12" Tonearm What Have You Heard & Recommend?

Easy: put the damping fluid in the housing, it makes a world of difference, the bass simply not there without it. Also makes it behave physically.

Hey Johnnantais, I just got done reading this myself:

"Difference between JMW 12.5 and JMW 12.6 tonearm"

...the 12.6 has no damping capability which they said was changed (different bearing housing) from the 12.5 which was able... may be worth verifying...

Remember how good the (vinyl) on the radio used to sound back in the day... I am becoming more convinced it has in large part to do with the transcription TT's......

Johnnantais, thanks for the reminders!

Enjoy your music!
Jon

Yikes!! It must have been a 12.5i I set up then, sorry for the confusion sirspeedy. Still, damping is sooo effective when setting up unipivots, can't imagine having one without it.

Hi Jon, everyone on this forum knows I favour the old transcription/idler decks over the belt-drives, and then some ;-)! Check out this review, which mentions my own nefarious activities on this very forum: Garrard 401.

Here's a mini-review from someone who sold his VPI TNT in favour of a rebuilt Lenco/VPI 12.5i tonearm/Decca Super Gold: "He was building my two-armed monster, a Lenco L75 on a huge (75 lbs) plinth to accommodate an SME IIIs and a JMW 10.5. The JMW was on my VPI TNT Mk II, since deposed -- and sold -- after being sonically demolished by my FIRST Lenco. During the construction phase, Jean tried his own older Decca on the JMW arm and pronounced himself gobsmacked (not the first or only time, as readers of this thread will attest). The Decca, a fairly notorious mistracker and other miscreant -- while sounding heavenly as long as it sounded heavenly -- was a perfect gentleman on the JMW, a damped unipivot. So, long story, short, I ended up with the Super Gold Mk. VII from Warren Gregoire, who bills himself as the only full-range Decca dealer in North America. (www.warrengregoire.com). Cost was around $900. When it came, it looked enormously unimpressive. Cheap plastic fittings, big gap when mounted on the JMW, which I filled neatly with Mortite, cart pins sprouting from the cart in all directions. And the first few break-in days did nothing to lessen my apprehension. Applause sounded like hail on a tin roof, for instance. But there was SOMETHING about it that kept me playing it. And gradually, this ugly duckling became increasingly swanlike, until finally, WOW....Incredible dynamics, great bass, best treble I've ever heard, and an overall AUTHORITY like nothing I've ever heard from my system. Not to mention the ultimate, so far, in musicality and involvement. Oh, and high output to boot. No need for a step-up. Any downside, any mistracking, any noise? No, except for the initial grooves on one side of one ECM Ralph Towner disc. The Decca just skitters over these grooves, no matter what I try -- adjusting VTA, VTF, anti-skating, or what. And that is absolutely the only problem."

And another who went to the same combo: "It's just ... quicker, more detailed, richer, more nuanced & textured, bass crisper. The bass is stunning: taut, articulate. A guitar being strummed has individual strings playing as well as the aggregate. Instruments have more harmonics to them, are more complex. It still boogies and isn't clinical - the musical isn't lost by irrelevant focus on detail, but there is more detail across the board. Percussion is struck, crisp. From Patsy Cline to Keith Jarrett (perhaps my favorite piece of music, Arbor Zena, is just incredible sounding. What pleasure!) to Debussy to Leon Russel to Paul Simon - each record is richer sounding. I can't imagine what the new K&K phono stage with the Granites are going to sound like."

Anyway, the sound of a Decca on a JMW on an idler is pure fireworks, but with no aggressive nasties. Stunning.

Johnannantis,well you don't have to "try imagining" a unipivot without damping of the bearing.It exists,and I did put out a thread(for my friend)addressing the possibility of correcting the "tick tock" action.No responses!!
I cannot believe this is corrected by "counterweight precision",which is what my friend tells me.As of now I can only hope this can be corrected,as the "action" WILL affect performance,as well as lp and cart wear!
Best!

Dear Raul,
of course I agree with you that the only real Arm for these Deccas which transmitts boat loads of vibrations into the Arm, the IKEDA Arm is the classic choice based on it's superior rigity.
From the later designs the DaVinci is a very interesting design based on it's very special bearing.
Both we know: Fun counts

Happy Listening