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Best tonearm for AirTight PC-1

I have an SME V rewired with Magnan Vi internal wire. It sound very balanced but wonder if I could get better match in terms of faster/tighter bas. I don´t know compliance of cartridge therefore this question.
I belive that thickness of wire affects resistance towards movements of arm. The thinner the better and Magnan is very thin.
Rumour tells that Breuer/Brinkman might improve due to almost zero resistance in movement of arm. I like to think that magnetic antiforce is superior to other technique and also ability to adjust zero play in bearings of these tonearms.
BTW it´s on a Raven One wich stands on Infinite Elemente Pagode Master Reference (good isolator).
Now question, will there be worthy noteable difference in sound with existing table. I have never heard other tonearms than SME range.
I listen mostly to blues,jazz and classic.
Roomsize, aproximately 20 m2
Appreciate Your opinions.

My system:
Merlin VSMx, Velodyne-DD10, Preamp CJ-CT5, Phono Jadis DPMC, Main Amps Jadis JA30, tuner Magnum Dynalab MD90T,
Meridian 588 CD-player. Cables Siltech Classic MKII/Acoustic Zen Silver II. Raven One/SME V/PC-1, Transparent PowerIsolator MM for JA30:s, Transparent Reference PC for CT5, Acoustic Zen Gargantua II PC for DPMC. Rest of PC:s is Chris Venhaus Flavour4 with Furutech/Oyaide connectors.

Many Thanks!
clabe
9 responses Add your response
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
Clabe,
I recently bought an Air Tight PC1. It is mounted on my SME V arm and SME 10 table. After about a hundred hours of break-in, I adjusted three things, each of which improved the bass performance. 1) I re-aligned the cartridge using a MINT Tractor arc-type protractor, 2) I stopped using the arm's damping trough, and 3) I experimented with cartridge loading and settled on 22 ohms (it had been 100ohm).

Bass became more focused, more defined, with better transient attack and longer, more articulate decays. I don't know about "tighter/faster", but it simply sounded more real and less "boomy" and "muddy". The PC1 is very "fast" at least compared to my Sumiko Celebration. I have not heard it in other arms, so I can not recommend anything else. If you have already optimized everything and are still not happy, perhaps another arm would help.
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
'deep' bass is never 'fast' the sme is a benchmark workhorse..you're fine.
clabe OP
101 posts
 
Thanks Peterayer (nice system) and Jaybo for your advice.
I will follow and maybe I can improve by using a Mint Tractor. On the other hand isn´t SME:s standard protractor enough accurate? (provided material (paper) is not worn)

Thanks!
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
Thanks, Clabe.
The Mint is much more accurate than the SME paper protractor. The pin hole for the stylus on my SME protractor was not quite in the center and sighting the arm tube from above to be parallel to the printed lines on the paper as they recommend is just not as accurate as placing your stylus on a very thin arc designed for your specific arm and cartirdge combination. The Mint is excellent for Zenith correction-the lateral rotation of the cartridge around the stylus tip-which contrary to popular belief, can be slightly adjusted on the SME fixed-hole headshell, ie. the cartridge can be slightly rotated so that the cantilever can align with the parallel lines at the Mint null points. Azimuth can also be slightly adjusted on the SME by tilting the arm base left or right before tightening the set screws.

It will take a couple of weeks to order the Mint, but once your PC-1 is properly aligned, you may be pleasantly surprised by the improvement in bass and sonics in general. Let us know how it goes.

Peter
brizonbiovizier
124 posts
 
I own the brinkmann 10.5 and have owned the sme V in the past - I have also heard the breuer 5, 7 & 8. The brinkmann arm has far tighter and faster bass than all of them.
glai's avatar
glai
446 posts
 
For fast tight bass with PC1, the phantom 2 would fit the bill. I got more bass quantity with triplanar 7 but not fast or tight.
clabe OP
101 posts
 
Hi Brizonbiovizier!
I´ve had Brinkman in mind.
What´about Breuer that you´ve had, differs it in anyway from Brinkman with PC-1 (can´t see any PC-1 in your system). I just wonder how it would sound with PC-1, if it´s right synergy. You or anybody else experience, would be interesting to hear.
Meanwhile I took Peterayers advice and ordered a Mint Protractor. Will report as soon as I´ve recieved/tested.

Many Thanks!
rudolffzigray
31 posts
 
I have owned two PC-1s and the first I only had a medium mass arm and I was not a fan of the sound. The second PC-1 I had a much heavier, higher mass, lower compliance arm and the sound was much better. The PC-1 is like a little brick or billet. It is very american looking. The sound and build reminds me of Texas, big, bold images. Make sure your arm is also big (10-12 inches) and on the heavy side. The Davinci Grandezza is a perfect match for this cartridge, trust me, I have the T-shirt.
thesaint519
162 posts
 
Can you give me your thoughts on the performance of the transparent power isolated unit you have in your system, pls? I'm considering replacing my which is great power company 1200 c with one.
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