents a higher VTA position. 
Lower marker again. This time the dot will be closer to the line (over hang has changed) because of the height change, if you could weigh the marker dots the first one - with the lower height (VTA) would be heavier. Again a crude example, the experiment came to me many years ago when I observed this phenomena.  

To observe this phenomena using an actual tonearm; set your tonearm on its lowest VTA adjustment point. Measure the overhang and VTF. Now raise to the highest VTA position and measure overhang and VTF again.   Overhang and VTF will have changed and if one wants to be the double A - Accurate and Anal, both need to be reset as well as Azimuth depending on the specific tonearm, each time VTA needs to be changed in ones listening room. From a listening aspect, my experiences have been some stylus types are affected by VTA more than others; but that's a cartridge/stylus thread discussion.        

Folkfreak - I would look forward to the results of you trying this with your tonearm.  

@OP Crazy Bill - if you are using the B60 Base accessory with your FR66, I would be interested in you trying this as well. Only takes 2 minutes.

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A little about my approach.

I play all kinds of records meaning old records, new ones, all genres. They were pressed all over the place and I am all over the place with my selections as well. I can get into routines, but then one day I pull a record on a whim, like it, and that gets me on another routine/ genre. Love discovering new music. So, I have found some records are, to use one common word, brighter, than others. Why ? Many years ago I found the findings in the Eminent Technology ET2 tonearm owners manual very interesting.

Just a summary - pulled from there, not word for word. These are basic guidelines. 

• Many records are cut with a 16 - 20 degree vertical angle. 
  
• Average cartridge vertical angles are slighter higher than 22 degrees. This leads to a mismatch.
  
• European cutting standards closely match vertical angles of phono cartridges. 
  
• If a cartridge vertical angle is higher than 22 degree its performance may be improved by tilting it back 2-3 degrees. 
  
• If the measured vertical tracking angle of a cartridge is 18-20 degrees it will probably perform best with its top parallel to the record. 
  
• Some cartridges are sensitive to VTA, others are not. 
  

Vertical Tracking Angle . See this link pic. quick grab from the internet.

http://eu.audio-technica.com/en/products/cartridges/images/vertical.jpg

So, for someone like myself that plays all kinds of different records from different pressing plants. This tells me the vertical angle cut in the record itself could vary. The record is the Alpha here - no question to me. Does anybody doubt this ? I do realize this AudioGon site is mostly about the gear. And I also recognize that if an Audiophile is listening to the same type/pressed records - the value or importance of VTA may become less important. But I still feel its important to understand what is going on when we do hear differences; especially when the only changed variable in a given listening session, are the records themselves.   

My reference tonearm has been designed to optimize the vertical tracking angle. And if you think back to the marker dot example above. This tonearm's VTA "block" contains a worm gear /cylinder that actually moves the armtube in and out, as you raise or lower the VTA, for different record angle cuts and thicknesses. Its frequency of use is all based on what I hear in my room. I have found how much it is used, depends on the cartridge/stylus type, and my tolerance level, the latter part varies day to day. The VTA mechanism on this tonearm is patented and keeps the VTF, overhang, azimuth from changing.

Thanks for letting me ramble. 

No, not what I meant at all. I am well aware of the VTF/VTA interaction you describe and appreciate the need to adjust the two iteratively. First time I observed this was on my old TriPlanar and the effect was not subtle (from recollection 0.5G or more going from my initial VTA/SRA setting to where I finally settled)

What I am referring to is that the small counterweight on the Kairos is rather loosely threaded and thus with gross movement of the arm (i.e. moving it on and off records) it may wander slightly. I've never seen this happen but have merely observed that when I recheck VTF it has sometimes shifted despite my having made no adjustments. Maybe I should add a small dot of locking compound to the thread and all will be well.

I am surprised. I did think about a tonearm part problem when I read your original findings, but I guess I assumed due to its cost/low production, that a part as critical as this would be addressed. But then I believe that I also read this week, something about another expensive tonearm’s part actually changing its shape....
Hard to believe.

Maybe I should add a small dot of locking compound to the thread and all will be well.

Personally I would not accept this kind of solution. If it was me its going back to the manufacturer. I realize that depending on where one lives, in relation to where something is made; could prove challenging from a logistics and time period.

If anything I would try something non permanent first. Maybe a tiny dot of Blue Tac - but Blue Tac also dampens.

To be clear, I’m talking about changes in VTF of +/- 0.05g here so nothing that’s going to do any long term damage to anything. It may be just as much room temperature interacting with the damping in the cartridge, who knows and it’s certainly nothing I’ve ever heard an issue with on listening. Also if I was that bothered I could simply take off the smaller counterweight and adjust only the main weight which has a locking screw, that way no concerns

Personally I find VTF the least important parameter in tonearm setup, unlike alignment, SRA and Azimuth the difference between being perfectly on (to +/- 0.01g say) and accurate to +/- 0.1g has never seemed that big, at least with my Air Tight PC-1. For example on going from the TriPlanar to the Kairos I was able to go from 1.85g to 2.05g, the former had been necessary to get the cartridge to be open and lively on the TriPlanar wheras with the much better controlled Kairos I could take up the VTF into more of the typical manufacturers recommended range and get a better sound without losing energy. And lets not mention my other cartridge the Miyajima Zero which tracks at a whopping 3.5g and shifting things 0.5g or more is no big deal