Well, I managed to get the new arm installed. I'm still working through a few kinks, but initial impressions are very favorable.
I used my existing Teres cocobolo armboard for support. However, I needed to mod it a little. The armboard is supported by a relatively thin screw and nut which was clearly far less diameter than the clearance that the Teres armboard allows for (which is drilled for a Rega/OL type arm). So, I added a layer of wood to the bottom of the armbord for support, with a hole in the wood just sufficient to allow the screw to come through. Then I tightened the nut to attach the arm to the armboard. I also had to reverse the alignment of the armboard, swinging it clockwise so that it sticks out towards the front rather than towards the back of the table. The tonearm structure needs to perfectly parallel to the diameter of the platter (so that the arm/cartridge is perpendicular to the tonearm structure - allowing for perfect alignment with the grooves of the record). Also, the stylus needs to hit the record at precicely 162mm from the tonearm structure. That was a challenge - because the Teres armboard allowed me to position the tonearm structure no less than 168mm away from the diameter of the table. As a result, I needed to use the tonearm adjustments to stretch the arm out a little so that the stylus aligned correctly. An alternative would be to drill a fresh hole in existing (or new) armboard - I might do that over time, but for now, I'm up and running.
Next challenge is to have the table, arm etc all level. I know this is always important, but in the case of this arm, it's critical. Reason is, if you're off with the level on the plane of the airbearing - the tonearm will more easily slide left or right, which puts a lot of strain on the cartridge, and can make the stylus skip grooves (almost like a CD skipping) - not a pretty sight, nor sound.
Anyway, despite some setup challenges, which are understandable, the tonearm is now singing (or at least allowing my cartridge to sing). Cartridge I'm using just now is Denon DL103. I'll have an Airy 3x-sb in a few days, but want to master setup with the Denon first, rather than risk any damage to the Airy on account of me not getting used to the MG-1. That brings me to another point. Generally, I feel his arm to increase the risk of damage to the cartridge - by this I mean, it's more easy to make a mistake and manhandle the cartridge, than it would be with a traditiona pivot arm, like the OL silver I've been using. A key case in point is the lever one uses to raise and lower the cartridge to the record does not perform the action in as graceful, measured a way, as does my OL Silver.
The instructions were a little vague and didn't really lead me through installation. That said, I still was able to figure things out, and if I can, I suspect most others could too.
Finally, the hum coming from the air pump unit is quite loud. Included is a pretty long air pump cable though (might be about 20 feet). This allowed me to just about put the airpump unit outside the listening room, and close the door behind it (providing almost silence). Still, if you don't have the luxary of getting that airpump out of the room (or into some box/crevice), then you may have a problem - it's quite loud.
Anyway, the above concerns stated, I think the arm is a very cost effective, high quality, super sounding piece of kit. Construction really looks first rate. The arm assmbly/structure is a really tough, rigid metal that feels really solid. It has an on-the-fly vta adjuster (the top knob that you see in the photos moves the airboard up and down). Given that Teres sells its VTA adapter alone for $200, and this whole tonearm sells for $300, it's hard not to see this thing as an extreme bargain.
Settings and adjustments possible are quite varied, and elaborate. One can change aztimuth, vta, vtf very easily - in particular, the VTF adjustment is really nice - no back-and-forth with an allen key to get the weight just right - you simply screw back and forth. I think it works great.
Ok, now for the sound? Well, I'm never comfortable getting into a discussion on the sound of a pice of kit. Generally, I just know if it sounds better, and I think this tonearm does. I noticed a lot of air around the instruments, great channel seperation, great detail. Overall, I liked what I heard. Also, I'm still tweaking, and expect to get more out of the arm as I work with it more. All told, I think it may be a giant killer. Still, I'm not a good refernece point for such an opinion, as I'm not experienced much at all on the analog front. I've only owned a Teres - have upgraded within the line from the original 135 to the 255, and I've only owned the OL Silver arm. Still, my impression is that this tonearm is amazing value for money. I 'think' it sounds better than my OL Silver. BUT, I haven't done close comparison (the time and hassle of switching setup seems prohibitive), I'm still concerned with the potentially higher risk of manhandling/damaging of a cartridge, compared to more traditional design, and setup is not for the faint-hearted. Finally, I really sense that this arm could benefit from further refinements (although well built, it sort of feels like a 1.0 product, with more improvemetns possible). All told though, I guessing it's a wise purchase in the context of competition at anything close to it's pricepoint. I hope others can follow suit and buy this thing - if anything to help me iron out remaining tweaks :-)
