Yes I had several back in the day, good as it gets.
Classic combo was with Infinity Black Widow.
I would not be afraid to use one on the Pro-ject 9cc
arm that comes on the better Pro-ject tables, and which can
be bought separately.
Hadcock was a fav too. |
Another fine choice, in this case from the early 1980's, would be the Magnepan Unitrac 1. If you find one, though, make sure that it is not missing any parts or necessary accessories.
Regards,
-- Al
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Very similar to the Infinity Black Widow was the ADC LMF-1 and LMF-2 (with detachable headshell), designed for use with high compliance cartrides |
Al, if I am not mistaken the Magnepan has a construction flaw (a burr) that causes it to slice up the signal wires where they exit the arm tube. Apparently it was the lucky owner that got one that didn't fail- as I understand it eventually all of them will. Magnapan used to have a room full of that arm that they were not selling to anyone. |
That's interesting, Ralph, thanks. I hadn't heard that previously. In any event, my Unitrac still works as new, after 31 years. Member Rodman99999 also continues to use and be very pleased with a Unitrac as well.
Best regards,
-- Al
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Ralph has answered a puzzlement for me. My Unitrac cut one of the ground wires twice, and it couldn't be properly repaired or rebuilt the second time. Magnepan had stopped servicing them and the guy I ended up trying to work with couldn't get the ultra-fine 44 gauge Litz wire. A pity, as it was superb sounding arm. Ended up going with a Graham Phantom to replace it. Awesome but oh, so spendy. |
The SME 3009 was a low mass arm from that era of high
compliance cartridges. The Grace 707 was another low mass arm. |
SME 3009 series III with detachable arm tubes,look for the later version with larger head shell and revised geometry. |
Actually most were used on better Sony, Sansui, Pioneer
TT's with good results so it wasn't All that high compliance, not like ADC or Sonus that really needed those skinny arms. |
A Grace 707 is good i had one on my Luxman PD121 You should be able to get one at a reasonable price as they are not very rare and underated.
I didnt use use it with the same cartridge as what you have though.
The Grace uses a reverse DIN cable connector and its mounting hole is quite narrow.
regards
Mick
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As Al mentioned; I've been a very happy Magnepan Unitrac I
user, since 1981. Actually; I've got two, and narry a hint of
trouble with either. They pop up on eBay(or were) often.
The Grace 707 and Maggie both have the same low mass(7 gm),
while the Infinity was claimed to be 3 gm, at the stylus.
One of the nicer Unitrac attributes is the removable
headshell & plug-in cartridge wiring, which makes it much
easier to swap carts. Neither the Grace or Infinity offer that
convenience. It's really easy to dial in VTA/SRA, on the
fly, as well. |
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Signet XK50 works very well with high compliance MM cartridges. |
I'll second the Black Widow recommendation, and add the SME 3009 III - those two are my favourite low-mass arms.
other optional arms I like are the Grace 707 and the Mission 774 LC, but the former toe are distinctly better. |
The XSV4000 isn't really a high compliance cart. Cu should be similar to an Ortofon 2M. I'm not exactly sure what the Pickering is, but my Stanton 980 has the same VTF and cu is 20.
The Stanton tracks like a banchee on med/light arms and I doubt if you'll have a problem with a reasonable match. I like it on my Unitrac w/original wiring that works just fine, but it should be okay on an arm in the 11 or 12g range.
Back in the day high compliance carts were up to 50cu. IMO, with similar cart the Unitrac bests the other arms mentioned.
Regards, |
Grace 707 is a fine arm for a high compliance cartridge. A step up from the Grace is the SME 3009/3012 line. |
How about new Well Tempered Lab LTD MK2 tonearf with effective mass of 10g (for very high compliance cartridges) ? |
I am using a Signet XK50 with the Soundsmith Aida High Compliance Cartridge. The Signet was one of if not the first to use the counterweight so that it was on line with the stylus thus providing even and constant downward stylus pressure on the varying surfaces of vinyl. The cartridge tracks at 1 gram.
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SME III w/ hyper stiff titanium-nitride very low arm mass of 5 g fits the fuzziest MMs, w or w/o fluid damping. This arm gets the best out of SHURE´s top dogs, and likely all other top MMs. Reasonable price. Looks very beautiful too.
State of the Art. |
If a high compliance MM or MI cartridge was in my future, I would not hesitate to go the SME 3012 route. I had good results (back in the day) using a Grace 707, but there's no comparison to the SME 3012.
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Dear lohanimal: In the past that kind of tonearms was the " fashion " nothing more than that. Please don't worry of what people said in those very old times.
Yor cartridge is around 30 cu ( tyhe same as the Stanton similar model. ) and remember that comes with that damped brush.
What tyou have to look for is a well damped tonearm and that's all. If you want a vintage one you can't find nothing better than the Technics EPA 100 or the Lustre GST-801 where in both cases your cartridge will shines!
Regards and enjoy the music,
R. |
Isn't the cartridge called "XSV4500", not "4000"? If not, then I have learned something new. Never heard of the 4000. You've received several excellent replies to your question; I think they're all good ideas. To add to the data set on the Unitrac, this is also one of Win Tinnon's favorite tonearms. But what strikes me is that if you own a Moerch, can't you get a second arm tube for it that is medium or low mass, and just go with that? Might save money and the aggravation of mounting a second tonearm. And the DP6 with a medium to low mass arm tube will likely be at least the equal of anything else mentioned.
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I can second the ADC LMF 2 tonearm. At 8 grams it is low mass but yet built very well and super easy to operate and adjust. I have used it and been very happy with the results. |
4000 was a quadraphonic cart..
with ADC you must be SURE to get all THREE collar weights , only way to adjust tracking force . |
All the XSV 3000 through 5000 could be used for quad. They had response to 50K. I think these came after the 4-ch era and not many cared. The 4500 was XUV not XSV and was a 4-ch cart. These had a quadrahedral tip. The other extended contact tip was stereohedron. |
Fleib, I yield to your vast knowledge on these subjects. I've got a used 4500 somewhere, I think. Never heard it. I had been under the impression that XSV4500 was in the line with XSV3000, etc. Now, even as I write this, I am questioning my memory. I do know the XSV7500 is an analog of the Stanton 980LZS, or no? What is "U" in XUV?
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