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recommended tonearms & cartridges

 

tri-planar

The Tri-Planar Ultimate Tonearm

The Tri-Planar flagship tonearm is the "Mk. VII," commonly referred to as the "Tri-Planar Precision Tonearm."

The arm creates a musical sound stage unmatched by any other. It has been described as powerful and dynamic, solid yet expressive, delicate and tactile. The outstanding quality of this arm, commented on time and again, is that it is invisible, lacking the colorations that plague so many of our competitors.

After over 30 years in the industry, the Tri-Planar continues to be rated among the world's best.

Features

  • Damped headshell

  • Annealed-aluminum coaxial damped armtube

  • Clamping yoke design that firmly couples the headshell tube to the bearing tube, making for a single unit yet allowing azimuth rotation of the headshell

  • Silicone-fluid trough tonearm damping

  • Bearings featuring hand-crafted, hardened and polished needle cones

  • Progressive anti-skating design

  • Sophisticated system of decoupled counterweights, allowing proper stylus force for any cartridge without altering effective mass

  • Easy 3-screw installation, with no large VTA hole

Specifications

  • Type: gimbal-bearing tonearm

  • Effective length: 250mm

  • Pivot-to-spindle distance: 233.5mm

  • Overhang: 16.5mm

  • Offset angle: 22°

  • Effective mass: 11g

  • Bearing offset: 22°

More information is available on the Tri-planar website.

 

EMT

emt

Originally designed for professional applications, the EMT 997 arms have been used for the big EMT 927 Stereo for quality control and or to play the 45 cm (16") records on their large platters.

The project of the re-establishment of the legendary 12” tone arm EMT 997 ("banana") was realized in the EMT-Jubilee year 2006. The tone arm is built today, based on original EMT drawings and tools exactly as it was done decades back in Germany.

The 997 tone arms are available either for international standard mount headshells/cartridges or in its original configuration for use with all EMT Mono- and Stereo cartridges.

Both versions are supplied in a protective wooden case.

More information is available on the EMT website.

emt
 

dynavector

For more than 30 years Dynavector's Moving Coil cartridges have continuously enjoyed worldwide acclaim due to a combination of innovative design, advanced production techniques and an unwavering commitment to the musical source. Over the same period many new formats such as Compact Disc, MP3, SACD and DVDA have come to dominate music reproduction. However many audiophiles consider that these digital mediums leave much to be desired when compared to analogue recordings.

Consumers and the recording companies remain confused as to which digital medium will become the standard and in the meantime the vast heritage of recorded music, spanning almost a century, is placed in jeopardy.

Fortunately Dynavector have never capitulated to the giant digital industry and have continued to refine their unique range of MC cartridges, providing music lovers with the highest standard of music reproduction that matches or surpasses any digital source.

Leading the charge is the legendary Dr Tominari's last stroke of genius, the XV-1. This unique masterpiece was superb in its original form and the refinements added to the XV-1s, herald a whole new generation of cartridge performance..

At any price point, the audiophile can be guaranteed that a Dynavector MC cartridge will both move and excite the listener to new heights of listening pleasure. A pleasure for many that comes only from a genuine analogue source. More information is available on the Dynavector website.

 

grado

grado

All Grado cartridges now use a derivation of the moving iron principle which feature patented OPTIMIZED TRANSMISSION LINE cantilever technology, PIVOTED FIXED AXIAL STYLUS-GENERATOR MODULE, and Grado's FLUX-BRIDGER GENERATOR SYSTEM.

For more information please visit the Grado website.

 
 

ortofon

ortofon

Ortofon introduces tone arms to the North American market. There are two lines:

  • Static tone arms: AS-212-S and AS-309-S
  • Dynamic tone arms: RS-212-D and RS-309-D

Information about static tone arms:

  • AS-212S(9”) from pivot to stylus
  • AS-309S(12”) from pivot to stylus
  • S shape tone arms developed for the Ortofon cartridges
  • SME connection for SPU and head shell
  • Adjustable antiscating(0 to 5 gram)
  • Overhang is 15mm
  • Offset angle is 22°
  • Adjustable tone arm height
  • Optional counterweight for heavier cartridge between 26 and 38 grams (SPU) is available

Information about dynamic tone arms:

  • 9 and 12 inch, with dynamic balance graduated vertical tracking force (VTF) control through a new spring design.
  • The new short wire spring, housed in the pivot case, eliminates unwanted vibrations in the tone arm.
  • VTF in the range 0-5 grams can be precisely adjusted by means of the supplied digital force gauge.
  • Anti-skate control adjusted by calibrated dial in the range 0-5 gram.
  • Tone arm height, and thereby VTA, is easy adjustable on the tonearm base.
  • Detachable head shell and tone arm cable, with standard SME-type connectors.

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