Discuss The Viv Lab Rigid Arm


I am trying to do my due diligence about this arm. I am just having a hard time getting my head around this idea of zero overhang and no offset. Does this arm really work the way it is reported to do?

neonknight

Raul, I have more or less done such experiments already. The only way to get any null point on the playing surface of an LP, with the Viv or any other tonearm that has zero headshell offset, is to mount the tonearm with underhang. If you mount the tonearm with "no underhang or overhang", or in other words with the stylus tip over the center of the spindle, your null point is at the spindle, which of course is useless. If you mount the tonearm with overhang, there is also no useable null point. This is how Lofgren et al came to the idea of headshell offset for an overhung tonearm, I would guess. The L-shaped template supplied with the Viv Float tonearm puts the single null point about 90mm from the spindle, or about 2/3 of the distance from the outermost groove to the innermost groove. Interestingly, Dave Slagle predicted that would be about optimal too. I have found that to extract the best performance, the cartridge ought to be mounted using that template. Even a cm difference in mounting (with respect to the distance from the pivot or the stylus to the spindle) places the single null point either on the label or way out on the edge of the LP, and you lose the magic. (Or at least the magic that I hear.)

I agree with Dogberry. The business of extrapolating from VTF to a quantity in "pounds per square inch" said to represent the horrific pressure on an LP groove, is a red herring of the first order.

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/effect-of-stylus-friction-on-lp.402401/

Yes, I think it makes sense to assure that the single null point falls somewhere on the playable surface of the LP, and for many reasons known to both of us, it seems a good idea to place it nearer to the innermost grooves than the outermost grooves. That minimizes both TAE and skating force. And my listening suggests it sounds best, which is the main goal.

Looks like we are following in the footsteps of others. This is an interesting thread:

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/dont-listen-to-records-on-fm.359025/

There are links to two different tonearm geometries playing a solo piano in post #2. Please watch those videos before reading the whole thread, and especially before looking at the other links or further down to post #14 where the geometries are shown. The difference is huge, even to my ear.