New $35K pivoting tonearm

Conflict of interest alert: I own two Durand tonearms; a Telos and a Talea.

To clear up some of the unintended misinformation on this thread...

a. The new composite Telos armwand is not an upgrade; it is an option.
b. The composite armwand does not use a mounting plate.
c. The sapphire cartridge mounting plate is only used with wooden Telos armwand.
d. The sapphire bearing column for the Telos is an upgrade. As to the cost, I believe the earlier comment "It better not be worth the money or I will leave depressed" nicely summarizes.

For those who have expressed disdain for the "back scratchers" and "wooden spoons", I am sorry that your experience the tonearms was disappointing. So that the community could learn from your expertise, please share more about your audition experience, i.e. system context, LP's used to audition, etc. Thank you in advance.

Jazzdoc
Well said. I thought this was a tongue in cheek, mildly humorous take on a 35k arm that no one has heard. My contribution was intended in similar jest. It appears that some Agoners have had "bad" experience with the Durand tonearms. It would be useful to provide a context with details of ownership, system\matching equipment etc. System pics would also be useful.
Disclosure : I am a delighted owner of a Talea2 for 4+ years.
Have a great weekend
Pradeep

I'm with syntax as well! Next year if not earlier the price may go down more than half-way I figure.

What is odd to me is that the OP started a thread about a $35K tonearm marketed by the previous guru of Roksan, and about which none of us know anything, apart from its cost. Then the venom was directed largely at Durand tonearms for the sin of being "expensive" and made of wood. Yet the Durand tonearms cost much less than $35K (even apparently with the latest and greatest upgrades on a Telos) and have a highly favorable track record already among thoughtful audiophiles. Could it be that certain harsh critics with ulterior motives were lying in the weeds waiting for a chance to snipe at Durand?...... Nah. But not impossible to believe, for reasons which should be obvious to any veterans of the Audiogon Analog forum.

Let's keep in mind that, if one is affiliated with a company making a all-metal tonearm that is price competitive with the Telos, it would be good strategy to dump on the Telos (and Schroeder tonearms) for being made of wood.

I started this thread 5 months ago thinking someone might be familiar with, or has heard this arm. I'm a little surprised it doesn't already have a glowing endorsement from Tone magazine, the marketing queen of the industry.

The Durand arms, while not as overpriced, are a little expensive? Seems to me price is based on relative performance and the Vertere arm should be almost twice as good. That's assuming the Durand arm is worth $19.5K.

What about the ViV Rigid Float, anyone familiar? The arm has no offset. The cantilever is inline with the pivot which eliminates most torsional affects on the cantilever. The tradeoff is increased alignment error. The arm has some endorsements from presumably respectable reviewers. There are 3 models of different length, all under $5K.
Regards,