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Well Tempered Signature turntable and arm

Hello,
since yesterday i have a Well Tempered Signature turntable with matching tonearm.
Unfortunatelly there are so little informations about this product.
The only source for me is on vinylengine.com, from the seller and from an ad reputedly of 1989, but i am not shure if some of these informations are correct:

- prduction date: at the latest from 1989 till at least 1995
- 50 pieces made
- more expensive than WT Reference
- it should be exposed in the Museum of Modern Arts in NY (but i have just found the Well Tempered chair by Ron Arad, sic!)

Have you any correct informations about this nice turntable?

Maybe any cartridge recommendations? I will try my Decca / London Reference Cartridge and DV XV-1s, i think both of them match it quite good.
breezer

Showing 2 responses by goodmusic

goodmusic
9 posts
 
This turntable was indeed made only in a limited quantity of 50 units worldwide, the included tonearm was made to match this turntable but could be purchased by order with a different base. It was the best turntable and tonearm Well Tempered ever made. The Reference was great too but had a different platter (more interior damping). The Signature tonearm was 10" and stainless steel, suitable also for heavier moving coils, the Reference arm only 9" long and lightweight carbon structure. Stay with your Signature, it was their best.
goodmusic
9 posts
 

An old thread but one comment needs to be corrected, because two statements there are completly wrong:

Vicdamone wrote:
The carbon Well Tempered arms were sand filled which made them slightly heavier than the metal arms. There are various arm tower designs which in the end do the job.

This is not the case:
The Carbon Well Tempered Reference tonearm was NOT filled with sand!
It was a lighter design!

I know this very well because I had the 9" Reference arm on my WT Reference but I received a unique 10" carbon armtube for my WT Signature to replace its stainless-steel armtube! This custommade 10" armtube again had no sand inside the tube!

Sand was used in the early WT Classic tonarm as well as in the Signature tonearm. (as well as in the later tonearms with golfball-silicone bearings)

After I had the armtube of the Signature arm replaced with the new non-sandfilled carbon armtube it sounded better!

Regarding the newer golfball versions:
I never liked them, they weren't that sophisticated for a precise setup.

I think that the Reference and Signature where the peak of WT tonearm design

BUT:
having used both for years I had to realize that despite the very nice sound:

!!! My Well Tempered tonearms bent cantilevers of cartridges !!!

I started from the beginning to use thinner silicon-fluid for damping which Mr. Brakemeier, designer of the amazing Apolypt turntable recommended to use
(he also recommended ZYC cartridges which I agree, they were a perfect match). So the lets call it bearing friction was for sure lower than with the thicker orig. silicone fluid.

But all my cartridges after a period of max. 500 hours developed "bent cantilevers":
Seen from the front this bent was towards the right side, i.e. outer groove of the record. This happened because the resistance/friction of the silicone was still too high.

I killed a Koetus Urushi Tsugaru, a Urushi Wazima as well as two expensive ZYX cartridges. 

Too bad.

I would never again use a WT tonearm, too expensive considering the damage done to those cartridges.

 

 

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