Discuss The Viv Lab Rigid Arm

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.

@lewm  : It's way " pity " ( for say the least ) that all the other owners that already posted in this thread just let you ALONE in the discussion.

My take for that is that all them do not care if the design is totally wrong but that they like it as you but exist a " but ": the difference between you and all them is that you are the only that like it but even that you are looking why a wrong design like it. Yoi are chasing " explanations " as the ones you posted and that rpoves nothing in favor of what you are looking for.

Again, instead to " lost " some timie posting here use that time to develop a sure/true test overall proccess as I did it 20+ years ago

Lew, how can you explain it that two audiophiles as José and I could designed the Essential 3150 unit is high quality reproduction levels with out resources as true audio electronics manufacturers. Because José and I are only two people appasinated with MUSIC and MUSIC reproduction at home and not in the audio market, this was at " random "?

Yes, technically José is very good but it's not enough to make the design because that design must be voiced in high resolution rooms/systems and that voicing mainly belongs to me.

The developed tests proccess permited us to choose between diferent manufacturer transistor models/resistors/capacitors/ and the like ( obviously that were several kind of measurements on all those ) and after test the " rigth " parts the need it to beeen assembled on the boards and after that to make " thousands " of listening tests in different room/systems. With out that proccess we just can't made it with that quality levels.

But after the Essential 3150 came the Essential 3160 that you own ( so you know exactly what I'm talking about. ) and rigth now ( with out be conceited ) the Essential 3180 that beats the 3160 and almost other unit in the today phonolinepreamp market and a serious challenge for any today market unit. You name it and can be sure that overall can't beats the Essential 3180.

That's why I insiste in your proccess developing with or with out the VIV subject.

R.

My previous post was not meant for you or your comment, but of course you are welcome to comment. Your response reveals just how close-minded you are on this subject. That’s fine. My post was meant to elicit comments or ideas from others who actually want to think on this subject. Dave and I have been trading emails on this subject for the last few days, and he has some interesting ideas as well.  See if you can borrow a Viv tonearm and give it a listen.  Then come back and tell me what you hear.  You can send me a private email if you like.  Until then, silence is golden, "for say the least".

All the other owners of the Viv, will undoubtedly have their own agendas for the use of their time, using their limitation in contributing posts to add to the inefficacy that this ongoing discussion is creating, is certainly not a substantiation that there is a lack of conviction to the ownership and usage of the 'Viv'.

Extending to other forums and one in particular, 'Shakti', from 'What's Best Forum' has expressed a very worthwhile experience with their usage of the 'Viv'. There are very limited in number individuals who share this persons knowledge about and experiences of using Vinyl Replay ancillaries. A recent post referred to their continued interest and that they will be looking into methods to enable to be used in present set ups.

Even though not a direct comparison to @lewm descriptions, there is plenty of commonality in the feel good and positivity the usage of this arm is able to generate. 

I fully get this euphoria, as I can relate to it from the change toward and then usage of a Tonearm I adopted to be used over other respected Branded Models.

As said previously, this thread is to become an uphill climb for certain contributors, life is certainly too short for this one as a hike.