SME V arm: dynamic VTF or straight weight

Dear Axel, 12" to 9" in dynamic balanced status - well, there a a few points to be taken into account. First of all the 12" tonearm is - due to his higher mass and to the longer lever - more stable (= his tendency to leave balanced mode is slower.....). One the other hand the counterweight has either to be heavier or has to be moved further away from the bearing. I have compared my FR-64s, MAX-282, MAX-237 and FR-66s for their behaviour in static vs. dynamic balanced mode. All were used with 3 different FR-cartridges (FR-702, FR-7f and FR-7fz). All were aligned with the Denessen tractor which does result in more effective length on all 4 tonearms and the 2 zeros fairly wide spread and the 2nd zero close to run-out-grooves.

I personally do prefer the dynamic balanced mode due to a more relaxed sound and a more stable soundstage. The sound has a kind of "inner ease" compared to the static balanced mode. The static balanced mode gives however - on brief listening - a sense of more excitement, more dynamic sound. This is uncovered after a few record sides rather as "exaltation" and "over nervous". In a system with rather low efficiency speakers this may however be desired and will add some "life" to the sound of the system.

If your music-system is already rather on the "fast side of life" (= high efficiency speakers etc.) the dynamically balanced mode will show its sonic virtues.

To my ears the sound of the dynamic balanced mode does support the theoretical background.

Have a nice evening,

Daniel H. Kurt

Dear Daniel: Like I posted: different persons/systems different opinions.

I made the same with the Micro Seiki ( with out damping ), FR, Ikeda, Dynavector, SME and Lustre tonearms and with several cartridges ( one cartridge at the time ) and I prefer the static way, but like your opinion mine is not an absolute one only an additional one. All tests in different times but with the same recording tracks.

What I find, overall, were a more natural and balanced tone with less " spark " over the high frequencies and less/lower distortion " feeling ". In the Micro Seiki the differences were at minimum along the Lustre. Different tonearms different level/range results.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear friends: I wonder why Daniel, I and some other people ( there are posts elsewhere on Dyna and SME owners where they state that hear differences. ) can hear differences and some of you did not.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear Raul, guess it is rather a matter of how deep you dive into the subject (here: how much time and effort (you can..) spend to really evaluate the differences) and whether the comparisms are really done in a strigend way (only one variable - all others constant (which is VERY hard to maintain...the tracking force for instance, behaves different in static vs. dynamic balanced mode)).

I made my comparism in a 2 day run on one table, in one system and each of the 3 cartridges went through all 4 tonearms in both modi.
The tendency was clear and in all 4 tonearms it went in the same direction. Also the tendency was more obvious in the MAX compared to the FR. It was NOT a matter of tonearm length. Wheter 10" or 12" - it showed the same tendency. (2 other people joined the sessions - we all 3 agreed on the results)

There are differences between the two modes - whether you judge them positive or negative is a matter of point of view and the surrounding system and its sonic tendency. The theoretical advantage is clear, but the practical conclusion is a matter of taste and personal sonic preferences.

So Raul, - we agree on the topic.

Hope these comments are of any help to others. But I think everyone has to evaluate this for himself. And should again do so, after any significant change in any other part of his high-end chain. Results once evaluated are void if the circumstances under which they were found do change in a significant way (in simpler words: new speakers? new preamp? new amplifier? new TT? new cartridge? - try again - the results under new conditions may surprise you.....).

Cheers,
D.

I have just completed a careful comparison of dynamic VTF versus static VTF on my SME V with Air Tight PC-1 cartridge.
I can notice a very subtle difference in my system. I hear more micro details, better sense of air and room sounds with dynamic VTF. Bass notes are slightly fuller and more rich. This comes at the cost of slightly crisper, snappier transients, leading edge sounds on cymbals and piano as heard with static VTF.

I would not describe the sound as more relaxed. It is a bit more 3-D and involving for me with dynamic VTF. It is slightly drier, but more exciting with static VTF. Both sound good and the difference is extremely small to my ears in my system. Without doing an A-B-A intense listening test, I probably would never have noticed a difference. The ease of adjusting VTF with the dial is so much more convenient, that for some, this may be the deciding factor, but I don't adjust VTF once it is set. My records are all pretty flat, so perhaps I would notice a bigger differnce with warped LPs as Daniel suggests.

My findings correspond fairly closely to the descriptions from Raul and Daniel mentioned above, but I have strained to reach these conclusions. They certainly have more experience and perhaps their systems are more resolving, so these differences may be more important in their systems and to their individual preferences. I agree with both Raul and Daniel that it comes down to personal opinions as to which is better in a given system and to a certain set of ears. Interestingly, when I started this thread, I thought there would be a more definitive answer.