Tonearm recommendation

mmakshak
Earlier, someone quoted that bass below 100hz was mono. I had always thought or read it was lower(60 or 40hz?)

mmakshak
That was a linked quote from Frank Schroeder. I took it to mean as a guideline. In talking with engineers this number will vary depending on the situation.

Don_c55
imo - theory will only take you so far in this vinyl hobby. For me personally I have heard "lesser theory" designs outperform "better in theory" designs. Its comes down to personal knowledge and setup. Better designs have more potential.

i.e.
If we start with your first theory point.

1) Micrometer arm height adjustment that has index marks for VTA/SRA. Index marks are needed to ‘fine tune”, and go back to a previous setting, when the last setting was better.

The last setting will always be better, if it was the one done with the cartridge alignment protractor. :^)  We have already discussed here how all tonearms except one, will throw out the alignment with VTA/SRA changes.When making VTA/SRA changes you should reset alignment. 

Rauliruegas
In the other side seems to me that we need some kind of friction at the tonearm bearing to" fight " in better way against all the LP imperfections: excentricity, waves and the like. Just an opinion.

Raul 
fwiw - there is a damping fluid trough which is used with a paddle. Regarding your comment on friction - one can adjust the arm so that there is some friction ....if that is what you want :^) 
During the arm setup you just offset the alignment a touch along the straight line. The limitation with the arm is if some one likes to play bad ass records. Severely eccentric records with runouts of greater than 1/8 inch. Nobody here is like that, right ? Even Bruce recommends in the manual to use a low mass pivoted arm if you like to play records like this.

Happy listening

Just now I read Raul’s invitation to add memories of his visit to San Diego. I don’t have any special qualifications for that other than possibly being the only one from that group who still participates on Audiogon.

We are fortunate here that we have an active club, the San Diego Music and Audio Guild. The MAG has provided a way to meet many other local hobbyists and with that, many solid friendships have been formed. It was one of those members who was instrumental in inviting Raul to visit us during a US tour, and to call together a smaller group of individuals to meet with him. As I recall there was a core group of about six of us.

Over the days of his visit we met at one another’s homes so had great exposure to a few very different systems and the opportunity to discuss our impressions of them. They varied from HE speakers driven by SET amps to multi-way floor standers driven by hundreds of watts. Both analog and digital sources were utilized. Also Raul brought along his newly developed preamp which we had the chance to audition in some of those systems in direct comparison with the owner’s preamp. My system was one of those, although it is completely different today.

My major point though are my impressions of Raul. As I’ve posted previously I found him to be a very considerate, knowledgeable, and polite gentleman. He was able to contribute many insightful comments on the various systems, always doing so in a constructive way. So I consider it unfortunate that so many harsh words have passed here in response to some of his posts.

Just the same, I believe I can understand some of this criticism. Many of Raul’s comments come off as condescending. I didn’t find that in our face to face discussions but some of his writing appears that way. So why is that? Again I’m not an expert, but I do have some suggestions. First, English is not his native language and I’ve read multiple times where his word choice or expressions may not convey what I think he may intend. Second, you need to understand his degree of enthusiasm and commitment to musical reproduction and enjoyment. I think that leads to over-long replies and posts. He easily gets carried away when a simpler statement or description might serve better. Third, I suspect he spends so much time with those lengthly posts that he does not take time to review and edit them before submitting. Otherwise he might shorten or clear up points which may be misconstrued. And fourth, it could be a matter of style. I found Raul to be open to learning, sharing, and not condescending, but I can see where some of his knowledge and enthusiasm to share that comes off in ways that many ’Goners find offensive.

And now, back to tonearms. ;^)

Peace.

ct0517...*G*  Due to your 'post experience' (1.5K+), I'll bow to your observation that some other forum will wreak AG Armageddon before this one will.  So I'll back your bet, based on that... ;)

I'll be not so secretly pleased at least that the tangential/air bearing troops have entered this fray with their 'arms drawn.  Even here in the 'cheap seats' it's become as entertaining as a good Middle Ages donnybrook, without all the mess those involved....

Popcorn, anyone? *snicker*

(As the 'Devil's Advocate' that may have triggered the 'counterattack',  Do Not show up at my door with torches and pitchforks.  I have a hose and dogs.  Do Not fashion your tonearms into spears or arrows either.  I have Lexan.  I may just laugh at you and advise you to seek therapy.  I cannot save you.  I can't save myself. {Stabbing Westward, 'Save Yourself'})

Carry on, y'all. *S*

Asvjerry - Popcorn, anyone?

Asvjerry - for me it is too early for popcorn. This is a morning thing mostly. It helps to take my mind off of crumbling investments. So freshly ground coffee beans for me. Any opinion on where Oil is headed ?

Crazy time of year -mid Feb - being stuck inside with winter. One risks falling back into audiophile mode. I am tempted to go visit Raul in sunny Mexico (if he will have me). He seems to be quite the party-er according to Pryso. For fun I could pack up my tonearm, if he will clear a space for it on one of his TT's. But I fear the tonearm's life support system will not survive the trip. :^(

As I am sure you know Asvjerry, the forums are like a poker game of opinions. The trump card is real experience. But some like to play this game here with their cards not showing (face down). How is one to share info and learn if your cards aren't showing? Good for you Asvjerry for showing a virtual system.

@ the OP CrazyBill, I will repeat what I said at the start - keep what you have and enjoy the music. I am down to a couple pivot arms now. I am not a tonearm collector, and I was in a situation that I had to sell one; either the DV505 or the FR64s. The FR64s was easier to sell, and my son thought the DV505 looked really cool. So I kept the DV505. I also learned while trying to sell the DV505 for a short period, that some audiophiles are intimidated by that thing.   

I heard a rumor the Fuser thread suffered its first casualty. A burned out filament. And just when I was getting ready to drop one of those shiny new babies into my DAC.

Cheers

Dear pryso: Thank's for your post. Yes, I have dificult to explain exactly what I'm thinking and with that kind of dificult there are a misunderstood in what I really mean it.

In the other side, I know that my life audio experiences are diferent from other people and mainly because I'm " hyperactive " in the quest of better quality system performance. Post as cleeds one that I posted a hystory/a chine tale or a lier is normal way to think in other people because they don't know me. 

Maybe many agoner's already had not only the kind of experiences I posted of my USA trips but even more wide than that but I had and have " thousands " of especial learning experiences here in México too through at least 6 of the principal audio distributors that are very close friens. Through them I experienced " hundreds " of audio equipment directly in my home: FM Acoustics, Audio Note Kondo, VPI, Levinson, Revel, JL Audio, Air Tight, Krell, Pass, Audio research, Wilson, JM Labs, Cello, Sonus Faber, Esoteric, Dsc, Gryphon, Apogue, Sound Labs, Sota, etc, etc, more and  more.

My way of " audio play " with out no single rules, not to be sticky to anything and " always " thinking in non-ortodox/out of the box way always gave me invaluable learning rewards. I always am asking me: why if I do this or that? and I try it and many times those experiences were lessons of what not do and why. Some things that I learned I learnen by accident, because I made mistakes and through it I learned.


To make take action with  changes in my system I trust is no one but me. I try everything, many of what people post through the net to understand what they mean or if really is right or not.

Other variable that helps a lot in that here in México we don't have extreme excess of money to spend in hobbies, so we have to use a lot of " imagination " to obtain the best quality performance of what we have with the minimum investment.

Again thank's and as you said: go a head with tonearms.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.