Lets not forget the fact, that the majority of all plinth turntables can NOT accommodate tonearms with an effective length greater than 10" (even the VPI 12.x and Kuzma 4Point tonearms do use a 9-10" mounting distance with off-center bearing location to move around this fact).
Thus any tonearm designer with a remote interest in sales will think twice ( and set aside the whole idea... ) about launching a 12" tonearm.
And it was that way ever since.
Custom audio born tonearms in 12" were always introduced as "off-springs" of their older 9-10" brothers.
All exceptions worth mention were broadcast-clones.
Aside from the points you mentioned - which most circle around less stiffness and increased dynamic moving mass (effective...) - this is one paramount "practical no-go" for 12" tonearms.
But I guess we all can agree, that in terms of geometry the 12" have a natural advantage in terms of tracking arc aspects. The increased mass is no question - well maybe one day we will see the re-rise of low compliance cartridges. Isamu Ikeda just revised his cartridges to lower the compliance......
Yes - in tonearm design it is all about careful choosing and weighting the needed compromises against each other.
The fact that we see many cartridges today with quite heavy body weight but quite high compliance ( certainly NOT a good mixture... it considerably increases the effective mass of ANY pivot tonearm ) doesn't make the game any less demanding ....
Thus any tonearm designer with a remote interest in sales will think twice ( and set aside the whole idea... ) about launching a 12" tonearm.
And it was that way ever since.
Custom audio born tonearms in 12" were always introduced as "off-springs" of their older 9-10" brothers.
All exceptions worth mention were broadcast-clones.
Aside from the points you mentioned - which most circle around less stiffness and increased dynamic moving mass (effective...) - this is one paramount "practical no-go" for 12" tonearms.
But I guess we all can agree, that in terms of geometry the 12" have a natural advantage in terms of tracking arc aspects. The increased mass is no question - well maybe one day we will see the re-rise of low compliance cartridges. Isamu Ikeda just revised his cartridges to lower the compliance......
Yes - in tonearm design it is all about careful choosing and weighting the needed compromises against each other.
The fact that we see many cartridges today with quite heavy body weight but quite high compliance ( certainly NOT a good mixture... it considerably increases the effective mass of ANY pivot tonearm ) doesn't make the game any less demanding ....