Sirlordcomic
I have made a few purchases since this all was happening!
On the Clearaudio TT at the moment is a Clearaudio Satisfy Carbon direct wired arm with a NOS Audio Technica DR500LC cartÂ…. second arm is a Fidelity Research FR-64S with a Grado78/Orsonic AV-101S combo.
I have a Shure V15 III on the way with orig stylus and soon will move to the land of LOMCs and SUTsÂ… now looking for a Fidelity Research FRT-4 or FRT-5 SUT and Ortofon SPUs and some things from Miyajima I think.
Thanks for asking.
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Steve what arm did you go with? |
This is probably to late for the OP but for anyone looking for info on the Transfi arm, it is easy to set up and sounds great. Good instructions on the web and Vic is very helpful.
If you can tighten one bolt to secure to arm board and adjust Terminator parallel at spindle, glue ends on 4" pvc and buy a air pump at Petsmart, you can set up this table. All you then have to do is set up normal VTA and Vtf.
Believe me if, I can do it almost all of you can. |
Sgunther,
I'm with you, when I have heard the TransFi Terminator it has been sublime. A buddy has one on his Technics SP10 MKII, and it's absolutely stellar. Dead quiet, tracks like nothing I have ever seen, massive soundstage, and is relativly cheap. He had no problems setting it up.
I think the problem with this arm, if you are a dealer, is that it's sold directly, and it's cheap. |
THE REST OF THE STORY. Stanwal sorry about you experience with the linear tracking air bearing arm with pencil directions. I was relatively new to analog almost three years ago when I bought the TransFi Linear tracking air bearing arm from Vic. The directions were great, the service after sale was great and the music is great. It replaced a fully modified Rega RB 300 - it is in a different league, YMMV. |
09-10-11: Guitarslimjunior
Rockitman.. I was hoping you would answer as you actually have the same TT... thank you. Plan on keeping the Universal when you get the new table?
Yes, I will always keep the Universal. I will use it on the upcoming Master Innovation coming out near the end of the year. It will allow for 3 arms, since the motor is no longer on the plinth pod, like the current Innovation models. So I suspect a new arm or two for different flavors will be in my future. |
Whether it is worth it or not is not something I can answer for you. It is worth it for me as it is extremely well built using the best bearings available and a micrometer VTA adjuster that allows easy, repeatable settings of VTA. Now,I dont change VTA once it is set for a particular cartridge, but having an easy way to do it makes it more likely that the VTA will be set properly. Plus, I like the fact that that Audiomod is the work of a single individual making the best product he can. I'm sure the Satisfy is a good tonearm, and will probably give you excellent service, but I think we are comparing apples and oranges. I see the Audiomods as more closely related to a Triplanar and the Satisfy more like a Rega 300 or Jelco. All good stuff, but not in the same class. Based on what cartridge you may chose, the Satisfy may be good enough, but the Audiomods can be adjusted for any cartridge through its mass loading inserts for the headshell. Its just a well thought out product. |
Stanwal...
How close does the effective length need to be as the Jelco is not 222mm like the Clearaudio.. thoughts?
Thanks,
steve |
Manitunc...
The Audiomods is $1300 before tax and shipping here in Canada.. so do you thing it is worth the $600.00 plus tax more than a new aluminum Clearaudio Satisfy?
Thanks in advance.
Steve |
Robert Browning was once ask a question about one of his poems; he replied 'When I wrote that God and Robert Browning knew what it meant, now God knows". |
Stanwal... thanks once again.
What arm were you talking about when you said this... :)
"Now that you mention it my wife and my tonearm have a lot in common. Both take a lot of maintenance and are fiddly to get just right but the results are well worth it. A great deal of synergy but adjustability and ease of set up? Not so much." |
I am a VPI dealer and also use a Graham 2.2 and have never heard anyone say that unipiviots need constant tweeking. Maybe the same guys who change the VTA for each record thinks so. Ruin the stylus? Total BS. I had a FR 64, the FX I think, years ago and it was a good arm but no better [ and probably not as good] as the Jelco 750. Some arms are easy to set up; The VPI, Graham and SME are; and some are not; but no arm as a type has a lock on difficulty of assembly and set up. The linear tracking are probably best left to the experenced but ones of any type can be difficult to impossible to work with. I once got a semi-protype arm from England that neither I nor an experenced technition could even assemble; yes we did have the instructions which were written in pencil and were compleatly unintellagable. |
mine is an aluminum arm model - it was the stock arm that comes with the Marantz table - which has an improved interconnect cable (I believe) compared to the entry model. I'm using a Benz Glider on mine mounted on a Pink Triangle table - it's wonderful. |
Bdgregory... are you using the Aluminum arm or something else? What cart? Thanks in advance, Steve |
Need tonearm advice for Clearaudio Innovation Wood
Fellas... thanks for the help.
Rockitman.. I was hoping you would answer as you actually have the same TT... thank you. Plan on keeping the Universal when you get the new table?
Stanwal.. I have read and been told that unipivot arms need constant tweaking, sometimes even from one side of the LP to the next, and you are never sure you have it right, and if you don't it could harm your cartridge. I really don't know anything about the finer points of analog - hence the need for the advice. I just passed up a brand new unused Clearaudio Unify unipivot for $800 because of this - although reviews of this arm say is is a devil to set up. Perhaps I made a mistake here...thanks for your input.
Macdadtexas.. Thanks as well to you, but as a newbie I'm also scared of tangential arms as well. Maybe this is unreasonable too.
I have now a chance to buy a brand new aluminum Clearaudio Satisfy for $700.00. Seems like a good price to me..
Manitunc... The Audiomods was not a consideration to me before.. thanks for the heads up on this one... and also your rational RE unipivots. I realize most of the truly high end arms are unipivot but I didn't want to be a fiddler constantly tweaking a setup - I just want to easily play all of my varied formats without constant tinkering - this was my thinking in regards to avoiding a unipivot or a tangential arm. Seems like my novice thinking was wrong here. Thanks to you for your insight.
Also..
My next door neighbour has a Fidelity Research FR64 - thoughts on this arm? I know its a classic but is this nostalgia or still a viable option? I could get it at a decent price plus no shipping/duty. Would this work on the Innovation?
Thanks once again to all, for the help. |
The Audiomods is a bargain at its price and would work well with the Clearaudio. That being said, any of the Clearaudio arms would work well. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a unipivot. some of the best arms out there are based on that principle and they are no harder to set up than any other arm. |
Buy the Transfi Terminator, it a stunning good, and reasonably priced, linear tracking arm made by a genius/madman in the UK.
I heard one with an SP-10 mkII and was shocked how good it sounded.
I've been eying one for a long time, but I think I would have to change out my table, which I love, so it's a big decision. I have a VPI Classic, and I believe the sound is form the total synergy of set up, and don't want to mess with the arm.
But if I had an excellent Clearaudio again, I would definitely buy the Transfi. |
I don't understand what you mean about unipiviot arms, I have not found them any harder to set up or to require more attention than other arms. But if I didn't want one I would look at a Jelco 750, a very nice arm at a great price. |
I have a Satisfy and it's one of my favorite arms. |
any clearaudio arm will work with that armboard. For $1,000, sounds like the Clearaudio Satisfy Carbon is a good option/fit for this table. I have the same table but with their Universal arm w/ VTA lift ($5K). The armboard meets the Linn standard, so many different arms from other manufacturer's can be used with ease. Reach out to Joe from http://musicalsurroundings.com/contact.html for questions on arm options. They are the distributor for Clearaudio and Graham tonearms |
