Long and Short Arms. YOU KNOW THEY FIT a Luxman PD444.

Tonearms for Luxman PD444

Suggestions, warnings, known incompatibilities, great low cost ….?

My friend just bought a Luxman PD444. No arms.

Coming with two arm boards,

a. small hole looks like star washer. TP-LH I think. (diameter of hole___MM?)

b. big hole, SME size hole. TP-LS I think. (diameter of hole___MM?)

Note: Long arm must go on the left rear side. That will be the primary arm.

’Normal’ right side arm will be alternate cartridges, primarily MONO ready to go, alternate MM and MC cartridges. Thus long arm can have less/different features, not in a rush to make decisions, so lets make the long arm part two, later.

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First: short arm, right side, desired features:

1. removable headshell

2. height adjustment

2a. VTA on the Fly, OR

2b. EASY to see/reach/loosen/tighten, i.e. knurled/slotted gizmos (not allen screw(s)

3. azimuth adjustment. preferred in OEM headshell (some use clamp allowing re-positioning the fitting in the end of the arm, so any OEM or other headshell works. Non-oem headshell, but prefer OEM solves it.

4. integral arm rest/lock (not separately mounted stick)

5. din or rca below the plinth

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So far, hifi shark, $1,500 max I have found:

1. Acos Lustre GST-801 (my rear arm). VTA/FLY. has 1,2a,3,4,5 and unique magnetic tracking and anti-skate. Always check to verify the vta/fly base is included, some alternate mounts exist.

mount: bigger hole, big heavy ’counterweight’ fastened below. I see one on Chakster’s PD444, he got it on, normally, or by some trick.

2. Micro Seiki MA-505 VTA/FLY 505S silver wire; SII, MK3 (other variations ___?) has 1,2a,3,4,5 variations desirable features???

28mm hole, 3 screws from below, nut below

3. Fidelity Research FR-64 Fx. 2b pair of knurled/slotted rods for height

Hole ____mm? nut below

4. Audio-Craft variations: AC-300c; AC400C; AC-3000mc, others? 2b knurled/slotted rod

5. SAEC WE-308SX. 2b knurled/slotted rod

6. Graham 1.5 Tonearm, FIXED HEADSHELL, unipivot (upside down) micrometer azimuth, vta, tracking, anti-skate, Fits SME cutouts i.e. Luxman TP-LS big hole???

7. Pioneer PA-1000 ,Carbon arm, carbon headshell, 2b small 21mm hole

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I got tired down around $1,025, went to bed

Suggestions, warnings, known incompatibilities, great low cost ….?

counterweight rod: anyone know maximum length/clearance from centerline of arm trough to inside of dust cover ____mm?