Tonearms that work well with better Koetsu stone body cartridges

Hi dover

If I may ask, when you heard the Van Den Hul Colibri on the Moerch DP8, Helius Omega & the Kuzma 4point (11”) did you feel one sounded better than the others (based on your preferences)?

You also mentioned that with the Helius Omega “it was so different that you wouldn’t have recognized the cartridge”, was it better or worse? Any opinions are appreciated. Thank you.

Scot

@scothurwitz 

Yes.
Originally the owner purchased the Moerch DP8 12" based on reviews and suitability for the medium compliance Colibri. This sounded very quick and quite neutral in balance.

Then he becme interested in the Kuzma 4Point so I installed the 3 arms in sequence in one session. He still owned the Helius as well as the Moerch.

The Colibri in the Helius had a more full bodied midrange than either the Kuzma or the Moerch, however the top end was slightly course and less resolved than the other 2 arms.

After comparing the Moerch/Colibri to the Helius/Colibri I then installed the Kuzma 4Point11 with the Colibri.

The Kuzma 4Point11 with the Colibri was very quick, very dynamic and much more resolving than with the other 2 arms. It was easily the best arm for the Colibri. 

As far as Koetsu's go I have owned a few and indeed the FR64S silver wired with B60 VTA bass that I also own does dig deep and provides real grip on the Koetsu's. However for a general arm I am a big fan of the Kuzma 4Point, it is quick, transparent, and ease of setup and VTA on the fly is hard to beat in my view.

Scott, The 4 Point is a brilliant arm. If you are setting it up yourself you will need a SmarTractor, a Hi Fi News Analog Test Record, and a set of Soundsmith graduated weight Cartridge screws. Once you have the tonearm dialed in with the SmarTractor you run the resonance tracks on the test record and find your resonance points. You add mass until you get the resonance frequency as close to 8 Hz as you can. Then sit back and enjoy. The 4 Point is a much more sophisticated design than the Ikeda. No competition there. Of course you can add mass to any arm as long as it has enough counter weight to balance it out. A Schroder LT with the heavy mounting plate would be another excellent choice if you can fit it on your table. The Stone Bodied cartridges are heavy so it won't take as much mass as you would think. That was the original idea behind the stone bodied cartridges, to make Koetsu's stiff design work in a wider variety of tonearms. Then it turned into "this stone sounds better than that stone," yada, yada. IMHO they all sound the same. So, get the color you like the best.

Boxer, sorry for the late response. My comment focused on what other people hear, not what the individual hears for themselves. Of course what you hear is important but you can not trust what others hear even if you know them very well. You have to take everything with a grain of salt until you hear for yourself. Until you can hear for yourself you have to be able to evaluate designs based on their physical characteristics. This is particularly true for tonearms and turntables. You narrow it down to those designs you like best then try to audition them if you can. Most equipment I have to buy site unseen based on either overwhelming positive reviews like the JC1 amplifiers or by my own analysis of the design like the Schroder CB tonearm. I never got the chance to hear one before I bought it but given the brilliant design and the fact that Mark Dohmann uses it to demonstrate his Helix turntable added to the very reasonable price made it an easy purchase. I have not heard it yet as I am still WAITING for the turntable. If you have questions about tonearm design please feel free to ask.

Mijo, You’re “waiting” for a Helix or a Cosmos?