TT, 12" Tonearm. Who tried and ended up preferring 12" arm?

Sounds like a job for Christmas Day after all presents opened and everyone is now bored.

Stay tuned,it’s a heavy beast to move in that plinth.
The 71 was out of the playing arena which is why I could check it easily 

Free shipping, it won't be here until 1st or 2nd week of Jan.

I'll take photos of the mice within, how do I post them here?

I've been reading about using faucet washers or O rings to repair the counterweight sagging rubber. I'll figure something out.

What do you think of $350. for an UA-7045 arm (probably also sagging rubber).

That's a fair price for a UA-7045 arm and yes likely to show some sag on the rubber.
From my experience unless the arm has never been used then they are ALL going to have some small degree of sag in that area.
The 7045 on my 71 has slightly more sag than the 7082 on the 81 but I have not worried about it one single jot.
And unless you are an absolute perfectionist for every detail I would just dial it in when you get it and see what you think rather than worry about a slight amount of sag.

I was also considering setting up a second arm for mono but not sure yet if I want to or need to start off down that rabbit hole!

Good luck and again congratulations on your purchase of what I am sure you will come to agree is a fabulous vintage DD table!

Thanks, Like a camera purchase, I'm basking in the glow of decision. 

It's better beat my cheapo Audio Technica AT120 with Shure 97xe which I get very involving results from.

Chakster, I owe you a slight apology: The OP did ask about the Victor tonearm, so far as I can tell.
As to the rubber grommet on the UA tonearms, I will accept your statement that the CW starts out level with the arm wand, because I never owned an NOS one, but I still maintain that a few degrees of "sag" is not catastrophic, and there are reasons to believe it is even advisable, as the sag (a few degrees but perceptible) puts the center of mass of the CW in the same plane as the surface of the LP. Many modern tonearm designs (like your and my beloved Reed tonearms and like my Triplanar) do this deliberately, as it minimizes the change in VTF that occurs as the cartridge tracks a warped LP. Further, the grommet decouples the CW from the arm wand with the pivot in between, which is beneficial also. The later versions of the Triplanar also deliberately decouple the CW using a flexible joint, albeit a stiffer one than the one on the UA tonearms. We’ve had this discussion at least half a dozen times.


If Victor designers really thought it was imperative to have the CW sit in a straight line with the arm wand, do you think they would have incorporated that flexible grommet, which inevitably permits sag, in the first place? I don’t. So, the photo you showed of the tonearm that is to be purchased by the OP looks perfectly OK to me. The sag is minimal, and I wouldn’t touch it. Elliot, my advice is leave it alone. Enjoy.