2. analog
  3. 130230-6882

Curved and Straight Tonearms

Over the last 40 years I have owned 3 turntables. An entry level Dual from the '70's, a Denon DP-52F (which I still use in my office system) and a Rega P3-24 which I currently use in my main system. All of these turntables have had straight tonearms. I am planning on upgrading my Rega in the near future. Having started my research, I have noticed that some well reviewed turntables have curved 'arms. My question: What are the advantages/disadvantages of each, sonic or otherwise? Thanks for any input. 
ericsch

Showing 2 responses by hiho

hiho
451 posts
 
What brf and Lewm said is correct. 
hiho
451 posts
 
What brf and Lewm said is correct... and now add helomech. 

No manufacturer would make a curved arm if the industry did not adopt the SME style headshell that has no offset angle. The ONLY reason to make a curved arm is to have the offset angle at the armwand since the headshell is a straight geometry. The SME 3 has detachable armwand instead of detachable headshell so they have to make the offset at the arm. Curved arm is a result of geometric necessity. If a curved arm sounds good, it is good not because is curved. The curved Alphason tonearm is made of one piece tube so they have to bend the arm to have the offset angle. Rega is also one piece but straight because the armtube is cast aluminum. Much of it is the result manufacturing process. Many curved arms with detachable headshell also have a side weight at one side of the bearing is because the uneven mass of curved arm needs to be balanced. Again, form follows function. Hey, I use curved arm with detachable headshell because I like having the option of changing out cartridges not because curved arm sounds better. 



More to discover