PCTI tonearm by rauliruegas

@cardani 

Thats great to hear. I appreciate that Raul has had a vast array of experience with arms & cartridges, but I am a little sceptical of some of his observations conclusions for two reasons
1. He claims that his digital front end ( an old Denon ) is superior to any of his analogue systems. I have auditioned, in systems I know well, digital gear from Solution, Zanden, EMM Labs, PS Audiodirect Stream, MSB, and many others. They aren't even close in resolution my analogue front end.

The turntables he uses as a reference are midfi in my view. ( The Micro Seikis and Direct Drives ).

It suggests that his analogue, whilst it may sound great, is not reference quality.

2. He has made many technical claims of cartridges that I myself own that are simply not correct. As a high end dealer in the 80's at the peak of analogue I have installed many of the cartridges he discusses.

I note that it has taken Raul years and thousands of posts to finally discover that he prefers moving coil cartridges - why so long ?

Overall he has made a great contribution for promoting debate and MM knowledge, but for the above reasons I take his comments on sound quality with a grain of salt. His technical arguments, I take at face value, in the context of my own experience, and others.

@lewm 
Unlike many on this forum I prmarliy comment ( be it praise or criticise ) on products I either own or have used/set up listened to extensively.
Occasionally I will make technical observations based on technical knowledge and experience.

Dover, I have no idea what you are getting at, but I agree with your philosophy.  In my post above, I left out a key word.  I intended to say that one should not underestimate the capabilities of Raul's design group.  In my post, I left out the word "underestimate".  That's what happens occasionally when I try to type on my cell phone.  If you follow these threads, you know that Raul and I often disagree, sometimes vehemently.  I am not his sycophant. Nor do I have any direct interest in the success or failure of his tonearm, if it is going to market. I am only suggesting that the excellence of the 3160 in my system is evidence for me anyway that he and his colleagues are capable of fine work.  You may not hold my opinion in high regard, and that's OK.

On 12-09-2017 rauliruegas said that this tonearm adventure started around 9 years ago and gone so slowly, it was a true challenge and very demanding.  The important issue is not to arrive faster but to know how to arrive.  His tonearm design is to be a unique one.  Time to produce tonearm for sale.  

A review of rauliruegas preamp.https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/review-j-r-essential-essential-3160-preamplifier