@goofyfoot , anti skating is not a hindrance. It is a very important mechanism for any offset arm, 12" included. 9" arms are superior in every aspect except tracking angle error and the difference in tracking angle error is inconsequential.
Origin Live Tonearms
Hi All,
I’m still modifying my Thorens TD 160 MK 1 and it will stay a dedicated mono table. I’m not satisfied with the original TP-16 tonearm so I’m considering either the OL Silver or the Zephyr. I read somewhere that there is no sonic improvement between the two. Being dedicated to a mono cartridge, I can’t see moving too far up the chain since vertical tracking is a non factor. So if the Silver will achieve my goal, then I’d rather not spend the extra money on the Zephyr. I also see a number of used OL Silver tonearms on the used market. Any suggestions or insights are of course welcome.
Thanks!
GF
Showing 2 responses by mijostyn
@goofyfoot , beats the thunder out of me. Look at the arms from well established companies such as SME, Kuzma, Schroder, Reed, Origin Live, Basis, SAT and so forth. You see any of them without anti skating on any of their offset, pivoted arms? Here is a rule of thumb, any offset pivoted arm without antiskating is junk. The maker has no concept of the physical forces involved trying to get a cartridge to track a groove accurately. If you do not like anti skating you do have choices. The Reed 5A and 5T, the Schroder LT, The Clearaudio linear tracking arms, the Kuzma Air Line and other air bearing arms all lack anti skate mechanisms. The one thing they all have in common is they all have straight arm wands, no offset. |