Has anybody tried the Reed 3P?

Both arms are well engineered. The 312 s is very easy to set up as I'm sure you know. The lack of a slotted head shell has it's downside too though especially if you want to use a Mint tractor which has to be cartridge specific. The lack of VTA on the fly adjustment is also a slight knock on the SME. It's performance with the PC-1 Supreme is hard to fault but it is one of the arms that had trouble with the LP-s. To be fair, I didn't add the accessory counter weight which would have allowed the counter weight assembly to be moved closer to the pivot and may have stabilized things. I knew the Reed was on the way so waited for it.

The Reed certainly wins the beauty contest.(I do like the more industrial finish of the SME too though). It handles the LP-s right out of the box. In addition to VTA on the fly, azimuth on the fly( which I haven't messed with yet) makes tweaking much easier. I'm still getting this arm dialed in but it's on par with the SME already.

The "new toy" factor is in effect currently but if I could only keep one arm it would be the 3P. I'm fortunate to have them both though and don't foresee parting with either one.

Hi Maril 555, Coincidentaly I also own the SP 10, mkII and installed one of my FR-64S on the TT. I use this combo as my second system in order to test all those carts that I still buy on ebay. The removable headshell as Henry pointed out is the pre-condition for such adventures. I also use 6 different headshells by which one can regulate the eff. mass of the arm. This way I can 'mess' with whatever carts and their compliance. Fantastic! Thanks Henry!

Dear Nikola,
I am so convinced by the advantages and flexibility of removable headshells......that only the Copperhead (out if my six tonearms)......does not have this feature.
I notice that the new DaVinci Vertu tonearm now features a removable headshell thanks to Thuchan I believe?

Dear Henry, There is this Aristotelian teaching reg. the distinction between 'essential' and 'accidental' qualities in objects. You are of course familiar with this obsession
with rigidity by tonearms. I was aware that this teaching was totaly wrong but I also bought only tonearms with fast headshells. The experts and the 'ignorant' you know. But now I can (pre)adjust 6 carts in 6 headshells and switch between them in 4 minutes time. I want mention the 'minimalist' approach reg. the number of soldering 'points' in the tonearm wire. Some even avoid the preamp connectors and solder their ( the best there are) wire in the amp.

3 years later anyone can comment on REED 3P "12 Cocobolo + ZYX Premium 4D (SB2) combo ? Anybody use that combination ?

Effective mass of "12 Reed w/cocobolo arwand is 19g.
Zyx Premium 4D compliance is 12x10-6 (vertical) & 15x10-6 (horizontal) @ 100Hz (Japan)

Dealers told me it would be a good match but at the same time i've seen other people use the same Reed with Miyajima Kansui which is a totally different cartridge with lower compliance 7x10-6 @ 100Hz (Japan).

How come two cartridges (Zyx & Miyajima) with different compliance can be ideal for one tonearm if their compliance is so different (from 15 to 7, both at 100Hz) ?

Anyone can explain me ?