Best Tonearm Lifter?

The Little Fwend is excellent. Made very well and the lift is very smooth.
It is expansive for what it is but, I bought it at an Audio show and got a discount.

Can you still play 45s with these devices set up for LPs?

At one time Express Machining (the company in San Jose, CA that makes the excellent aftermarket parts for Rega tables and arms) was making a real nice end-of-play tone arm lifter appropriately named The Lift. It was offered in chrome and gold originally, and later black. I have both a chrome and black one that were never installed on a table, perhaps I'll list them here on Audiogon. My three arms all have cueing devices, and I don't need the arm to be raised automatically at the end of each LP side. I coulda used one when I was a kid; I use to fall asleep with my Koss Pro 4AA headphones on, and would wake up in the morning with sweaty, aching ears, and the sound of the stylus scratching against the perimeter of the LP's center label!

My maid, Ramona.

I used a Tru-lift on my LP12, worked for awhile, but tweaked the suspension and only worked if I kept adjusting it. Became a PITA. Then I got a Kuzma Stabi S, finally, with the aid of a VPI magic brick, I was able to get it mounted to the height needed and solidly. Still, I could not keep the trigger adjusted properly. Another PITA. So, I got a Little Frwd lifter. The magnet in the bottom was not strong enough to keep it positioned correctly. Argh !!  

I went to my local ACE hrdw and found a small pkg of 8 round magnets the perfect size of the base, and with a small sliver of 3M foil tape, to keep it from sliding off of the magnet. The Little Frwd works perfectly and stays in the proper position.

The Little Frwd's trigger is pre-set, the shaft is milled to a finer fitting tolerance. Very easy to adjust, even to my tapered Kuzma arm.

Glad that I stayed after getting a tonearm lifter. Now, that I have the Little Frwd positioned and working perfectly, I can start my 45 rpm project. That is; I have 52- 45 rpm albums that are great, but never played. Every 2, sometimes 3 songs, you need to get up and flip the record over. Hardly seems worth it.

My project, is to record the albums to DAT tapes. I am not sure why DAT didn't catch on, but for my purpose now, It is perfect. Recorded to DAT tapes. You can change to the song that you want to listen to quickly. There is no tape hiss, even without dolby b. Dare I say it, we know it is supposed to be impossible, but vinyl recorded to DAT tape, sounds better than the vinyl. As I get more through this project, I will probably have more to say about SQ. We will just have to wait and see.

Anybody that can add information or comments on this, is welcome to do so

Anyone using a tru-lift with a Technics SL-1200G?

btw: I found placing a tiny O-ring, on the AT6006’s cylinder, to save my correct height, went a long way to simplify the adjustments. Holding it both vertically and horizontally, exactly where I wanted, while tightening the screw, was just too big a pain, in the confined space between my particular arm and platter.

I bought my first Audio-Technica Safety Raiser(AT-6006 ) in 1980, for $19.98. It worked flawlessly, for over 30 years. Then, something apparently dried out and it began lifting more abruptly. I found two NOS/NIB pieces, on eBay, and bought both. Well worth the money, even at nearly six times the original price(each). It now appears to have been re-released, by AT(the AT6006R). From the outward appearance; the Douk is a Chinese knock-off. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Douk-Audio-Automatic-Tonearm-Lifter-Arm-Lift-For-LP-Turntable-Disc-Vinyl-Re... and here’s the new one, from AT: https://www.audio-technica.com/cms/accessories/398e4995e9bfe926/index.html It seems both companies have eliminated the lock-down/lift-defeat wire, of the original(not a big loss). ie: https://www.vinylengine.com/library/audio-technica/at6006-safety-raiser.shtml  Any of the three, would have plenty of room, between the arm mount and platter of a VPI Prime table.

Will Douk Audio tonearm lifter work on a VPI prime turntable?

Have had the Douk Audio tone arm life for 6 months now. The are about the least expensive at $87 with shipping from China. Works fine seems well built. 

Tried both Tru-Lift and Little Fwend.  IMO, the Little Fwend (LF) is better built and was less hassle to install.  Had issues with tuning the Tru-Lift to trigger- tighten/loosen.  In my case, the LF had a slightly smaller footprint (diameter of base) and worked better.  Purchased for $249 at Music Direct.

  Yes, the tru-lift is worth it. Works like a charm. 

I've been looking at these, too, for my Rega. The Q Up gets pretty good reviews, but it's plastic and spring loaded. Very inexpensive, though, and I thought I could do better. The Nobsound (Doku?) looks the part, but it's Chinese and has an awful review (just one) on Amazon.

So is the Tru-lift really worth it?

How about the "Little Fwend"?

Adding a Tru-lift to both of my TTs has made listening to vinyl a joy. Also have to give credit to the remote with my Pass XP20.
 
The Tru-lift takes 10 minutes to install and tweak with a a small piece of blutack.

Keeping the final cut in mind is no longer a concern. A trip to the bathroom, attending to something on the stove, a phone call or someone at the door with a delivery. The Tru-lift picks up the arm flawlessly.

No effect on SQ. No rush to pick up the arm. A little spendy, but does the job. Fast delivery and no problems with fees through customs. Top Shelf product.

Thanks, Norb.

I'll have to purchase one.

Happy New Years!

Have used the Tru-lift for a week now. What a joy to get lost in the Music; not having the last cut lurking in your mind, phone, doorbell rings, things on the stove are no longer a concern.

Will order one for my Kuzma this week. Highly Recommended.

lak,

Installed on my LP12. A little heavy and need to tweak the suspension just a bit. 

Thanks for thoughts on the back.

Turns out that surgery went well but the real problem is that at 66 years; I have been diagnosed with M.S.  Have entered the world of neurotherapy.

The Tru-lift makes it so that I don’t bounce the LP12 suspension and thus tonearm. Very helpful these days.

Happy Holidays 
Best to you 

Norb

@nkonor, which TT did you install the Tru-lift on?
How's the back doing?

Tru-lift took 10 minutes to install, 30 sec to tweek. Works perfectly.

brf,

Just received the Tru-lift that I ordered Friday afternoon.

Merry Christmas 

Some good information here, thanks...

As posted in your subject line “Best” usually cost money.

i like the concept of this DIY lifter, because it uses your existing manual lifter. But the mechanism looks big and ugly and complicated. 
https://youtu.be/eScAcVzAcSg

Great info. The safety razor was recommended for my LP12 . Need to find one for my Kuzma TT.

good info, @drmemory62. 

I've used both the Q-Up and Expressimo and both are pretty fiddly to set but both do an admirable job once you get them set up.

The Q-Up is plasticy and not aesthetically pleasing, and if not set properly can really pop your tone arm up off the record since it's lifting is spring based.

I like the Expressimo better since it's a solid piece of brass and uses a small weight and leverage to perform the lifting rather than a spring.  It's was harder for me to set up than the Q-Up but once I got it right it pretty smoothly lifts my tonearm

Tru-lift, is excellent.

And also $200! 
Looks very nice, but more than I can spend. 

I have the Q-up. It works perfectly and is easy to set up. It's less fiddly than other lifters I've used.

Tru-lift, is excellent. 

http://www.integrityhifi.ca/tru-lift