Am looking to find a most musical tonearm for my future projects. I need one For either or
Thorens 124, Lenco 75, Technics Sp15,
Ar-Ta/Xa
Location: Ontario
Posts: 6
I'm Jim.
Am looking to find a most musical tonearm for my future projects. I need one For either or
Thorens 124, Lenco 75, Technics Sp15,
Ar-Ta/Xa
The answer rather depends on what cartridges you wish to use, since the mass/compliance equation should not be totally disregarded. Also, looks may be important on a vintage deck. All of that said, my recommendation would be for a heavyweight Japanese arm, and the Fidelity Research FR-64S won’t disappoint, and Phonomac of this parish has a bit of a gift for fettling these arms (he did mine).
Location: Near Saffron Walden, Essex
Posts: 7,087
I'm Dave.
To my ears, one of the very best is the FR-64S. I still have one and won't be parting with it.
Another is the Breuer or the Sumiko MDC 800, which was a 'copy' and still excellent. I have one which will go on E-Bay when I get round to it.
Agree on the cartridge being a factor, you want a platform that absolutely does not add nor take away from what your cartridge can do.
In that spirit I put forward the SME V.
Its worth changing out the wiring (internal and external) I'd say as SME are an engineering not an audiophile company.
A silver rewired SME V is about as good (and as neutral) a platform as it gets.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
Stax UA-70, UA-7, UA-9, great arms and very versatile with different carts. I've used Benz wood SL, Shure Ultra 500 and Decca C4e, all work great. Extra counterweight allows for different mass carts.
Bakoon 13r Denon DP80 Stax UA-70 Shure Ultra 500 in a Martin Bastin body with jico stylus, project ds2 digital Rullit aero 8 field coils in tqwt speakers
Office system, DIY CSS fullrange speakers with aurum cantus G2 ribbons yulong dac Sony STR6055 receiver Jvc QL-A51 direct drive turntable, Leema sub. JVC Z4S cart is in the house
Garage system another Sony receiver, cassette deck
System components are subject to change without warning and at the discretion of the owner.
The Phonomac AT1010 MK5 is a gift. There is no need to look further. Superior Japanese engineering, fettled and improved measurably by an obsessive engineer with a price tag that's cheaper than most of the arms listed and certainly less than one would expect v performance. I am more than happy to offer a listen to anyone who is interested. A stunning arm.
I cannot comment on the SME V as I've never heard one. I would LOVE to put a PMAT-1010 MK5 up against it, I have a strong suspicion that it would be VERY interesting.
For a Budget pick, I'd go for a Mission 774 original. Another outrageous bargain.
Last edited by Bigman80; 27-05-2018 at 13:26.
Regardless of price eh?
As others have said, it all depends on the cartridge you are wanting to use.
Low compliance cartridges prefer high mass arms, so I would recommend either the Fidelity Research FR64s or FR66S (the latter being a 12" arm), or an Ikeda modified Ortofon 309i (also 12"), or the latest SME M2-12R (again 12").
High compliance cartridges prefer low mass arms, so I would recommend either the Breuer Dynamic Type 5A, or even better (that is if you can find one), the Breuer Dynamic Type 8C. Failing that you might like to consider the Brinkmann 10.5 arm. The latter design is heavily influenced by the Breuer arms, but being 10" in length you might have difficulty fitting one to your TD124 turntable.
I have experience of, and use/have used all the above mentioned arms (save for the Breuer 8C).
Finally if you want an more or less universal arm, then I would recommend the SME V.
Barry
The thread title says 'nice sounding'. That lets out the SME Five, as it's neutral to the point of coolness. No criticism here, but its eff. mass is only 11 g, but it is nonetheless quite versatile as far as cart's go. Even did quite well with my K Black and Urushi.
No, the thread title says "best sounding"; so the SME V is a valid contender for the very reasons you post. The SME V has come in for some criticism by some, but it's one of the few arms that will allow a Decca (London) 'Reference' cartidge or a Koetsu 'Urushi' or 'Red' to perform at their best.
The OP uses the phrase "most musical tonearm", but then what is musical to some might not be to others. Me, I'll stick with neutrality and let the cartridge have the 'character'.
Barry