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Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:58 am
by dimfer
what combination worked/did not work for you?

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:54 pm
by troporobo
IMHO the SME III and Shure V15VxMR make beautiful music together

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:24 pm
by conspicuous
rb250 + zyx bloom
jmw9 + shelter 501 mkII
:D

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:33 pm
by Superman
Rega RB-300 -> Denon DL-103 -> Warm, Involving Sound, Great Imaging, Good Bottom-end

Rega RB-300 -> Dynavector 10X5 -> Detailed, Wide Soundstage

Rega RB-300 -> Audio Technica AT33-PTG -> Very Detailed, Will "reveal" a bad recording, Good PRAT

soon...

Fidelity Research FR64-FX -> Denon DL-103 :angel:

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:52 pm
by pigdog
Ortofon 929+ EMT TSD15 with Jorgen Shou SUT on EMT Turntable
FR64 with DENON DL103r
SME 3009 with Denon DL103r
Nordic Concept 10" carbon fibre arm with 47 Labs McBee

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:56 pm
by Superman
pigdog wrote:Ortofon 929+ EMT TSD15 with Jorgen Shou SUT on EMT Turntable
FR64 with DENON DL103r
SME 3009 with Denon DL103r
Nordic Concept 10" carbon fibre arm with 47 Labs McBee


:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 2:05 pm
by TheAnalogSource
i hope the posters can make a short description of what sonic signature the combination has given them or why the combi worked for them as well as trackability issues if any.....

thanks in advance. :)

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 2:20 pm
by Superman
Updated, bro. Thanks! :D

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 2:23 pm
by TheAnalogSource
thanks jen....in order for readers to choose what combi will fit their liking based on your experiences :)

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:16 pm
by JackD201
Graham Phantom B-44 with everything I've thrown at it so far whether they be light (Airy S, Clearaudio Titanium) or heavy (XV-1s, Koetsu Jade, Graham Nightingale) short or long cantilevered. All carts are of varying compliances in the vertical and lateral planes and the arm is a "medium mass" arm. The magic is in the magnetic glide system though which manages inertia in a non linear fashion. It is a unipivot that has the feel of a gimbaled arm. For low compliance carts they also come with custom ceramic shims to add mass but have not had the need to use them. No tracking problems even with notorious torture discs with very high modulation as tested by dafos and mullard88. It tracks so well I can even get away with tracking lighter than the manufacturer recommended VTF. The best part is that every adjustment uses a wormdrive including azimuth. This makes it extremely easy to set up and adjust. As for the sonic imprint I really can't say since I can't detect any. Since I don't hear nasties one might find in an underdamped u-pivot like ringing or the edgy "garalgal" from the likes of a gimbal arm with dirty or worn bearings I find I attribute the differences to the carts themselves. The arm itself is dead quiet. At least as quiet as the table it rests on.

During the show there were times when the auditioners were staring at the preamp to check if it was muted as the raven/graham was playing the lead in tracks. It's a spooky thing that while appearing to be a parlor trick has a profound effect on retrieval of musical nuances and dynamics when the music actually starts playing.

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:17 pm
by mullard88
Hi dimfer,

I'm listing the cartridge-arm combinations I have heard and liked in the past. Though you should keep in mind that the chain of components following the cartridge and the tonearm also plays just as significant a part in producing the sound. In my list are:

1. Denon 103 cartridge with Infinity black widow tonearm
2. Grado signature 8 cartridge with Sumiko premier MMT tonearm
3. Grado signature 8 cartridge with ET tonearm
4. Koetsu black cartridge with Well Tempered tonearm
5. Grado gold cartridge with Win Lab tonearm
6. Lyra Clavis dc cartridge with Triplanar tonearm

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:33 pm
by zenaudio
conspicuous wrote:rb250 + zyx bloom
jmw9 + shelter 501 mkII
:D


Conspicuous,
The jmw9 didn't work that well with the zyx?

My contribution: jmw9 + dv20xl
good all around, plays different kinds of music with dynamics, detail and weight.

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:44 pm
by Jon Agner
Project 8.6c = Grado Green
Pro-Ject 9c = Koetsu Rosewood

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 10:31 am
by jadis
In my own limited use of tonearms, I have used the Sumiko Premier MMT S-type arm on both the Grado 8 and a Monster Cable Alpha 2.

Then the Eminent Tech ET2 has done the yeoman's job in handling cartridges like the Alpha 2, Carnegie 1 from Madrigal, Koetsu 'nude' (rebuilt by Lyra/Scantech), Koetsu Black, Rosewood, Rosewood Sig, Urushi, Jade, Coral, and Blue Lace (even briefly). Weight of those cartridges ranged from 7g to 13g. And all worked well.

My own understanding of tonearms is they must have good trackability. Meaning, handling of hard and highly modulated cuts in good fashion and without noise or distortion. There will be hard rules in matching compliance to mass, and I am not expert there, but I have heard other users who have good results despite running contrary to the rules. A well designed arm will track and guide the cartridge like a train rolling thru the rail-tracks. There should be no 'derail-ment'. Most highly rated arms today excel in this area of performance, and of course another concern is user-friendliness in terms of usage and making minute adjustments. Arms I have seen, touched and heard from friends that are exemplary would be the SME V, The Phantom, The Triplanar, and the top dog of Dynavector. The Rega 300B I respect a lot, and the common thing about these arms is that they mate well with lots of different high quality cartridges. There should be not much problems there.

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 10:45 am
by redline_xp
Origin Live RB250 Full-Mod paired with Audio Technica F3 and Dynavector 10x5 :D :D
OL Silver paired with FR MC201 :D :D

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 2:35 pm
by conspicuous
zenaudio wrote:
conspicuous wrote:rb250 + zyx bloom
jmw9 + shelter 501 mkII
:D


Conspicuous,
The jmw9 didn't work that well with the zyx?

My contribution: jmw9 + dv20xl
good all around, plays different kinds of music with dynamics, detail and weight.


that's my next project to switch and see how these pairs sound:
jmw9 + zyx bloom
rb250 + shelter 501 mkII
:D
nakakatamad lang kasi!!!!!!! :lol:

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 2:38 pm
by conspicuous
rb250 + zyx bloom:
detailed, silky smooth but dynamic, low noise floor

jmw9 + shelter 501 mkII
warm, lush mid-range

both combi have fantastic bass reproduction. :)

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:15 pm
by zenaudio
conspicuous wrote:that's my next project to switch and see how these pairs sound:
jmw9 + zyx bloom
rb250 + shelter 501 mkII
:D
nakakatamad lang kasi!!!!!!! :lol:

Post it here when you find the time. ;)

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:59 am
by pican
A ZYX R100-02 was recently installed in a JMW 10.5i and the combo
sounded very, very nice. The R100 with the JMW10.5i had very good bass
extension, smooth highs, and very clear midrange when tested after the
installation. A Pro-Ject silver phono interconnect was used.

Pican

Re: Arms , Carts

PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:31 am
by Jon Agner
pican wrote:A ZYX R100-02 was recently installed in a JMW 10.5i and the combo
sounded very, very nice. The R100 with the JMW10.5i had very good bass
extension, smooth highs, and very clear midrange when tested after the
installation. A Pro-Ject silver phono interconnect was used.

Pican


Pic,

You forgot to mention the ZYX Yatra mounted on a Scheu wood tonearm and how the voice of Eva Cassidy moved us when we listened to it :)