How nice is this tonearm

[Marco]

Is that a 12" arm, Paul? If so, IMO, an M2-12R would aesthetically suit the Sony more: https://sme.co.uk/audio/product/series-m2-12r/

Or its 9" brother, the M2-9R... Better still, something quality and Japanese from the era, (S or Y-shaped, with a detachable headshell)

Vintage T/Ts need vintage (or vintage-style) arms!

Marco.

[Spectral Morn]

And way over a thousand pounds dearer than it used to be, why ? SME have all the tooling, all paid for.

Anyway that is the finish I remember mine being, an early one and it sounded better too.

[hermit]

Is that a 12" arm, Paul? If so, IMO, an M2-12R, would aesthetically suit the Sony more: https://sme.co.uk/audio/product/series-m2-12r/

Or its 9" brother, the M2-9R... Better still, something quality and Japanese from the era, (S or Y-shaped, with a detachable headshell)

Vintage T/Ts need vintage (or vintage-style) arms!

Marco.

I don't disagree on the aesthetics of the M2-9R/M2-12R Marco. They're lovely looking arms. According the the seller of my turntable, at the time of its launch, the Japanese believed that the optimum arm length was 10" and like many of the big Japanese decks of the era my Sony was built to take a 10" arm. I bought the 310 because it is the only 10" arm that SME make other than the straight M2-10 which I think looks a bit odd.

The Sony could take a 9" or a 12" SME but in both cases would run out of room for full adjustment which could limit cartridge choice. I've seen reviews of the deck with a 309 mounted and I know Oldius uses an SME IV on his so it may not be much of an issue in practice.

I'm happy with the aesthetics of the deck/arm in the flesh but if I were looking for a suitable 10" vintage arm I'd be after a Sony PUA-9 or Fidelity Research FR-64.

[Barry]

Is that a 12" arm, Paul? If so, IMO, an M2-12R would aesthetically suit the Sony more: https://sme.co.uk/audio/product/series-m2-12r/

Or its 9" brother, the M2-9R... Better still, something quality and Japanese from the era, (S or Y-shaped, with a detachable headshell)

Vintage T/Ts need vintage (or vintage-style) arms!

Marco.

What is a "Y-shaped" arm? Do you mean "J-shaped"?

[Marco]

Haha - yes, apologies for the earlier idiocy!

Marco.

[Barry]

I don't disagree on the aesthetics of the M2-9R/M2-12R Marco. They're lovely looking arms. According the the seller of my turntable, at the time of its launch, the Japanese believed that the optimum arm length was 10" and like many of the big Japanese decks of the era my Sony was built to take a 10" arm. I bought the 310 because it is the only 10" arm that SME make other than the straight M2-10 which I think looks a bit odd.

The Sony could take a 9" or a 12" SME but in both cases would run out of room for full adjustment which could limit cartridge choice. I've seen reviews of the deck with a 309 mounted and I know Oldius uses an SME IV on his so it may not be much of an issue in practice.

I'm happy with the aesthetics of the deck/arm in the flesh but if I were looking for a suitable 10" vintage arm I'd be after a Sony PUA-9 or Fidelity Research FR-64.

Difficult to say what the optimum length should be. The tracking distortion varies as the inverse of the effective arm length, whereas the effective mass increases as the square of the length. Thus a 12" arm will display only 75% of the tracking distortion that a 9" arm produces, but its effective mass will be 78% greater.

I use arms varying in length from 9" to 12", with a couple of them being closer to 10" and 10.5".

[Marco]

I don't disagree on the aesthetics of the M2-9R/M2-12R Marco. They're lovely looking arms. According the the seller of my turntable, at the time of its launch, the Japanese believed that the optimum arm length was 10" and like many of the big Japanese decks of the era my Sony was built to take a 10" arm. I bought the 310 because it is the only 10" arm that SME make other than the straight M2-10 which I think looks a bit odd.

The Sony could take a 9" or a 12" SME but in both cases would run out of room for full adjustment which could limit cartridge choice. I've seen reviews of the deck with a 309 mounted and I know Oldius uses an SME IV on his so it may not be much of an issue in practice.

I'm happy with the aesthetics of the deck/arm in the flesh but if I were looking for a suitable 10" vintage arm I'd be after a Sony PUA-9 or Fidelity Research FR-64.

A 10" Jelco I suspect would also be a great match, sonically and aesthetically

I also agree with the Japs on the 10" thing - best of both worlds between a nine and a twelve! Denon also did some nice ones....

Marco.

[Beobloke]

ADAM

Here you go, Al!

[Ammonite Audio]

Oooh! I do like those coloured lights.

[Audio Al]

Adam that is porn , I need Kleenex man size

Lovely indeed