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.
Comparison of sonic qualities of some tonearms
I’m relatively new to the world of vinyl, listening seriously for probably only 2 years. Of course, many big picture items (e.g. turntable, phono stage, cartridges) are discussed extensively on this forum, but I haven’t seen much discussion comparing different tonearms. I would be interested to hear about different people’s experiences with different tonearms, mentioning the audible advantages and disadvantages of each tonearm, realizing that there is no perfect sound, although from what I read about others’ experiences, SAT tonearms may come closest, albeit at a very high price.
- ...
- 257 posts total
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. |
Yes, if you *read* my comment you'll notice that I said exactly that. It's why I refer to Lewm's caveat. But the import of his many-times repeated comment, as I see it, is that at some point you have to move on and make a pragmatic decision based on incomplete knowledge.
this is rather glib, don't you think? have you actually tried this, or are you just speculating? I highly doubt that it's true. What you're referring to is commonly known as a "tweak," as opposed to a difference in "design" and its effects. the difference I heard with the SAFIR vs the 4 point was the latter, but of course I had a limited amount of time to make the determination with a lot of money at stake. Such is life. I was listening carefully.
Again, I offered this as a data point. IMHO, what makes these forums interesting and worthwhile is the concrete experience and comparison, not the dogma. |
jollytinker, You wisely wrote, "at some point you have to move on and make a pragmatic decision based on incomplete knowledge." Yes, that is what we all do all the time in selecting components for an audio system (or for that matter in almost all decision making). Our knowledge is always incomplete. The best one can hope for is to learn over time. |
- 257 posts total