Comparison of sonic qualities of some tonearms

@jollytinker  I think you are just as impressionable as my friend. Both those turntables were on isolation stands and are extremely similar. It is much more important to be able to quickly switch between setups to AB correctly and it is also important for you to be blinded. It is highly unusual for anyone to have two of exactly the same turntables, although you could mount both arms on either turntable. Any good turntable is not going to "sound" at all. If you have a turntable that changes the sound I suggest you throw it away. It is so bad I would not foist it on anyone else. The cartridge arm combination may sound different and if so that is usually in the bass. A lot of times improper setup causes differences. If I had the equipment at home I would make high resolution digital copies of both setups playing the same record. This makes it very easy to switch back and forth to compare and my wife makes a great switcher. I always blind myself. 

Listen to @rauliruegas. He is absolutely correct, the Saphir is way too heavy for most cartridges. It impresses the heck out of unsuspecting audiophiles because of the price and cache of a sapphire arm tube. Same deal with the SAT arms, the Mark Levinson effect. Neither tonearm is on my radar. If I were going to spend silly money on an arm it would be for a Reed 5T. 

What @lewm means is, experience is the best teacher with one exception, that would be mistakes. 

@pindac is a gentleman of the old school, the classics. I am a chimney sweep.

Analyzing the design aspects of mechanical objects will usually reveal the best design for functionality on paper depending on execution. It is not how a tonearm sounds, it is how it works. 

It is highly unusual for anyone to have two of exactly the same turntables

I never claimed to be ordinary! 😉

@mijostyn I have read most posts with interest, have I missed something.

Does a Tonearm have Sound as you are suggesting. 

I understand a Tonal  influence might be detectable?  

My own experiences always are dependent on the Cart' for sound.

Engineering, depending on the designs being produced, is a means to a consistent and predictable performance, not necessarily a betterment over other options.

I could happily live with a Kitchen Cabinet Door or Drawer that is not a Soft Close design. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but do we not agree that tonearms do affect sound quality, and the point of this thread is how best to assess that? After all, if they do not, then it shall make no difference which one we buy or use.

As for how to check for differences, it seems the best chance would come from two tables of the same make and model, with the same cartridges of similar hours usage, feeding into the same electronics and speakers. The only difference would be the tonearm on each table. Listening performed blinded during the playing of the same LP on each table. Results in terms of preference would be valid for that cartridge only. That would be the science-based approach, and it is unlikely anyone would bother to do it.

The unscientific approach is one that, I think, still has some validity: a long term comparison and you see how much you are tempted to play music, and how long a session lasts. Lots of times I have liked a component, only to find myself choosing to do other things rather than listen to music. This is using the entire neurological path from eardrum to cortex as a meter that measures desire to listen to music. And that result, if it is to be trusted at all, can only be trusted by the owner of the brain concerned!