what are some of best tonearms you own or experience with.

Ralph, when I say killed the sound, in my experience the use of fluid damping on the SME V reduced speed and coherency. Similar with the analog survival damping. In my experience soft materials tend to store energy, but dont disspate it cleanly like for example carbon fibre or M2052. You tend to get backward reflections back into the cartridge at the junction of each change in material.

@dover 

The nature of the material in the Sumiko kit allows it to damp the arm tube so there is less energy in it (the vibration is converted to a very slight amount of heat); 'talk back' to the cartridge has been reduced, IOW less resonance. Warren Gehl of ARC originally developed the Analog Survival Kit for Sumiko while he was employed in vibration control for a firm in California about 25 years ago or so. I've known Warren since the late 1970s (we've had plenty of conversation about this topic; I was using prototypes prior to his release of the product to Sumiko). He also developed a platter pad that is spectacular at controlling resonance in the LP itself. I feel lucky to own one; he can't make them anymore since OSHA would never allow it.

 Adding the Analog Survival Kit increased the mass of the arm. For this reason it limited the cartridges that worked to ones that had lower compliance.

This doesn't make sense, increasing the mass would help it work better with lower compliance cartridges - but for the aforementioned reasons I think its not the best option.

If you read both of these comments, first mine and then yours, you'll see that they are saying exactly the same thing, except for the part that says 'This doesn't make sense'. So I'm thinking you misread my comment. Otherwise we seem to be on the same page here.

@OP: as a ’one arm’ solution I would include Audiocraft AC-3300/4400 on your list. It offers a wide choice of interchangeable armpipes (including ones specifically dedicated to EMT and SPU ’A’ types), various counterweights as well as adjustable oil damping. So far there hasn’t been one cartridge that didn’t shine in that arm.

@dover
@ atmasphere
That there are resonances in the SME V armwand and that these can be dealt with through the application of some external damping material is confirmed by others, notably the former contributor to this website (and turntable designer) 'DerTonarm'. Also, some years ago on the Vinyl Asylum the contributor ‘dice45' put forward a similar idea of how this could be achieved.
The main idea is that you apply some damping material - thinly rolled out blu tack - to the area where the armwand widens, near the bearings.
Dice45 also applied the same material inside the headshell, in the hollowed out area.
Another possibility is to use a specialised product, Marigo Labs tuning dots (very small self-adhesive dots made of damping material and specially designed for use on arms).
I have tried both of these over long periods, and have certainly had the impression that both do something (the blu tack solution is ugly, even if you manage to find a black version). I still have the Marigo Labs dots in place, but frankly so much time has gone past that I have no clear recollection of what effect the resonances had on the sound before (I am reluctant to remove the dots to see, as I fear that the adhesive might not work any longer). Does either of you have a clear idea of what the resonances do that is detrimental to the overall sound?
Regarding the problem of VTA setting, I too have found it difficult to regulate arm height in repeatable fashion, as well as locking the arm column again so that it is perpendicular and not cranked. I have worked out a way around this problem: it involves making a pair of blocks that you place under each side of the arm (the VTA screw has to be removed to allow this) so as to give the desired height when the arm is lowered onto them. The best way to make these blocks is to buy a number of rectangular rubber erasers (Staedtler makes a suitable one that is 1cm high) and you then find some thin but stiff card (clothing labels are quite good for this) and cut pieces to the same size as the eraser. You can then progressively pile cards on top of the erasers on each side - the same number on each side, obviously - until you reach the optimal arm height. If you then glue the cards and eraser together you have a repeatable way of setting arm height for the cartridge in question.
Best regards,
Peter

@rim - guess I won't be considering a VPI in the future. Sticking with what I've got for the long haul now that it is insulated from vibration and sounding great. I have it on a Townshend Seismic platform sitting on a wall mounted shelf. Adding those were tremendous improvements. I was a non-believer, but I was amazed at the SQ from my system.

FYI Rega makes spacers that may be able to help, but in general they say VTA doesn't impact their tables unless the cartridge is so deep that the back of it hits the record when playing. I think the whole VTA thing is overhyped as the cantilever and suspension on cartridges are there so the stylus fits nicely within the grooves if the arm and cartridge are of high quality.

In general, I think Rega arms are simple to work with and provide great value for the world of table/arm combos of $5K or less. I heard that SME is no longer selling arms on a stand alone basis.

Does either of you have a clear idea of what the resonances do that is detrimental to the overall sound?
Regarding the problem of VTA setting, I too have found it difficult to regulate arm height in repeatable fashion

When I got rid of the arm tube resonance in the SME, it was immediately less bright and more detailed; images in space were more palpable. My 'tweak' for the VTA was to make a little mark on the height adjuster know with tiny bit of Whiteout. That was I was able to track how many turns or fractions of a turn I had done to get it right.


By contrast the Triplanar VTA is adjustable on-the-fly, and it has two scales to show you where you are.