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

The difficult part is to get both records to start playing exactly in sync for stereo.....

The really funny part is that I once did exactly that to compare two cartridges mounted on the same arm on the same tables.

I used to run the Vinyl Album and CD Album as Parallel Timed to be useful. Switching Selector and a Tweak to the VC to compare Digital Source to Analogue Source.

This one is no longer necessary but visitors are always keen to hear two sources so this is usually their first introduction prior to selecting a few tracks they know well.

Here is an Analog Planet piece with links to several files comparing different SAT arms, if that helps at all. For deep pockets only. I couldn't get the files to play, but I am on a simple laptop at the moment. I hope it works for anyone interested. If you don't hear any difference, what conclusion would you draw?

SAT comparison

The Links are more than adequate to experience the Sat TA. 

Many buy blind without such prior investigation, maybe just the sales brochure spiel, is the supplied info to seal the deal.

 

“The links are more than adequate…”

Pindac, dear boy, you can’t be serious. First of all there is no control recording. Second, we aren’t told which is which. And finally, differences are bound to be too subtle to appreciate by this method. If not, something is broken.