Triplanar Mk VI or Mk VII?


I recently heard a very nice combination of what was asserted to be the Triplanar VII and a SOTA Cosmos table However, it was not quite as good as I had heard from the arm previously, and I'm wondering if I was actually hearing a Mk VI. The owner said that he had purchased the arm on the used market and that the previous owner said that he had bought it new in 2002. I realize that a 2002 date would make it a Mk VI, but since there's some uncertainty, I was hoping that someone could give me description of the differences in the two generations of the arm.

As I am considering buying a new Triplanar for my own Cosmos, I really want to know what I'm hearing before committing to purchase, so my question is…are there any specific ways to tell a Mk VII from a Mk VI by external visual inspection? In other words, what should I be looking for to determine if I was actually listening to a Mk VI?
curriemt11
My apologies for not getting back to thank you folks for the replies. I am moving forward on acquiring a Mk VII.
The MkVII also has tighter tolerances on the VTA tower and actually tighter tolerances all around. I got a 'MkVI.5' once and had it updated it to the MkVII; it was totally worthwhile.
Hi all,

You could easily be hearing the difference betwee broken-in wire vs. "cold" wire. In a high resolution system, especially with a cartridge that has extended frequency response, you'll hear quite a bit of improvement.

Rather than answer the question "can .3mv ever break in a tonearm wire?", I've decided to run burn-in signals through all Triplanars I deliver. I fear that otherwise, this fine arm will not be heard to its true potential, or at a minimum, only after some 75 to 150 record sides.

I go into a bit of discussion about this in the following forum post, along with some sample ideas for the do-it-yourselfer: http://www.galibierdesign.com//phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=80.

Oh yes, the fine tune weight is a late addition to what constitutes the Mark VII. This feature is retro-fittable to earlier Mark VII arms, and is highly recommended. Contact your dealer for the replacement counterweight stub. The arm stub screws into the rear of the tonearm assembly (no tools required).

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier
One of the added features of the Mk VII is the fine tune weight at the end of the arm. It is on a shaft that is inserted into the end of the arm behind the counterweights and has a smaller weight that is threaded onto the shaft for fine tuning of the VTF.