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What's the best unipivot to arm ever made?

I'm really fond of unipivot tonearms in their way of music reproduction. For my point of view they represent the music with full of energy without loosing its authority and signature. Less is more? I do not know! I'm currently using a Mayware Formula 5 tonearm and believe is one of the best to arms ever made regardless price. Much better than my previous Schroeder Reference (even though I must admit Schroeder was mounted in an inferior turntable). What's your opinion about the best unipivot tonearm ever made and why your preference is so special?
pentatonia
mikelavigne
2,243 posts
 
Pentatonia,

just over three short years ago, Joel Durand was an audiophile doing a DIY project of building a tonearm from scratch on a whim. he documented each step thru that process on a personal website/blog which at one point i looked thru. he tried every possible way to have a bearing, including looking upwards and downwards. i'm no techie or engineer, so i don't have much more than a gut feel for the consequences of those approaches.

in any case, i know he has considered that question from many different perspectives.
lindisfarne
511 posts
 
Of all the crazy moves I've made over the years the most obvious improvement came from the Naim ARO.
lewm
13,777 posts
 
Manitunc, I am attracted to the 714 (assuming that's the wood version), but now the prices have gotten so that I would need to be very sure about it before making a purchase. (There's one now on eBay for >$1000.) Do you own one, and more important, do you use it?
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,720 posts
 
The original "Audio and Design" arm with the arcuate mercury baths and designed by John Wright of IMF fame. I bought one directly from him decades ago and used it with great pleasure over a long period. It was superior in materials and construction to the later (cheaper) KMAL version. I still have a few parts of it. ;-)

Kal
cousinbillyl
190 posts
 
I have to second the RS Labs A1 and Durand designs.

The Talea ll did best my RS Labs, but I think a lot had to do with Azimuth adjustment. I had a difficult time with the A1.

I will say that replacing the RCA ends on the Talea's cable with WBT Nextgen helped even further.

The Talea is a 9.5" arm. Without saying too much, I think my system needs the longer Telos arm.

I haven't searched; does the Telos use the same wire as the Talea ll?.
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