Schroder sq and the new talea

Lew, you're right about the DV1s weighing more than the Universe (just by feel....I have only a mass of 12.6 gm for the Dyna but nothing for the ZYX), but why did you guess heavier rather than lighter?
And yes......I was commenting on cartridge/arm matching rather than the respective merits of the 2 cartridges.

Raul's point about the difficulty of designing a truly 'universal' tonearm is well taken.
Of my 3 tonearms on the Raven AC-3, the Copperhead arm came 2nd (although by the smallest of margins), with both the Universe and the DV1s. The DaVinci was best with the Universe whilst the Phantom II won with the DV1s.
When high compliance MM cartridges were installed however, the Copperhead won with every single example.
So trade-offs are inevitable I think if the aim really IS to design a 'universal' arm, and don't forget, the arm designers usually use one or two cartridges to 'voice' their tone-arm designs so synergy with those selected cartridges may necessarily compromise the synergy with others?

Dear Peterayer: Guillermo and I think that about quality performance our tonearm ( shows it through different prototypes. ) achieve the " universal " main target that we point out during our on desk design previous to start tonearm building.

We are trying to finish with all the tonearm " facilities " that we need as a tonearm users.

Unfortunatelly we take a lot of time because Guillermo and I were/are no full time dedicated to the tonearm project, we advance on it through our " free time " and due that our main target of " universal " characteristic we have to made and make " hundreds " of tests with dozens of every single cartridge you can imagine: current models, vintage ones and LOMC type as MM/MI too and I have to do it with our tonearm design and with almost any other tonearm you could think: not an easy task I can say but worth the effort in benefit of MUSIC and the improved enjoyment that all of us deserve.

. Certainly that in the first middle of next year will be out there.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

Hi, my name is Larry, this is my brother Daryl, and this is my other brother Daryl.

Halcro, How ironic that the least expensive cartridges, as a class, sound best on the most expensive tonearm (the Cobra). But by some accounts, they should sound good on relatively inexpensive vintage tonearms, like the AT1100, the Black Widow, the Micro Seiki CF group, etc.

I guessed that the XV1s would outweigh ZYX, because the latter just looks to have a minimal lightweight structure, whereas the XV1s looks "built like a tank" and therefore may weigh more than average. I've seen the DV1S whilst haunting audio salons in Tokyo.

An universal tonearm is indeed possible. Technics R&B devision and Micro Seiki with the MAX-237/282 have shown the path. The question remains, whether there is not a too serious trade-off in other vital areas. I.e. whether the "price" you pay for "universality" isn't too high. I am sure, that Raul and his comrade Guillermo will come up with a very nice tonearm. However, if we look at today's top-tier cartridges, do we really need an "universal" tonearm? Most top cartridges today do feature a body mass which is NOT ideally suited to the now common comparatively high compliance in LOMCs ( and the few LOMIs, LOMMs are less than 5% of the market for top-cartridges) . Raul, - this is for you now: IMHO ...(...;-) ...) I think that the "key" to real improvement (i.e.: ABOVE the top level we are used to...) in tonearm/cartridge-performance (I do see these two NOT as independent components, but as 2 parts of ONE system) is the perfect mechanic-dynamic synergy of these two. The real problem today is, that cartridge and tonearm - as well as LOMCs and SUTs ... - are viewed by most as being individual components. They are not.
Some of us do remember times, when there were cartridges and tonearms available, which were made to match each other ( see some of Raul's MMs and the respective tonearms by Technics and others ).
I really do look forward to Raul's and Guillermo's tonearm. If they succeed in their task to an universal tonearm it will get my respect.