Comparison of sonic qualities of some tonearms

@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.  

@lewm As for adjusting azimuth, I think that the only reliable way is to do it by ear. Peter Ledermann of Soundsmith has a piece on it, which seems very convincing to me.

He points out that his best cartridge, the Hyperion, often has large crosstalk differences between the channels - like 6dB or more !!! That is, the left channel might have 44dB of separation and the right channel 50dB of separation. Therefore, he says, setting for equal channel separation is a serious error.

When I read this, some years ago, I knew why I had been unable to get equal channel separation on my Koetsu, even though it was canted over by a degree or more! And sounded awful, although I was trying to convince myself that it sounded good because, well, it measured better that way.

So, now I listen for smoothness. Less harsh, less CD-like, more like I want to listen for another two hours, more like the instruments and singers that I know - the grand piano upstairs is a great reference!. I listen for clarity with vocals sung in dialect, like Scots. I listen to renaissance accompanied choral music where sopranos and viols are on the same note - Harmonia Mundi has a lot of these. Adjust for smoothness.

And aggressive strings in the high register, like Barber’s Adagio or Paert’s Fratres. I am adjusting my Epoch to the midpoint of an interval of about 5 minutes of arc - the extremes (endpoints) are obvious, after a little listening.

Consider how you would mount a stylus on a high end cartridge. You would do it optically, with magnification and crosshairs, and maybe get it within 15 degrees of arc. Maybe. Even if you’ve got a long enough line on the stylus to align to within 15 minutes, what about the way in which the point was cut relative to the shank? Is it within 15 minutes? Not easy to say, let alone QC. This last paragraph is surmise. I don't actually know, and don't know how to find out.

That leaves a lot of room for improvement, and it’s audible. And with adjustability, doable.

IMO. YMMV.

Terry, I and someone else were talking about zenith, not azimuth. I actually ruined my Koetsu Urushi by adjusting azimuth for equal crosstalk using a Signet Cartridge Analyzer and its test LP. It was canted over by at least 2 degrees which eventually wore out the stylus on one edge. Also, as in your case, it never sounded good really. I’ve had it retipped by Expert Stylus, and I now run it at 90 degrees where it sounds wonderful. Azimuth adjustment is dangerous for most of us. I’m definitely NOT in the equal crosstalk/Fozgometer school. But read about zenith.

And no, I don’t fear magnetic pulses.

I think the OP asks a great question.

As a data point, I compared the Kuzma Safir to the Kuzma 4 point 11 on a Stabi R turntable, in the process of deciding whether or not to buy the former. I understand @lewm’s caveat that you can only ever get partial results due to the need to match tonearms with appropriate cartridges. So, I brought my 4 point with a Zyx Universe Optimum, well broken in, and adjusted it with an Acoustical Systems Smartractor. Dealer had the Safir with an MSL Gold. We swapped the tonearms and listened to the same LPs.

To me (and him, the salesman) the results were not subtle. The Safir/MSL was clearly superior to the 4 point/Zyx Optimum. I believe it was a difference that anyone would hear. The immediate sensation was of moving from a small street to a broad avenue of sound. Just more, wider, deeper, more detailed, better timbre, more relaxed, more dynamic, etc. A notable sensation in the bass was the sustain: acoustic bass notes just lingered and rang much longer than I had heard before. this struck me because up til then, the Zyx Uni had the best bass of any cartridge I had heard. I doubt this was the difference between these two, high level cartridges. my sense, after this experiment, was that I had really underestimated the importance of a good tonearm. (I bought the Safir).

@jollytinker I have to ask… why not evaluate both arms w same cartridge ? note, i am a fan of both Kuzma arms… and have decent seat time w both.