"oldskool" tonearms

Dear Dazz: I owned the EMT 997: excellent. I owned the SME V and I own a SME IV, Moerch DP6 and I forgot : the Koetsu SDA 1000MK2.

Many people think that I'm a collector tonearm, but I don't: I have all these tonearms first because they are really great and second because in this way I always can match in the right way almost any cartidge that I own or will owned. I own these tonearms because of my cartridges. Till you find the right tonearm for a cartridge you really can't know how good is that cartridge.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Hi Raul,

How would you compare the Satin AR-1S with the Audiocraft 4000/4400 or Morch UP-4 and any other unipivots you would recommend?

Many thanks in advance,

Anthony

Dear Anthony: The Audiocraft AC 3300/4400 in fact is a dual point. It is a very good tonearm and better than the Graham 2.2 , this one take the Audiocraft design for its own design.

As unipivot the Satin is at the top ( extremely hard to find ), with the Satin practicable the tonearm link dissapear: free of colorations/distortions. The Moerch unipivots are very good ones too and have the advantage that you can change the effective tonearm mass for to match it with almost any cartridge. From what are out there on today unipivots my vote is for Moerch but I never try the Phantom.

How old is "oldskool"? I have been quite happy with an Alphason HR-100S since 1982. I assume this vintage satisfies your criteria. It has sounded right, or rather not at all, with the few cartridges I've hung on the smart end of the stick.

Recently, I've been intrigued by the Schroeder DPS Arm. The simplicity of it's design and execution is really quite appealing. I am at somewhat of a loss as to how to compare it's individual audio characteristics with those of my equipment and I'm not in a position to take a $4,000 leap of faith for a new arm.... It sure is pretty, though.

Dear Raul,

I really respect your dedication and knowledge on LP playbacks. Out of all the tonearms that you have, I am a bit surprise that there isn't any linear tracker, air-bearing or otherwise. Just wonder what is you view on these arms.

Thanks in advance,

Michael