Comparison of sonic qualities of some tonearms

@drbond I have posted many times in the past about certain individuals involved with Audio Equipment seemingly having developed a Behavioural Addiction, where obsession has become the driving force of the interest.

Obsession being a out of harmony balance and an over interest to varying degrees, especially to the place where the obsessional thought will be the thought that Supersedes all others, can typically be seen to manifest through the presence leaving a very difficult place for the individual more balanced on the subject of Audio Equipment to communicate.

Your Thread has started with your inquisitive request to understand how a Tonearm design can influence the sonic produced and which designs are seen as the betterment over others.

The reality is there isn't a best or worse, as there are too many variables to influence the end sound that has very little to do with the TA design or Materials used to produce it.

All Tonearms born from a Particular discipline for the design and build will assist the correct choice of Cart' to replay music to a very high audible quality.

To have a reality check, the Amygdala is the part of the brain that rewards for audible exposure in a particular environment, as long as the sound produced is a stimulus emotion and reward are produced, it is this only that is the bias for selecting a good experience or not so good experience.

The math helps for the designs produced but is not the 'be all and end all', it is the how the Amygdala creates a chemistry and neurone activity that is the stimulus to encourage behaviour that is wanting more of what is experienced, which can for many become an unbalanced and overexposed experience, manifesting as a addictive behaviour.

Interestingly, it is the same for those who abuse themselves through overexposure to the Web and endless exposure to Phone Media Data, the overindulgence is an addictive behaviour, one that is formed from bombarding the Amygdala with a sensory overload, through an excess of reactions being created to content being observed. 

Such endless exposure is a Trauma to the Limbic System.    

The best tonearm is no tonearm. Since that is not practical get one of them fancy wooden tonearms that are hand crafted and are less susceptible to stray electro magnetic pulses.  

Stray electromagnetic pulses?  Holy Cow!  I now have something more to worry about.

lewn, well if you do buy into that, you really do have one more thing to worry about!

@drbond I think you and I have different versions of "dramatic." The 5A is a cool arm. It is not one I would try. I think the Schroder LT is a more elegant solution to problem. I know you mentioned someone having a problem with one on a Helix. I have been over the instruction and mounting manual. It is way more complicated than most arms. I have also been toying with the Reed 5T. It is an insanely cool arm and way more of a conversation piece than any other tangential arm. I would have to disembowel my Sota, ditch the plinth, beef up the suspension to handle the load and build a new plinth around it all. Child's play. 

@lewm Zenith is rather easy to measure under the microscope. The programs used with high end USB microscopes will measure anything including zenith. You "snap lines" on the legs of the angles and the computer calculates the angle. For Zenith you would snap a line including the two contact patches the another parallel to the cantilever. It should be 90 degrees. You correct zenith by twisting the cartridge in the headshell, but it is a compromise. If I got a cartridge that was not 90 degrees I would send it back as defective. All the working elements of the cartridge need to be exact and bilaterally symmetrical to get the best performance. 

@pindac Give me a break! You are just as compulsive as any of us.