Discuss The Viv Lab Rigid Arm

I met with Mr. Koichiro Akimoto and his family near Kamakura during my trip to Japan in March. We discussed the Rigid Float arm at length. He has a Masters degree of engineering of the University of Tokyo, Japan's most prestigious school. He explained to me many parameters in his design and why he thinks the older tonearm designs had their emphasis wrong, when it comes to acoustically correct record playing. I must admit, many of his arguments went straight over my head, as mechanical engineering is not my knowledge base at all. But as a scientist, I value experiment over dogma any time. So, I bought the arm from him on the spot (for a very good price, mind you, the $ / ¥ conversion rate playing well in my favor), with the promise that I could return it for a full refund if I don't like it. He is a really nice guy, btw., rather shy but very enthusiastic about his research and invention - as much as his advanced Parkinson's allows. Long story short: I installed the arm on my PTP Audio Lenco-revival TT (hugely recommended, btw.), replacing my old and trusted "Woody" arm by Pete Riggle up in WA. The correct setting up is actually straight forward, but the setting of the correct  VTF is somewhat tricky: I had to wait for a few seconds before taking my weight measurements, as the arm indeed floats in a cup filled with ferro-magnetic fluid. It is also very light by itself, which needed steady fingers on my part. However, after several email exchanges with Akimoto-san and helpful tips, I managed to get it steady and ready to play. My cartridge needs only 1.5 grams VTF, which might also have complicated things (Miyaji MEMS, by itself a true revolution). Well, what can I say: this arm completely disappears; it seems to get completely out of the sound-picture, letting the Miyaji do its magic completely uninfluenced. When compared with the "Woody" (which I really loved up to this point), everything appears "clearer", more transparent and natural, without sacrificing anything, same rhythmic drive (Lenco!), super bass, spatial placement and contour, etc. etc.. In comparison, while equally dynamic and "clear" in its presentation, the "Woody" all of sudden sounded "euphonic", still lovely and pleasing, but with rounded edges. With the Rigid Float I felt like a layer of old varnish had been removed from the musical painting. But nothing else! No idiosyncrasies that would scream "new tonearm" at me. As I said before, it completely got out of the way. I think the complete acoustic decoupling by the fluid bed plays an important role here, but most likely also the unusual geometry of the arm. I strongly recommend to forget historic dogma in this case and let your ears decide, which is what we all should be doing, lest this hobby turns quickly into a religion. And no: it never even crossed my mind to return this masterpiece! (Miyaji MEMS cartridge, PTPAudio Solid 9 TT with external speed control, SUPRATEK Grange Pre, Linkwitz Powerbox (1 per channel) active crossover/amp, Linkwitz 521.4 Mg speakers, MSB Discrete DAC, Apple MacBook Air).

If you happen to be in the SF Bay Area, you might want to stop by my house for a listening: always welcome!

To rauliruegas

Thanks for your comments. My question to every reviewer (including Harry Pearson at the 2008 RMAF): how do you actually know what exactly is encoded in the LP grove? Unless you have the master tape side by side. And no, I don't want your memory from a concert of the same recording, because our memories are intrinsically imprecise, and between that event and what you are supposed to hear lies a chain of electromechanical recording events AND the taste - or absence thereof - of the recording engineer. So, when you speak of your "target" as "picking up information as is in the grove": what's your benchmark? How do you actually know what's really in the grove, and how do you know whether this cartridge picks up more, and that one less, or that tonearm/cartridge combo, or that tonearm by itself, etc.? Unless you know from the master tape exactly what should be there. And even this is only an approach, because you have no idea what went wrong or sideways during the pressing process. In other words, referring to the "Absolute Sound" as a benchmark in this hobby is fundamentally flawed logic! The only - albeit admittedly subjective - way of accepting or discarding a piece of equipment is our own enjoyment of a piece of music on a record, which we know very well, and have listened to through many different reproducing machines. Only that way can you be sure the new piece is "better" for your ears and oxytocin release. And what about measurements? "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!" If a great-measuring piece makes me want to turn down the volume and cuddle my frightened cat instead of listening, that glorious piece of electronics will go to USAudiomart! I just went through this process with a couple of highly-recommended DACS: they all seemed to scream at me: Hey, listen to ME!", putting themselves before anything musical. Only since two weeks after getting my MSB Discrete, am I finally happy with my DSD256, approaching in terms of pleasure what normally comes from my analog deck. I only keep my Stereophile subscription because of the many references to records that I did not know about, because I cannot listen to a particular piece in MY room with MY gear and peripherals, and most importantly with MY ears, as bad as they might objectively be at 75. Back to this discussion: I spent a lot of treasure on Wally gear and precious times to set my analog front ends to the best-possible values; and yet there was always that nagging Doubt in my mind if I really coaxed the best sound of my system, or if a professional, like Saint Bosclair, would have done a much better job. This can become a real psychological issue in my opinion, ultimately taking the joy out of any listening. And along comes the ViV Rigid Float, which can be placed anywhere on or near(!) the TT plinth, as long as it reaches the inner groves of your LP, and - Lofgren Shloffgren - produces truly enjoyable music, and makes me lean back in my chair and enjoy my glass of Sazerac. Sorry, pal, but for me that's all I need to be happy!