It is a true 10.5 inch arm w. is a bit longer than most of the arms mentioned here. It can be purchased w. adjustable VTA on the fly. All the parts are purpose built and the build quality is said to be very high. There are a few very nice unique features including an azimuth adjustment at the headshell and different counterweights supplied that can be switched for different cartridges. It uses a magnetic antiskate mechanism but has little need for antiskatee. The effective mass is 14 gms and the arm is made from anodized aluminum. The bearring housing has the same shape as the Raven plinth. Suffice it to say TW is very happy w. the sound and build quality. Another nice thing is the counterweight screws onto the back of the arm so dialing in VTF should be easy & provides for fine adjustment. |
Peter,
I happen to like Raul. He has his biases but it isn't about product but more about synergy and design. He is transparent enough about them and has helped many here with wonderful advise.
But if such an event does ever happen, how about in person and taking place in Mexico.
We can have a wonderful discourse in Spanish, German & English.
How about a Stereophile Show in Mexico instead. |
Dertonarm,
Before TW even knew you existed on this forum I found your sharp tone well beyond what is appropriate for this forum. Now that you divulge yourself as a manufacturer of some sort both in the past and the future, I find all your posts even more deceiving to say the least. I really don't need to say more. Of course no item from any German competitor will meet your muster. But to hide your agenda on this forum speaks for itself. To comment on design in your own thread is more than appropriate, but each and every TW thread indicates envy. |
Thuchan,
Love your thread conveying your excitment and journey for your Continuum table. Amazing. It would be wrong of my to lump the few others here with you are any of your other fellow country men. Keep the thread going as it is a joy to ready and allows me to vicariously enjoy your journey. |
Dirtonarm,
I find it contradictory that you are advocating from TW as follows, "What I would have expected and would have liked to see in a tonearm asking $6k is something new, something unusual or at least something more creative."
Then again, you strongly promote the FR66 tonearm as one of the best of all time. Something that is a very old design. What are we supposed to believe based on your writings? That something using old and tried principles which I assume you have some commercial interest in is worth $6K. Is there any new version of the FR66. Or should be look to spend an inflated $6K for a very old FR66? Yet a new, warrantied item from TW which as you seem to claim is using very standard design (not the case but so be it) should not be worth the same amount.
I follow your agenda on this web site. I just feel it is about time you make it clear to others as we seem to not understand you so well.
Your wonderful use of English even escapes your fellow Germans in understanding. "Again - you have problems reading correctly". You have said something like this in more than one post. I would suggest that something is lost in your translation of German to English. Maybe you should return to the German Forums where you won't be misunderstood. |
Syntax,
Stoning still exists in some parts of the world. Sadly to say. Funny how you advocate it.
On a side note: we spend ridiculous money for a tiny diamond at a tip of a cartridge. For the same money a nice size diamond can easily be purchased. No one has ever said there is sense in the price of Audio. All the metal of one of the better amps can purchase a nice Audio or BMW. Yet we audio fools buy equipment. Ultimately,it is about what is important to us as individuals. Difficult enough to create a new audiophile in todays environment. A thread filled with negative does nothing to help it. |
Derblowhard the author but not an engineer,
Please escape from me & go to the German Forums. I am waiting. Otherwise there is no escape for your contradictions and your desire to incite a reaction to only gain attention to yourself. Keep blowing buddy. Maybe you will explode.
Your "superior" knowledge of what?
I am just going to have fun quoting you buddy. Keep it up & keep the CONTRADICTIONS coming.
"TW has bought the design of the 10.5 OEM from a german engineer to whom it was his first attempt as such and which was originally intended to serve as a kind of "inexpensive tonearm for all" on the major German forum AAA"
(Well we know this to be not true, but we will leave it alone)
"We are talking about the very first product of its kind launched to the market by a company which has never before made/designed/co-designed a tonearm"
Yet you mention the following,
"There is no secret knowledge needed to build a truly great tonearm - there is care to detail, an intensive and complete blue-book addressing all details, a clear concept free from marketing calls, an open-minded engineer who looked at everything which was made before and detected all the pros and cons of the various attempts of others"
So what should we believe. To design and manufacture a tonearm you need experience; (which you don't have) or not? I just don't get it. What are you the AUTHOR saying?
Your "superior" understanding might educate others in a different forum but not here. Please go educate them.
Any of your works ever get translated to English? |
Derblowhard,
As we say in English, jelousy gets you nowhere. Sorry you couldn't establish a brand or have continued demand for your turntable & designs. Good luck the 2nd time around. I wonder if you find a way to market your future products on their own merit and not by attacking a vendor directly. This truly sums up all of your posts. |
Dertonarm,
And yes you studied marketing but you missed the course on ethics. |
Shane,
The big deal is that it needed tremendous amount of break in. I was told that the change from before & after break in is dramatic and takes a good 50 plus hours. I have personally had cartridges sound terrible and great depending on when I set it up. With a few arms it allows me to futz if I don't like it. So setup can always be an issue. It was described to me as holographic and dynamic.
Nice to hear it mates well w. the TW Phono. Tempting but I am waiting to hear about the new Titan i. |
Read a new Titan i is coming out somewhere over here. It makes sense so I assume it is true. As for not liking a cartridge or not, I have learned that often some cartridges do need significant break in and that can vary sample to sample. IME some even sound bad while others sound amazing. This isn't specific to a single brand but can be with almost any. I remember my Universe needed completely different settings than the one I tried as a loner which was simply stunning on first listen. It needed 100s of hours to settle in but then was amazing. Shane, I trust your ears especially as they line up with several other respected members here. But... there have been quite a few products promoted here that have been "the flavor of the month" type. |
Audiofeil,
I have had your experience as well. Waiting for a cartridge to break in and never opening up.
Dertonarm,
I should say a new page has turned and for once we agree. But lets agree that when we disagree it should be as gentlemen with kind words for each other and each others biases.
On to the Titan i revised...if it can be one a combination of 3 things I would be so pleased. The detail and soundstage width of the Skala, the dynamics of the Titan but even more, and the magic of the Olympus all combined with a perfect window to the truth. I have a feeling the new version will reach 2 of these 3 and for that I am waiting. |
Got a TW arm for a trial. Now granted I am a TW fan, but I have my biases. My tonearm/cartridge combination of reference has been (when it maintains its setup) the Schroder SQ and Titan i. It is just that good in my system. Mind you not the detail or dynamic champ. It just meets all of MY priorities.
Now, to go on about how it excels, lets indicate that it throws a wide soundstage, with incredible depth and gorgeous highs. It just sucks you into the music. I can read any review here about any new arm etc, and know that they just don't know what they are missing. There is an art to setting up a Schroder. I have learned it over years and it is a lot, A LOT of work. You need to get the right wood, the right cartridge mounting plate and more. But once setup right it is special. No reviewer can have it for less than 6 months and learn its nuances.
There have been weaknesses. Bass isn't perceived as resolved as some others and dynamics are not its strong suit. But in every other way it excels. The music is freed from the grooves. And no arm I have tried has been able to do that. I have not tried an linear tracking arm. so please take that into consideration.
I have had many an arm/cartridge combination come and visit me and leave. None of them have freed the music from the groove into the room. None.
Now for the TW Arm comes an initial impression.
Just that and nothing more as I need time and don't have it to do too many comparisons. The TW arm posesses that same special ability to free the music from the groove. It also is a wonderful arm mechanically. So easy to setup and use. The workmanship is excellent. There are a few things I would like added and I am sure they will come. I want some calibrations on the VTA adjuster to know what settings I have. But it is up there with the best VTA adjustment ability of any arm I have used. It is easy enough to mark w. some nail polish but an idea. Also the same for antiskate.
Now for a bit more about the sound. The dynamic contrasts that come from this arm are fabulous. The treble has full extension and the bass is solid goes down low. You feel a total neutrality without a desire to compensate for any shortcomings. It is just that good. I am using it currently w. an Allaerts MC2 Finish and the combination is just fabulous. The soundstage width is as wide as my room. Depth is a bit shallow compared to the Schroder. But every arm I have tried is shallow in depth compared to the SQ. Music sounds natural without any excess color. The SQ has a touch of gorgeous color that the TW does not. I wouldn't say either is better, but I do love the SQ color. It comes at the price of a very slight softness which the TW does not have. The TW is neutral but not a lean sounding arm. It does not sound fat though. Just not lean. Images have palpable size and feel present in the room with you. What I demand is detail which is not aggressive. Treble and Bass must sound smooth and integrated with the rest of the sound spectrum. If not I get irritated. My system excels in that area compared to detail. I have headphones for detail (and no speaker I have heard yet - but am still searching) can give you the detail of headphones.
A few points that make the design excel in my experience. It has a single cable from cartridge to phono stage. It is also free of resonance. I am a big beliver that getting a cartridge / tonearm combination to have a resonant frequency as close to 10 Hz as possible is critical for accurate bass and smooth highs. The TW arm measured exactl 10Hz w. a few cartridges. If you tap it, there is not ringing as in some other arms. The counterweight is adjusted by turning (not sliding - what a pain). 3 different counterweights are provided for optimum matching (easier than changing arm-wands)and you don't need a fine VTF adjuster as the counterweight screws on and the threads are small enough to allow very minute adjustments of VTF w. ease. No need to lock the counterweight w. a screw etc, as the friction is perfect. Just the right amount.
But don't trust me, try to get a listen yourselves. I didn't expect it to be that good. The dynamic agility of the arm coupled with neutrality and musical flow is something rarely combined. Especially in a non tweaky tonearm. |
Audioblazer,
I think we are both hearing the same things. Your liking the Schroder on vocals makes sense. What is the Schroder 2 FW. I assume model 2 w. F wood??? F being? Love to get some more information on the REED which to me seems similar in many ways to the Schroder but wonder how it translates.
As for the antiskate on the TW, I assume it is something similar to the Schroder twisting th string to exert a progressive back force. For me I didn't hear much difference at different points of the LP for testing. And I did test for this specifically. AS being more of an issue towards the center vs. the beginning. I use minimal antiskate and did the test similar to you. I visually check the arms motion. I also use my ears on that one as it always shows up in the listening.
As for sonics my SQ is amazing. You need a very good offer to get it from me as I love it so much. But it drives me crazy quite often. I won't rotate cartridges on it as each setup takes me hours. You adjust VTA and you lose VTA which loses Azimuth, which changes the Antiskate which changes the VTA again. etc. etc. etc. It is a cycle of trying to get it to lock in. Damping never stays set 100%. But setup correctly the sound is musical and it does something for Jazz and Vocals that no combination that I have tried can do.
The TW arm is right up there with it. Doing almost all the same but exerting more control and showing a greater foundation at the expense of the wonderful musicality/ Color the SQ brings. That is fine with the right cartridge and not with the wrong one. A Koetsu on a Schroder need not apply IME (I tried it w.the Jade...too much of a good thing). I would give a Koetsu a try on the TW. Pairing the incredible control and bass of the TW with the juicy midrange and fluid highs of a Koetsu might be a match in heaven. It is with the Allaerts. It has that similar organic sound to the Schroder but less of the magic. But the music gains foundation. Go ahead and put a Koetsu or an Allaerts on it. Compared to some very popular arms mentioned here (I don't want to criticize any arms) the TW comes closer with the magic than any of them I have tried. But they all can be special with the right cartridge in the right setup. So caveats apply.
All in all, the rules of tonearm pairing remain. It is all about the Cartridge / tonearm synergy. You can't choose a tonearm without considering what cartridge you want to use. The same applies in different degrees to phono stages... and then of course the system in question.
Going to look up about the Audio Origami mentioned above. Curious. |
TW Manual is available online. Nothing missing but if you want you can play with different counterweights (comes w. 3) for the best match with your cartridge. Sound is excellent. I particularly love the fit & finish, only missing the fine azimuth adjustment with a gauge. Your best bet is to get yourself a VdH style level for judging azimuth. Gives you the ability to repeat settings. |
Yes the arm is very enjoyable. I love it for many reasons but believe it or not primarily because it works perfectly with my Lift that automatically lifts it at the end of the LP. Mates perfectly w. the Allaerts MC2 Finish. No reason to play with it since it sounds perfect as is. One thing to consider for all you Baewald (Lofgren A) alignment arm users out there, this is Lofgren B which has a different sent of null points and distortion curves that will make it a perfect 2nd tonearm to have. For example the Phantom is Lofgren A (Baerwald). |
Paul,
Want to try the XV1s on it one day. That should be incredible. I am thinking to move the Titan i over to give a try shortly. Off season is around the corner so I might have the time. It is just the SQ is such a pain to setup and I don't want to take a chance to damage a cantilever. The TW is easy but the SQ is beyond a pain. Takes about 2 weeks to dial in each time. But it is almost time. |
