Dear wrm0325: Unipivots? Moerch, Talea, VPI, Graham and some other unipivots are good tonearms. I own some unipivots and tested others too.
Years ago when the Talea appears for the first time somne one started a thread to speaks on that new tonearm and there not only posted many persons but included Agoner's that were beta testers of the tonearm and MR. Durand posted too.
Well I gave my point of view about unipivot tonearm designs and all its drawbacks/disadvantages, against non-unipivot tonearm designs like Triplanar or any other pivoted one, that does not really helps for the cartridge can shows at its best. I don'ty want to repeat what I posted there where I invited to the designer to put some light on what I posted but unfortunatelly he did not and stay in silence.
What is the first cartridge critical neccesity that asks to a tonearm: STABILITY with CERO TOLERANCE for the cartridge can ride " freely " the LP grooves modulations. That STABILITY reside/belongs primary in the tonearm bearing design that not only must has low friction but totally tight with no loose anywhere in that bearing design.
By " nature " unipivot is an unstable design and we can't change it it does not matters what unipivot designers do about ( at least till today. ) and that unstability is reflected at micro levels when the cartridge is ridding the LP. We have to think in that huge demands that represent all the generated forces down the stylus and grooves modulations when cartridge is in the trackibg motion and those huge ( every type of forces and its feedback ) forces and tracking must be controled by the tonearm bearing and it's not posible yet for a unipivot to achieve this main and critical cartridge/tonearm targets.
I'm not saying that unipivots are bad because sounds good but as everything that sounds good has different quality gradding and certainly unipivots are not at the top of that grading because that unstability only is in favor to help to generate additional distortions and " push " the cartridge tracking abilities against it when must be the other side around: to help to that LP ridding.
Every one thinks that unipivots has very low bearing friction when in reality is not in that way because all the tonearm/cartridge weight/mass is concentrated at only one point that not only means not low pivot friction but that everything and everykind of distortions and feedback goes through that single point doing things worst that in a non-unipivot tonearm design and instead to help de cartridge goes " against it ".
The Technics EPA 100 has the lower bearing friction of any pivoted tonearm I know, it's only 4mg even well regarded non-unipivot tonearm designs are much much higher as is the Dynavector 505/507 MK2: 50mg!, yes you read it well: 50 vs 4mg. Unipivots can't compare in this regards with the EPA 100 and obviously has not all itys advantages.
I own two top of the line Grace tonearms, one unipivot and thwe other with gimball bearing design. I made several tests where everything the same: cartridge, tonearm wires, IC cables, etc. the gimball always performs with better quality level.
Unipivots are knows for its fast, open and transparent type of sound but those are the transparency or " alive " that some us are accustom to: higher distortions and that's all.
I totally agree with atmasphere because at least in that regards that's my experiences with each single unipivot tonearm and I know that in the Kairos just can't be in other way because the tonearm bearing has the same unipivot principle:
"""
The Talea was very sweet but simply lacked the bass impact. No amount of adjustment brought it out. """
That the Kairos likes more to folkfreak than the Triplanar does not change in any way the premises posted here. Triplanar is more faithful to the real music information with better definition and lower distortions on the fundamental and harmonics frequencies and bass range and more important: RIGHT bass range reproduction is not only the foundation of the home musioc sytem performance but what gives the exactkly and precise frame to all the frequency range.
I don't posted about to open a new window in this thread is and was only to share my experiences and of course that I can be wrong but if I'm you I mantain some distance from the unipivots if I want to obtain the best of my cartridges.
Regards and enjoy the music,
R.
