Alphason HR100S and MCS info required

[StanleyB]

I understand that the silver wire version has the tag MCS after the model number. Does anyone know if the MCS tag is written anywhere on the arm and if so where exactly?

[Andrew B]

It only says so on the silver badge that's on the arm rest. If it just says "Alphason HR100S" it's the standard version. I'm pretty sure the bearings were ceramic on the MCS version. I'm not aware of any other markings.

I was going to add that the non-MCS versions had a black gimbal rather than a silver one, but people seem to dispute that now. I'm sure this was reported in the mags at the time and fitted my memory of ownership. Take a look at here for others experiences:

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=vinyl&m=105779

[StanleyB]

Thanks for the info. I'll dig the arm out its box sometime today and check that out. It's time I stop hoarding the arm and let somebody else get to enjoy ownership. But I want to get the description right.

[Andrew B]

At least you'll do well price-wise. These were stupidly cheap compared to inferior and pricier arms of the day. Nice to see they get the recognition they deserve these days. The Alphason turntables and speakers were also good and similarly overlooked. The arms are the real gems IMO though. Even the standard Xenon is a bit special.

[StanleyB]

I had a friend round today who has a Bluenote Bellagio turntable. He got me to drag out the HR-100S so that he could give it a try. That gave me a chance to look for the plate as mentioned. It's a MCS. So thanks for all the most helpful info.

[Haselsh1]

I used to have an HR100S MCS arm on my Sonata many years back and it was indeed wired with Van Den Hul silver wiring and also had a stainless steel gimbal housing but a black pedestal on which it was all mounted. Fabulous arm, fabulous deck but too fiddly for me. I do not recall the arm displaying MCS anywhere on it but I could well be wrong due to age.