OL silver vs. Clearaudio Unify

Joel, yes you can do that, but it has its drawbacks too. Most methods like tonearm wraps will add mass, but will do it in both planes of motion. It is desireable to have lower mass in the vertical plane for good warp tracking, but desireable to have higher mass in the horizontal plane for better cartridge stability. The amount needed will vary, depending upon the other factors involved.

Additionally, the added mass may solve the mass/resonance need, but does nothing for the stability problem regarding unstabilized unipivots and low compliance cartridges.

John, nice response.
I have been around on these analog pages for awhile. You might have noticed some of my other posts. I actually have done some tonearm mods(called the HiFi) and made them available to the members, and have designed some turntables and tonearms that are destined for market in the future.
I do some analog design and other design work for a fairly well known audio company.

Thanks for all your responses. As to why I am leaning toward the Unify - it is quite simple, I have found one which may come in a bit cheaper than the OL Silver. Also, I am not crazy about the plastic base of the Silver (i.e. I find the esthetics of the Unify more pleasing [a lame concern, I know]). After your input, I may be pursuing the Silver instead. . .

Thanks again,
Joel

John,

Thanks for the kind references. I don't have your broad personal experience with arms and cartridges, but I certainly believe you that very few combos can track those silly cannons. I imagine even fewer can do so and also display a high degree of musicality on real music (of which that particular record contains exactly zero.)

My limited personal experience, however, has discovered at least one combo that can do both. My Shelter 901 on a Twl-modded OL Silver blasts through the cannons with no undue excitement or gymnastics, yet plays music that will break your heart. I'm only guessing that a 501mkII on the same arm might perform similarly, perhaps with slightly less bass response and top end detail.

I totally agree that the HFN record is of marginal utility for setting up good combos, but I think it's pretty good at showing up bad ones. If a combo does especially poorly on fairly simple test tracks, I'd worry about how it might handle the far more complex problems presented by real records.

Joel,
Nothing lame about aesthetics. We both fell for the Teres 265 and I'm certainly not ashamed of that! A Moerch DP6 or Basis Vector might answer all our concerns, but not at a price you or I could stomach.

I agree the OL arms look pretty humble, even humbler with Twl's goofy-lookin' HIFI Mod stickin' outta the sides. (Just kidding Tom, I post referrals every week.)

Here's how to get around the look: cue up a good record and watch your friends faces. Trust me, they won't care or even notice what anything looks like. The normal response is closer to that of the great Art Dudley, "Holy mother of crap!"

Doug (?),

You certainly have a point with respect to exposing bad matches. I have, actually, a collection of test records which were issued over the years, including a couple of Shures. The music on most of these is quite good! But though I should know better, I usually just stick whatever new cartridge I have onto an arm and "suck it and see," as the Brits say. Call me curious George, an inveterate tinkerer.

I can see that there's a lot of experience with the Shelter/OL tonearm, and it seems like the best bet for Joel. But a liking for aesthetics enhances one's enjoyment of a particular piece, pride of ownership and all that, and I'd hate to see Joel give up on it without giving it a chance...is there a mismatch in terms of mass/compliance?

The Shelter cartridges actually sound quite interesting: I'm always attracted to controversy, which why I bought my first Rega arm in the '80s. It seems to me that controversy is a sure sign of something good. Which is why I own a Decca as well. Perhaps I should buy a Shelter for the collection. If I do, I can thank Joel for introducing the idea.

Good luck to everyone in their search for audio nirvana and good old-fashioned fun, let's not forget...