Discuss The Viv Lab Rigid Arm

@lewm  :  Thank's to share your proccess that's way different from mine, I did my test comparison almost the same way than you due that one time I had 10 tonearms/cartridges operating in my system but those kind of test proccess was so many years ago that I can't remember for sure when I left to dii it.

My " tree " instead " forest " test proccess is a way simple and I don't need any other tool than the ears because when you know exactly what to look for the ears are the best tool under the audio world and way faster than the normal " forest " procces almost all audiophiles use.

I remember that first time at A.Porter time I took no more than 10 minutes to note a system fault and another 10 minutes to fixed and A.Porter agree on that " fixed ".

In Idaho I was seated " against " MBL speakers, Technics SP-10MK3, Schroeder tonearm, tube amps by the great regarded designer that unfortunatelly pass away and that at this moment can't remember his name and the cartridge was the SS Straing Gauge and the owner had the LP I need it and he did it and my rigth first impression ( first 5 minutes. ) was a truly Impressive but then I ask that gentleman that in that LP I need to listen a specific track and after listened I was totally sure that those HF were wrong: all these in 15 minutes and over the time all SG owners confirmed what I knew before they. After half hour he changed cartridge to listen the Lyra Olympos and thigs changed for the better through the Essential 3160. The system owner was deep founded with the SG and I try don't insist in other way but have some fun just listening MUSIC.

Btw, I listening for the first time a Rockport TT an Acapella top speakers with F.Crowder that I named.

Lew I did and do not try in anyway to " disparaging " you . I was almost sure and that's why I ask you to share your proccess that that was your proccess.

When I said that's not your fault I posted that not to be condescend with you because I know I'm not condescend with no body: this is not the way I'm and sorry for that: I'm straigth/direct no matters what.

In my proccess I'm not looking for what sounds good or excellent but the other way around: look for specific " recording errors " in  specific LP tracks. With my " trees " I can in no more than 1 hour prove/detect that the VIV is wrong no matter what and with out need to measure nothing. That is not my capacity but the whole test proccess capacities.

I'm not conceited in anyway and that's why I posted audiophiles names/places and no my ears are no better than yours but just " truer " thank's to the proccess estrategy.

R.

So if you ever get to listen to the Viv Lab tonearm under conditions that are familiar to you from past experience, and if you can manage to divorce yourself from pre-formed opinion, I would be very interested to know what you think of it. Until then, you cannot add anything, because we know already about its theoretical shortcomings.

" you cannot add anything, because we know already about its theoretical shortcomings. "

That theorethical is a fact and I posted that I was looking for an explanation why the audiophiles like t and that explanation that VIV owners can’t do the necessary " autopsy " as a " forensic " does due that no one of you have that kind of " tree " whole proccess tests. So, no one can’t find out that " why " if does not has that critical test proccess and that’s why you have not explanation about till today.

My advise is that you  start to develop that test proccess and then maybe you can have your explanation not before.

At the ned there is no plausible explanation due that no one can prove that does not exist that tracking additional distortions.

You took the VIV flag and for your posts seems to me that you are even to " die for that flag ", well it's you.

R.

I’m reviewing on line reviews of the tonearm now. There is a commonality of opinion about the sonic virtues, and I hear it the same way. Must be something to that. I earlier reported that the base weighs 2 lbs, so as to firmly locate the pivot. I was wrong; the base weighs 2 kg or 4.4 lbs.

I don't claim to know in the scientific sense why the Viv tonearm sounds very good with every cartridge, but here is some food for though:

(1) TAE. While the Viv and all other underhung tonearms with zero headshell offset does exhibit much higher TAE than can be achieved with an overhung/offset headshell, there are some mitigating factors, even assuming TAE is a major determinant of high SQ.  For example, my 9-inch Viv would be expected to exhibit about 9 degrees of TAE at the outermost grooves and about -9 degrees of TAE at the innermost grooves, assuming the playing surface of the average LP is about 3 inches across (the radius of the LP from outer to spindle).  This is assuming you set up the tonearm such that the single null point occurs in the center or middle of the playable surface.  At that point, TAE=0.  Thus TAE is very gradually changing from +9 degrees down to zero degrees and then further "down" to -9 degrees near the runout grooves.  The change in TAE is linear (but on the arc of the stylus).  If you consider only the middle inch of the playable surface, TAE goes from about 3 degrees through the zero null point to -3 degrees.  This is about what you get with a well aligned conventional tonearm.  Possibly, the continuousness of the sound from the Viv has to do with the linear nature of the change in TAE.  Conventional tonearms generate TAE that goes up and down and up and down across the surface of an LP.  Maybe that is not so good, even though lower in magnitude than a UH tonearm.

(2) Skating. The skating force generated by the Viv and other UH tonearms is directly proportional to TAE, because the headshell does not add to the skating force.  Whereas, for conventional tonearms, the headshell offset angle is the major cause of skating PLUS the effect of any TAE.  It thus has been shown that a conventional 9-inch tonearm generates about 2.5 to 3X more skating force than does a 9-inch UH tonearm.  And just as with TAE, the side force generated by a UH tonearm has its maxima at the outermost and innermost grooves, but at the null point, the direction of the side force changes by 180 degrees, pulling the tonearm outward instead of inwards.  This makes the side force very low on either side (outer vs inner) of the null point.  Yes, we correct for the skating force of conventional tonearms with the application of AS, and we all know how imperfect that is. Moreover, AS is applied back near the pivot whereas skating happens at the stylus.  This puts a force on the fulcrum of the cantilever that may be a source of distortion in overhung tonearms.

These are my thoughts.  Raul says I cannot justify what I hear from the Viv in "audiophile" terms.  (I won't sully the word "scientific".)  But there actually are things to think about here.