Anyone here knows the Reed 3Q tonearm?

Hello Guys,

The MintLP Best Tractor for the Reed 3Q has arrived and I already set my Benz LP with this magical glassy template.
Well , as I expected the sound is fantastic , the detail and inner detail improved so much compared to the supplied paper template the arm sounds as another arm.
The problem now is the way a 12" inches arm sounds .. so different from my 9" Michell Tecnoarm and other well known 9" as the Graham of my friend .. I'm now disoriented.
The 9" seem invadent and sound bumped into me .. forward .. while this 12" sound very refined and polite , sweet and totally not invadent .. it sounds relaxed and more laid back (backward).
You can increase the volume without any discomfort.
I noticed the mids are a bit recessed and the highs weighty .. concrete and never edgy.
So I'm a bit surprised about this way to sound .. this is the first 12" I try and I listen .. I wasn't prepared to it.
Without any question the way to sound of this (or every) 12" inch. arm is totally different compared to the sound I'm accustomed to listen.

This is why I'm here with the horryble doubt about to buy or not to buy this 12" inches Reed 3Q arm .. or to choose for a well known 9" inches like a Graham Phantom or a Triplanar .. I know how these arms sound.

What can I do? .. any suggestion?

Hello Raul,

First .. thanks alot for your opinion.

Surely I wasn't prepared to listen a 12" inches arm .. but the difference from a "normal" (standard) 9 "inches is substantial
The way to sound is very different from the arms I know.
Probably the sound I'm getting now is more correct than the one I always got with a 9" but since I wasn't used I feel myself disoriented.
I 'll try some more days before to choose.
By the way it would be helpful to know if someone else have had the same experience.. just for a comparison.

Dear Curio: When we heard/hear live music normally the sound does not comes relaxed and laid back ( of course that depends at what distance we are hearing. ). If we hear a Steninway playing at normal levels at three meters we can't find out a relaxed and laid back performance, almost the same with any other music instruments including human voice.

The microphones in a recording normally are nearest to the " stage " that when we attend to hear live music so what we ( in a good recording that's not manipulated one. ) have to hear at our home audio system should be in this regard something near of what we hear in a live event and not that kind of relaxed and laidback performance. All the live music has a natural agresiveness that almost all audiophiles does not likes in their audio systems, why is this?, I can't understand.

Of course that if the recording was manipulated to performs relaxed then you will hear in this way.

A 12" tonearm has some advantages and some disadvantages but IMHO I think this subject could be not the main subject of what you are hearing with the Reed but more the relationship between your Benz Micro cartridge and the tonearm build materials that " resonate " with that tone balance ( yes, a 12" tonearm design resonate different form a 9" even with the same tonearm build materials but through my experiences not in so dramatic way. ) that IMHO does not reproduce the recording information in more " natural " way.

If the Graham or the Triplanar or the own 9.5" Reed or any other tonearm gives you a more true and real performance then maybe this is the road to take.

The other alternative is to find out a cartridge that could do the " trick " with that Reed tonearm.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

Ps.: Of course that I'm assuming that VTA/SRA/Azymuth/VTF cartridge set up parameters are just on target.

12" arm does sound relaxed. I have 6 9" arm before I get 12" Grandezza. It does sound better in all department, which is why I'm reluctant to get 10.5" for my next tonearm.

Hi Curio, The longer the tonearm the smaller the tracking error. But the longer the arm the higher the eff. mass.
If your wood choice for the Reed Q is Cedar then the compliance of your Benz LP should make a good combo with
your Reed Q. BTW it is not clear if you already own the
Reed. It looks as if you have one to experiment with and decide to buy or not later?

Regards,