Comparison of sonic qualities of some tonearms

Understand, in my in depth listen, we contended w different arms / tables and carts, so you had fewer variables…. Enjoy the music and the journey 

I just read Raul’s post, the one that the OP and some others found to be upsetting. If you would put your hurt feelings aside, you might see the truth that underlies his comments. Really he is saying what I say too, only in greater detail and backed by more listening experience. It takes a lot of patience and time to be able to say with confidence that one good tonearm is better than another good tonearm, and even then the outcome is not free of caveats.

Sorry gents, but I hear +/- a fraction of a degree of azimuth in my system. Caveats: classical, revealing music from pristine US cleaned records; LT air tonearm with adjustments +/- 20 microns in 2D, acting over a 250mm shaft of 20mm steel. Thus may mileage vary.

Dear @lewm ​@mijostyn : Yes, several of us are talking of almost the same but the OP who posted:

" on the Helix, and the differences are dramatic, so I would imagine that for just about all tonearms..."

that comment it’s not even anecdotic, To be that way he needs to share first which of those 2 tonearms was the winner, which cartridges used for his comparisons, which LPs tracks were used for the test, at what SPLs he listened with all cartridges and which differences were the ones that he listened in each of those LPs tracks he used and the kind of alignment he used in the non LT tonearm.

The OP is asking for " something " that not even him did it not showed/shared here.

@drbond what’s up down there down your comparisons?

I think he needs to be serious about.

R.

Terry, Where did I say that you cannot hear a fraction of a degree of azimuth change? I only said I only aim for having the cartridge sit symmetrically in the groove. That condition is usually arrived at when azimuth is set for 90 degrees. If you do it by ear and end up with much less than a one degree difference from 90 degrees, more power to you. I wouldn’t bother because I don’t believe that any one setting would be best for all LPs. But I don’t doubt you can hear it or at least you think you can hear it, which is the same thing either way. What I no longer do is to use a test instrument (e.g., Fozgometer or much older Signet Cartridge Analyzer which I own) to set for equal crosstalk. That almost always leads to an azimuth setting that (1) sounds not so good, and (2) leads to long term damage to the stylus, which in turn results in even worse SQ. The Korf treatise on azimuth convinced me.

Korf on Azimuth