MG-1 Air Bearing Tonearm? Anyone experience it?

Well, I wanted to update on my experience with the MG-1. For optimal setup I did have to drill a hole in my Teres armboard, to best accomodate the MG-1. I'm now better able to dial in the tonearm. The tonearm really sounds great, although there are some growing pains. Two stand out. I find if I walk close to the turntable, the cartridge jumps - literally. This is a bit disconcerting to say the least, so I find I have to tiptoe up to turn records etc. The issue may be realted to my new stand (Adona double rack), although when I try my OL Silver on the Teres now (with tt also on the Adona), nothing jumps at all - thins appear rock steady - so the arm seems to be the likely culprit. Secondly, I find that levelling of the air tube is critical, if there's the slightest leaning to either side, the arm may stall/skip - can be particularly worrying when the cartridge reaches the end of the record - I've had the cartridge get thrown/pushed back across the record - again, quite disconcerting.

Overall though, despite the setup challenges and kinks, the arm sounds great, and remains a bargain at the price, and I can't help but feel there's an extra degree of airyness about the presentation compared to the OL Silver. The presentation of the music seems a bit more light on it's feet. It takes me about a half hour to switch out arms though, and I don't like doing it (removing/reinstalling cartridge etc), so I haven't done a lot of close side-by-side comparison. I think I'll continue to use and play with the MG-1 until I've saved enough for a top dog arm - likely the Schroeder DPS or Model 1 or 2 (surely I can never afford the Reference ;-(

I will post photos of the setup soon - my camera is out of action just now...

Happy listening,
John.

Adding photo of my setup with the tonearm....:

http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/i/f/1112246753.jpg

That's a beautiful setup.

My setup isn't quite as beautiful to gaze upon as John's.
But I've been able to get it to track an entire LP successfully. If you like to tweek, this arm assembly will give you plenty of opportunity.

To answer Kitch29's question, My suspended IIX was affected by the cantilevered design of the MG-1. Because of the horizontal arms that extend forward, my suspension was heavily weighted towards the front with the MG-1 installed. I had to increase the damping factor of the front suspension springs in order to get it leveled. Don't know if that is optimum for isolating the playing environment from outside influences. But I am still working towards the optimum balance because whenever I make miniscule changes, it affects the leveling overall in other areas. I'm also using a heavy aftermarket record clamp and an Oracle Mat which also adds mass to the sprung weight. So in my case, the stock suspension wasn't designed to control this much mass hanging over the front edge. It is a challenge that I will have to address in the future. But I've been able to reach a compromise setup that works for now. The arm itself doesn't seem to be affected by suspension bobbing. It is much more prone to suspension action that takes the arm out of level.

I am having problems with static electricity and possibly grounding. The manufacturer has given me detailed instructions on some possible solutions which I will try this weekend.

My impressions so far? Even without the optimized setup, the soundstage really opened up. My speakers are producing sounds that are perceived to be bigger than the actual room size. I guess you can say that the soundstage has expanded dramatically. Instruments decay gives the impression of placement and space in between musicians. Another thing I noticed is absolute silence inbetween tracks on my pristine LPs. I'm still fiddling with VTF and some of the grounding issues. I think I will need a more accurate VTF gauge.

However, I am impressed with the improvement created by the MG-1 so far. For the price, it is an acceptable gamble that will allow mid-fi enthusiasts like myself to experiment with technology that was only available to the big boys with unlimited resources.