Comparison of sonic qualities of some tonearms


I’m relatively new to the world of vinyl, listening seriously for probably only 2 years.  Of course, many big picture items (e.g. turntable, phono stage, cartridges) are discussed extensively on this forum, but I haven’t seen much discussion comparing different tonearms.  I would be interested to hear about different people’s experiences with different tonearms, mentioning the audible advantages and disadvantages of each tonearm, realizing that there is no perfect sound, although from what I read about others’ experiences, SAT tonearms may come closest, albeit at a very high price.  

drbond

Dear @chowkwan  : " sweeping generalizations like stay away from wooden or tangential arms. "

Well I have a lot of fgirsthand experiences with " wooden ": I owned the Koetsu Rosewood, Rosewood Signature, Rosewood Signature Platinum, Goldbug Brier, Benz Micro Ruby/Ruby 2/Ruby 3/ Cardas Heart/ LP/LPS and tonearms as the Reed/Grace/ and several headshells even  I listened many times the Teres Cocobolo that I see you not own but other kind of TTs.

About LT tonearms I owned the ET2, Denessen, Southern and listenes to other ones and even with all what @whart pointed out the mid and low bass range ( everything the same ) in the pívoted tonearms is better. Yes, LT tonearms has its own advantages. I sold my LT tonearms when I learned that MUSIC belongs ( not to the mid-range ) to the bass range and is better this FR as better not only the mid range frequency but your room/system quality performance levels.

I already said wooden/LT never again but this is me and to each his own.

 

Btw, I really like your ET panels and that JBL oldie I listened several times in those years and it was an unforgetable experience as the Altec of those times too.

 

R.

Dear @drbond  " That's all we need, but apparently almost no one (except probably dealers) does this to any degree to offer real insightful comparison of various tonearms.  "

That is at least the third time you posted the same where obviously you could trust more on dealers about that audiophiles that not only in this thread but in Agon know a lot more and deep aBOUT AUDIO SUBJECTS THAT ANY AUDIO DEALER  OUT THERE THAT AS REVIEWERS ARE BIASED THROUGH MANUFACTURERS.

Sorry for the majors, my finger.

 

As you said and showed through your thread you are and still are a newcomer to analog and even wirth all what other gentlemans already posted here you still do not understand why what you ask for it's not possible that you get in any forum or with any dealer and as @lewm  pointed out you can't do it in your system in 2 days.

 

I already posted to you ( I think you dislike it even that was trying to help you. ) that you need to learn for your self and that you need not only months to do it but maybe years and have to learn listen it too other systems than yours and you have to have a very clear REFERENCE to make any comparison along your targets MUSIC/sound priorities. Nothing came/comes at random and what you are looking for you can't buy it but money can accelerates the whole proccess.

 

R.

 

 

@rauliruegas

So far, very few Audiogon members have expressed an ability to compare tonearms, which leads me to my conclusion: very few on this forum have actually compared tonearms, which rationally only leaves dealers, who, of course, are biased to one degree or another; but some biased information is better than no information at all.

Vertical Tracking Angle (VTA) and Stylus Raking Angle (STR) are the two most important factors in getting optimal tonearm / cartridge performance. There are many available resources to gain an understanding of the methods and tools needed to achieve this level of optimization.

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