Wood armwand vs Metal armwand

The trick here is you want to control resonance in the arm wand, such that it does not talk back or editorialize.

Most wood arm wands I have seen do not appear to be treated for resonance issues. Some might argue that they don't need that; they would be wrong. The better metal arm wands are indeed treated- less expensive ones are not and so seem to have more coloration.

Resonance is not the only issue. Effective mass with the cartridge also plays a role, which is part of mechanical resonance which is a different issue. I point this out to reduce confusion.

A metal arm wand can improve shielding, which may result in lower noise.

Here in Minnesota there can be another concern- humidity, which will not affect a metal arm wand, but will certainly affect a wooden one! I'd hate to have an expensive arm wand crack in dry humidity, or have it change dimension or warp. That seems like a problem not worth having to me.

Very good points Atmasphere! I live in Wisconsin and deal with the same weather related problems/obstacles with my cello as you would with a wooden tone arm.

There are techniques to make wood stable. Such as immersing it in a stablizing product, and applying a vacuum to draw the water out and the stablizer in. This replaces the water in the wood with a resin that will not be effected by humidity. Certain woods are much more stable than others as well.

Though I don't live in a very dry climate, the humidity indoors does get pretty low in the winter. I have had no issues with my Reed tonearms.

Single crystal sapphire tonearm.

Wouldn't predictability, consistency and repeatability across a manufacturing process and across the wide gamut of environments it is to be used in make metal a better material?

I suppose one could infuse the wood structure with epoxy to attain this, but then we aren't really talking about wood anymore, rather some plastic composite material.

I'm not arguing that wood is not better, I just don't see how one can predict it's performance given its inherent variability. If you do choose to infuse it with epoxy, why not skip the wood and go with carbon fiber instead?