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TriPlanar Tips

The manual that comes with the TriPlanar Mk VII tonearm is fairly complete, but there are a few things I’ve learned only by living with the arm. Note: I do not know which if any of these would apply to previous versions of the arm. My only experience is with the Mk VII.

1. NEVER raise the cueing lever while the arm is locked in the arm rest. This pressures the damping cylinder and could cause a silicone leak. For this reason and also for safety, whenever the arm is in the arm rest the cueing lever should be DOWN. This is backwards from most arms and takes some getting used to.

2. If your Tri-Planar doesn't cue straight down there's a quick fix, which may be included on some new arms. The problem is insufficient friction between the arm tube and the hard rubber cueing support bar. Just glue a bit of thin sandpaper to the underside of the arm tube. Make it big enough and position it so it hits the cueing support bar at all points across the arm’s arc. (Note: after doing this you will need to adjust the cueing height, see Tip #3.)

3. When adjusting cueing height (instructions are in the manual) always do so with the arm in the UP position. This adjustment is VERY touchy, since the cueing support bar is so close to the pivot. Be patient and be careful of your cartridge. (Note: after doing this you may need to adjust the anti-skate initiation point, see Tip #4.)

Chris Brady of Teres told me of a way to improve cueing even more by re-shaping the cueing support. Moving the cueing support point farther from the pivot improves its mechanical advantage and makes the cueing height and speed adjustments less touchy. This mod is easier than it sounds and requires only a length of coat hanger (!), but I don’t have pix and haven’t yet done it myself.

4. Changing the cueing height affects the point where anti-skate kicks in. (Yes, it's weird.) Once cueing height is satisfactory, adjust the short pin that sticks out of the front of the cueing frame. That pin controls where the anti-skate dogleg first engages the knot on the string.

5. The Tri-Planar comes with three counterweight donuts of differing masses. Many cartridges can be balanced using either of two. The arm usually tracks best with the heaviest donut that will work, mounted closer to the pivot. Of course this also reduces effective mass, which may or may not be sonically desirable depending on the cartridge. It also leaves more room for Tip #6.

6. For fine VTF adjustments don’t futz with the counterweight, there’s an easier way. Set the counterweight for the highest VTF you think you’ll need (ie, close to the pivot). Pick up some 1/4" I.D. O-rings from Home Depot. To reduce VTF a bit just slip an O-ring or two on the end stub. Thin O-rings reduce VTF by .01-.02g, thick ones by .04-.05g. Quick, cheap, effective. (For safety, always lock the arm down while adding or removing O-rings.)

7. When adjusting VTA, always bring the pointer to the setting you want by turning it counter-clockwise at least ¼ of a turn. This brings the arm UP to the spot you've selected, which takes up the slop in the threads. You can easily feel this happening.

Hope someone finds these useful. If you know any more, please bring ‘em on!
dougdeacon
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,861 posts
 
Dan_ed, cheap shots aside, you failed to answer the question, and I see that no-one else has come forward in the meantime.

So here is the challenge, as I see it. If you really want to compare nearly any bit of equipment, the problem is establishing a reference. This speaks directly to knowing how something is supposed to sound. The best way I have have found to do that is to be present at the musical event when it is being made and record it in a proper hi-fi way (for example using two high quality mics set in a stereo pickup pattern going directly into the recorder). Now there is more to it than that, for example I found it was really nice to work with the ensemble so that the tape I was making with its mic placement did indeed sound like the ensemble on playback. That usually takes some tweaking so the mics 'hear' what your ears hear.

Once you have the master tape then begins the process of getting its playback to sound like the actual musical event. An LP can also be produced from the tape, and IMO/IME it should be more than just a test pressing, so others can buy it and hear it.

The LP can be compared to the master tape. Its best if this is done using the recorder on which the tape was made, failing that at least one that is properly calibrated.

This allows one an unassailable reference! If you were at the the original musical event, there will be things that you know about the recording that are not as ephemeral as our usual aural memory can be. So far this is the best method I know of to generate a reference.

Using this technique, its easy to see that the Talea, while doing very well for itself, is simply bass shy compared to the Triplanar. From an engineering perspective, its easy to see why- the Triplanar does not loose tracking pressure with bass notes and warp because its bearings are in the same plane as the vinyl. Any arm that places the bearings above the LP surface will be subject to loss of tracking pressure due to bass and warp. IOW, this trait is predictable from an engineering point of view and is confirmed as an audible artifact.

I'm sorry Dan_ed if you feel you need to take a shot at me; but I am only stating a simple truth. I understand that its one that not everyone finds comfortable; but I'm not a tone arm manufacturer, and anyone that knows me knows that I am most interested in the music. I think/hope that this is also the case with others here. I also acknowledge that I am not the last word in things audio, but I am not offering my opinion here- what I have said so far is simple fact. I apologize if its not the most convenient.
sunnyboy1956's avatar
sunnyboy1956
424 posts
 
I have owned both a Triplanar Mk 7 and Talea 2.The Triplanar arrived in Oct 2008 and the Talea 2 in Dec 2010. There was a period of over a year when the 2 arms were mounted on the same TT and compared with the same cart ie initially a Transfiguration Orpheus L and later a Lyra Titan i. I don't understand tone arm engineering nor do I wish to. After extensive like to like comparison, I sold the Triplanar as I found it was no match for the Talea 2. I do not at any point recall a discernible bass deficiency in the Talea 2. I listen to a lot of rock with heavy bass overtones eg Dire Straits(the opening track of Brothers In Arms has some of the most visceral bass recorded) apart from traditional and modern blues, music that is enhanced by LFE.IMHO,to a music lover its the overall sonic picture which matters, and not any individual trait. Is the Talea2 a perfect arm? Certainly not, but I love it and would love to see some improvements without forking out for a Telos.
Sorry for the digression.
I have no relationship to any manufacturer/distributor but am simply a genuinely happy audiophile.
Cheers
Pradeep
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
i'll echo Pradeep's experience. the Triplaner is a fine tonearm. i owned it when i acquired the Talea 1, and even initially when i had the Talea 2. as good as the Triplaner was, both Talea's were better at most everything. it's not that the Triplaner was deficient, only that it did not offer the degree of precision or livelyness of either Talea, and as far as bass; the Talea 2 had better bass impact, energy and decay in degrees. it also had a more defined soundstage.

the Triplaner did not approach my Rockport, or any of my master tapes in overall performance; whereas the Talea 2 definitely did.

it's interesting that Atmasphere would choose the Triplaner as his reference that supposedly had better bass than the Talea 2; as not only did i have one (a Triplaner) among my tonearms, but 2 of my local friends switched from Triplaners to Talea's, and Joel Durand also had a Triplaner. i think we kinda had that issue well covered.

and i don't blame Atmasphere for loving the Triplaner, it is a wonderful arm and i mean no disrespect toward it.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
unoear
141 posts
 
It appears to me that Atmasphere's description here gives me much more confidence in his experience with this tonearm. I do understand some of the alternate fanclub comments that are expressed with some confusion that is expressively clouded by an escalating confirmation bias.

So, IMHO, if someone is reading this thread and trying to come to a sense of understanding...trust Ralph's superior experience over hobbyist that are confused with creating an illusion of superiority by buying labels without the capability of putting those items to proper use.

Atmasphere, aka Ralph, thank you for your clear and well thought out
observations! Please up the task of bringing light into this thread; I for one, appreciate reading your thoughts.

Cheers!
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,861 posts
 
Unoear, thanks but you should not encourage me :)

I have been picky about bass for a long time. That is literally the reason why I was trying to find a way to direct-couple tubes to a loudspeaker way back in the mid/late 1970s. I play bass, and have played bass in orchestras for decades. So I am picky and hard to please in that area.

I can understand why someone would prefer the Talea if their system is not entirely full-range. To me it had a nice, mild mid-bass hump that I did not hear in the Triplanar, its that last bit between 16 and 30Hz or so where I noticed the Triplanar was doing things that the Talea did not.

One recording I made is called Canto General, which is on LP and CD. When we prepared for this recording, we had access to the hall as a rehearsal space for an entire week. To I had a lot of time to play with mic placement, the layout of the orchestra and we made a lot of test recordings. In addition, we found the largest bass drum in the Twin Cities for use in the orchestra. It was nearly 6 feet across. I wanted to produce a recording that had real bottom end that would challenge a stereo and give me a good bass reference.

There are tracks where the drum is played gently, yet even though it should seem like it is rippling the floor in front of the speakers, without any boom. IOW its a subtlety. This is one of the areas where the differences between these arms was easy to make out. To me the Talea is nice, its just not completely neutral.

If your speakers and amps have trouble making these frequencies without rolloff or phase shift, you may hear something different. I find it frustrating to use speakers that lack bandwidth, which is why from the very early days that I started, I've always had something that could go to 20Hz or lower with ease.

(Mike, I had understood that you had a problem with your subwoofer (one channel not playing)- was that corrected by the time you did your comparisons?)

The other area I hear the Triplanar doing a better job is in the soundstage. Its just more locked in, like the master tape. Of course, I'm playing the tape on the tube machine that made the recording...
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