Have a Victor UA-7045 tonearm coming


I've been searching for either a Victor UA-7082 or a UA-7045 tonearm ever since I purchased my Victor CL-P2 plinth with two arm boards.
The rear arm is almost ready to go, it's a Audio Technica ATP-12T mounted in a custom aluminum armboard. I also had to machine a bracket to add a Jelco JL-45 tonearm cueing device and a tonearm rest. This should be perfect for my low compliance DL-103.I have been looking at both models of the Victor arms and have posted WTB on several forums, watching Ebay but nothing nice has come up. So for the past month I have been keeping an eye out on the Japanese website Yahoo Buyee and finally saw something I liked. It's a clean looking UA-7045 that should work out nicely.
https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/v741873067?_=cnZxVG5GZVlFQTA3VEZVTDBjQnRCS1RGYWtnTW1ZOTZORUVmb2R...=I won the auction this morning for $202.81, way cheaper than I've ever seen one of these go for. estimated shipping is around $50.00 via DHL. It takes up to two weeks for the seller to get the arm shipped to Buyee and they will inspect and repackage it for shipment via DHL. So in several weeks I'll have this in my hands.
Since I know the spindle to pivot distance I will machine an armboard for it in advance.
Anybody familiar with this series of arms knows all about the rubber damper in the counterweight stub that degrades and causes the dreaded tonearm droop where the weight starts hanging down.
There are two types of this series of arms, those that have the droop (most) and those that will develop it soon. Aging rubber and gravity never let up. Every arm will eventually have this problem.
I've talked to my friend Elliott about this as he had one of these arms for a short time. He sent me a sketch of a rubber piece that he made from hardware parts that he used to fix his. Between Elliott and the internet I found enough info to figure out how this comes apart but I'm not entirely happy with the fix. Since Victor can't supply the rubber dampers I've been thinking about possibly making a mold and casting them out of urethane. I have samples of urethane coming to me from a supplier so I can compare the hardness of the rubber bushing to the urethane samples to find a close matching durometer value.
The mold will be a simple affair, machined out of aluminum. I need to dig out a vacuum pump buried in my garage to see if it works and I found a vacuum chamber on Ebay for 50 bucks.
Once I get the arm I'll pull the stub off and get some critical measurements and work from there. I can even do a temporary fix on the stub until I have a decent result as I have never cast urethane before.Anyway, I'm very excited to be getting this tonearm and at least one member here (chakster) talks very highly of it.

BillWojo




billwojo

lewm, I agree that it certainly doesn't look like a low mass arm. I really doubt that it is. My Denon DL-103 played pretty well on it, actually it was the UA-5045 tonearm that I paired it with but they look almost identical from the top of the mounting base on up. At least the parts of the arm that move are pretty much the same.

I think it works well on higher compliance cartridges because it's designed and built very well. Here is a description from VE.

"The high-quality JVC UA-7045 gimbal support tonearm features high sensitivity and long lasting ruggedness.

It permits low-mass, high-compliance cartridges to accurately track even the most complex groove undulations.

The ultra-effective support system converges the effects of forces on both the horizontal and vertical planes on one point equidistant from both the horizontal and vertical bearings.

Thus in principle the new gimbal support support of the UA-7045 works like a one-point support and is therefore very sensitive.

However, its performance is far better than conventional gimbal or one-point types since it uses adjustment free bearing units.

Specifications

Type: statically balanced arm with new gimbal support for tracing hold system

Length: 350mm

Effective length: 245mm

Overhang: 15mm

Tracking force: 0-3g (0.1g steps)

Cartridge weight: 12-32g (including headshell weight)

Arm elevation range: 40-60mm

Weight: 610g

Accessories: oil damped arm lifter, low capacitance signal cable"

This description comes directly from JVC, not something that VE wrote up. Pull up the manuals for this arm and read the JVC literature. Note, don't look under Victor, it's listed under JVC.

 

BillWojo

Hi BIll-

Add me to the list of very interested in a bushing if you do get a mold made!

Mike

Hey Bill, if you ever get to making the mold with your capability and even at usd30 a piece, there should be at least 50 pieces to be sold or usd1500 less cost and time expended ? Count me in for 2 or even 3 pieces and then have the motivation to search for a ua-7082. Cheers. Richard