Tone arm length

Wanting; Knowing; Hearing: ’different’, ’better’, ’preferred’.

Long Arm was why I joined Audiogon in 2019. I found the longest that I could fit under the dust cover when on.

TT, 12" Tonearm. Who tried and ended up preferring 12" arm?

Asked about, ended up choosing Blackbird 12.5" arm from Russia

Revised 5 Pin Din Version

We usually change more than 1 thing at a time, in my case I changed Plinth/ Spinner/Arms(3)/Cartridge Types/SUT/Alignment Tools/Methods so what can I say except I love the choices/changes I made that wanting a long arm set in motion.

The best thing is the long arm led to a large plinth which led to 2 arms (far more important IMO) (stereo and mono ready to play instantly). In my case I squeezed a 3rd arm on for MC Stereo/MM Stereo/Mono.

After a few years, I realized I am benefitting from more accurately maintained anti-skate outer to inner tracks as well as the benefits of the stylus tip’s position in the grooves due to a longer arc’s geometry.

Imaging absolutely requires proper anti-skate. it’s also the major factor in avoiding uneven wear to your expensive stylus and lp’s grooves. Tracking force wants proper anti-skate, freedom to react to the groove wall info.

I would prefer a removable headshell, as I never hear the long arm benefits thru my alternate cartridges. I compare/enjoy them on my 9" arm. And I don’t hear my ’best’ cartridge on the 9" arm, so comparisons always involve the benefit or lack of extra length.

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12" is not always 12", check the specs, i.e. many are less, i.e. the JVC long arm 7082 is only 11-1/8" effective, whereas their short arm 7045 is 9-5/8" effective. I went for the longest I could find with a design (price of course) I wanted, that was compact enough to ’just fit’ on the arm-board of my large 2 arm plinth.

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2 arms, one long, both removable headshells is the most flexible setup, that’s what I helped a friend put together, a 2 arm Luxman PD-444 with long and short Micro-Seiki 505 Arms.

Luxman is ’normal’ depth, wider, my JVC PL-2 Plinth is both deeper and wider, I had to have a ’deeper’ glass shelf made, the Luxman would have fit the existing glass top.

my 3 arm TT seen here

@elliottbnewcombjr Thanks for the extra info - I’ve checked out your 3 arm TT before - very cool.

I'm going with the 12" and the dealer will set it up for me.

A 12" arm will not resonate more simply because it's longer, it certainly will resonate at a lower frequency. The amount of resonance is far more a function of materials and design. Also a longer arm is easier to set up because it has lower tracing error, and thus minor misalignments are less noticeable, the same way that minor VTA changes are less noticeable. Typically a long arm will have higher mass and so favor lower compliance e.g. moving coil cartridges. And all of those things together enable high performance stylus designs like Shibata, Fineline, Microline, MicroRidge, et al to perform optimally. 

Personally, I find that the 10-11" length to be the best compromise. Like the VPI JMW Memorial 10.5. With its 3D printed epoxy arm it is well damped, long enough to enjoy lower tracing and  VTA errors, and I don't ind it being a unipivot - they do not bind or have bearing chatter, maintenance is easy, and swapping arms takes about 30 seconds. OK, the second arm tube isn't cheap. But it sounds great, and puts the fear of God into people who shouldn't be using it anyway, e.g. party guests.

From 1970 to almost 1980 including all of my college years, I worked in hifi retail stores first in Seattle and after graduation in San Diego.  The stores I worked at were primarily McIntosh dealers and at that time a great deal of emphasis was placed on clinics including turntable and cartridge setup.  Every dealer was required to have a very expensive bifocal microscope (Wild-HerrBrugg) specified by McIntosh that was actually capable of seeing if the stylus was mounted squarely on the cantilever; seeing if the stylus was wearing evenly over time and so forth.  Customers were encouraged to bring their TTs in for periodic inspection.  Some of us who took an interest were trained and became proficient at TT setup and evaluation.  I still own two of those microscopes.  Over time I became convinced that all things considered the 9" tonearm was the better option.  This is not always true, but it is so more often than not.

@billstevenson

Interesting and thank you for sharing the insight. By any chance did you ever hop on the ferry over to Victoria and if so, did you visit Sound Hounds?   

Interested in selling one of those scopes???

btw I've bought the TT with the 12" so that's that.