montesquieu
05-04-2018, 13:22
https://i.imgur.com/G9KEKve.jpg
I’m not a great hifi show goer by any means. I do like to go to the odd one every few years, but when I do go it’s usually a bit of an opportunity for smugness (as I’m sure it is for a lot of us here) ... I generally go home chuffed at the idea that what I have at home is far better than some megabucks setups I’ve just been exposed to. It’s extremely unusual for me to be so struck by something at a show that I go and buy it within days.
But there always has to be an exception - and the new Tilmestep 12in tonearm, the T-612, turned out to be one.
I saw it on a stand on the ground floor, the 9in version on one of the new Technics decks, with its distinctive banana shape. I immediately recognised it as related to the Audio Creative Groovemaster II, made in Holland using state of the art hybrid ceramic bearings, with several rave reviews accumulated already.
It was explained to me that Timestep had created an arm based on the Dutch arm (the Dutch build it as you’d expect), with a number of subtle differences: first of all the geometry was 290mm - a straight drop in for people looking to upgrade a 12in Jelco 750L (the Dutch original has a longer spindle to pivot) - a good move I think. In the Timestep version, silver wiring and titanium arm tube are standard (they are plus-cash options on the Groovemaster). And of course there were the 9in and 10in versions (which I believe the Dutch don’t offer), the 9in aimed I guess at use on Technics decks, 10in at vintage Japanese decks like the SP10, and the 12in version aimed at idlers - Garrards, TD124s and Lenco projects - with the 12in in particular focused on users of low compliance cartridges. All the bases covered, with the 12in right up my street in terms of cartridges. Though in fact all of them are suitable for low compliance cartridges - the 12in is 29g effective mass, but even the 9in is 26g.
I did get a quick listen on headphones to the 9in arm, but I had been curious about the Dutch arm for several years and had read pretty much all there is out there about it; the fact that a version of it was now available with support in the UK rapidly made my mind up.
I went home, thought about it, and contacted Hugo of Ammonite Audio the next day to see if he could get me one. It arrived fairly quickly. On unboxing, it was clear that this was pretty well thought out: it comes with the same selection of arm weight + extra weights for different cartridges as the Dutch arm. I ordered the optional SME pattern sliding base (for me an essential rather than an option) - this bolted straight on same the armboard used previously for SME M2-12R and Ortofon RMG 309 Limited. The package included is a very useful laminated protractor, and I had it up and running with my Ortofon SPU Royal N in a matter of minutes. The base is quite a clever thing, the collet can go four different ways (facing up, down, or flipped) to give different combinations of support to the arm pillar depending on how high or low it needs to sit on the plinth and how much travel you need in any direction along the sliding base. Neat!
Probably the most impressive thing about the TT, apart from the smoothness of the bearings, is the titanium arm tube, it’s quite a lovely thing to handle, weighty but well balanced. And the looks are fantastic with that EMT-inspired banana shape.
On listening, I was quite taken aback - this thing has turned out to be one of the best tonearms I’ve ever heard. It almost felt like it made a cheap MM (£45) cartridge sound like an expensive MC (the performance of my Shure SC35C is hilariously good on this arm), while expensive MCs sounded quite superb. My recently acquired Decca-style ’no cantilever' Ikeda 9C III - which takes a huge amount of controlling and can disappoint on an inadequate arm - was quite stunning.
In my opinion it betters my old SME M2-12R by quite a distance (and a Schick 12in I had before that). I have quite a stable of low compliance cartridges - Miyajima Madake and several Miyajima monos in addition to the Ikeda and the Royal N - and it’s been a pleasure to listen, compare and contrast, for hours at a stretch. It seems to bring together control and quietness in the groove with maximum detail extraction and the relaxed, musical quality that I tend to associate with longer tonearms. It’s an intoxicating combination. For some reason it’s been almost wall to wall jazz since its arrival (something about that relaxed, laid back quality?) but it’s very good with classical too. Recording ambience, 3d layering, the finest detail, deep bass - they are all there in spades and in a musical way, not fragmented and deconstructed into constituent parts.
Are there any down sides to this arm? Well the only criticism I could make is that it feels rather more cheaply accessorised than an SME - it seems to me that the money has gone into the arm’s performance rather than into bling: the arm lift looks pure Jelco (why reinvent the wheel I guess?), while the arm retaining ‘clip’ is a kind of plastic clothespeg - odd, but it works well. The SME sliding base, while 100% functional and secure is plain and unbranded and feels less substantial than the one on my previous Ortofon; the azimuth adjustment is one bolt rather than the two substantial countersunk bolts on the Ortofon. And for smoothness and adjustability, the dynamic balance of my old Ortofon RMG does take some beating (that has some pretty nice bearings in it too as well as a lovely finish) - the static balance on the Timestep arm by contrast is a strictly manual affair involving fine motor skills to tweak the position of the counterweight.
But these really are just minor quibbles given its performance, and simply demonstrate priorities. All in all, for £1600 including the sliding base, brand new with with warranty, it seems to me to be an out and out bargain, though that doesn’t include a tonearm cable - I’ve been using my trusty Audio Note AN-V silver litz cable which seems to have synergy with the internal silver wiring. No-brainer indeed for us idler nuts.
Incidentally anyone referencing this for using this tonearm with an Ortofon SPU, using the supplied protractor and my Dr Freickert alignment tool, I ended up at 291.5mm for the 52mm collet-to-stylus tip distance on the SPU, rather than the standard 290mm which I assume is based on 50mm.
https://i.imgur.com/0iZi22J.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2WJjfBZ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/561kDeF.jpg
I’m not a great hifi show goer by any means. I do like to go to the odd one every few years, but when I do go it’s usually a bit of an opportunity for smugness (as I’m sure it is for a lot of us here) ... I generally go home chuffed at the idea that what I have at home is far better than some megabucks setups I’ve just been exposed to. It’s extremely unusual for me to be so struck by something at a show that I go and buy it within days.
But there always has to be an exception - and the new Tilmestep 12in tonearm, the T-612, turned out to be one.
I saw it on a stand on the ground floor, the 9in version on one of the new Technics decks, with its distinctive banana shape. I immediately recognised it as related to the Audio Creative Groovemaster II, made in Holland using state of the art hybrid ceramic bearings, with several rave reviews accumulated already.
It was explained to me that Timestep had created an arm based on the Dutch arm (the Dutch build it as you’d expect), with a number of subtle differences: first of all the geometry was 290mm - a straight drop in for people looking to upgrade a 12in Jelco 750L (the Dutch original has a longer spindle to pivot) - a good move I think. In the Timestep version, silver wiring and titanium arm tube are standard (they are plus-cash options on the Groovemaster). And of course there were the 9in and 10in versions (which I believe the Dutch don’t offer), the 9in aimed I guess at use on Technics decks, 10in at vintage Japanese decks like the SP10, and the 12in version aimed at idlers - Garrards, TD124s and Lenco projects - with the 12in in particular focused on users of low compliance cartridges. All the bases covered, with the 12in right up my street in terms of cartridges. Though in fact all of them are suitable for low compliance cartridges - the 12in is 29g effective mass, but even the 9in is 26g.
I did get a quick listen on headphones to the 9in arm, but I had been curious about the Dutch arm for several years and had read pretty much all there is out there about it; the fact that a version of it was now available with support in the UK rapidly made my mind up.
I went home, thought about it, and contacted Hugo of Ammonite Audio the next day to see if he could get me one. It arrived fairly quickly. On unboxing, it was clear that this was pretty well thought out: it comes with the same selection of arm weight + extra weights for different cartridges as the Dutch arm. I ordered the optional SME pattern sliding base (for me an essential rather than an option) - this bolted straight on same the armboard used previously for SME M2-12R and Ortofon RMG 309 Limited. The package included is a very useful laminated protractor, and I had it up and running with my Ortofon SPU Royal N in a matter of minutes. The base is quite a clever thing, the collet can go four different ways (facing up, down, or flipped) to give different combinations of support to the arm pillar depending on how high or low it needs to sit on the plinth and how much travel you need in any direction along the sliding base. Neat!
Probably the most impressive thing about the TT, apart from the smoothness of the bearings, is the titanium arm tube, it’s quite a lovely thing to handle, weighty but well balanced. And the looks are fantastic with that EMT-inspired banana shape.
On listening, I was quite taken aback - this thing has turned out to be one of the best tonearms I’ve ever heard. It almost felt like it made a cheap MM (£45) cartridge sound like an expensive MC (the performance of my Shure SC35C is hilariously good on this arm), while expensive MCs sounded quite superb. My recently acquired Decca-style ’no cantilever' Ikeda 9C III - which takes a huge amount of controlling and can disappoint on an inadequate arm - was quite stunning.
In my opinion it betters my old SME M2-12R by quite a distance (and a Schick 12in I had before that). I have quite a stable of low compliance cartridges - Miyajima Madake and several Miyajima monos in addition to the Ikeda and the Royal N - and it’s been a pleasure to listen, compare and contrast, for hours at a stretch. It seems to bring together control and quietness in the groove with maximum detail extraction and the relaxed, musical quality that I tend to associate with longer tonearms. It’s an intoxicating combination. For some reason it’s been almost wall to wall jazz since its arrival (something about that relaxed, laid back quality?) but it’s very good with classical too. Recording ambience, 3d layering, the finest detail, deep bass - they are all there in spades and in a musical way, not fragmented and deconstructed into constituent parts.
Are there any down sides to this arm? Well the only criticism I could make is that it feels rather more cheaply accessorised than an SME - it seems to me that the money has gone into the arm’s performance rather than into bling: the arm lift looks pure Jelco (why reinvent the wheel I guess?), while the arm retaining ‘clip’ is a kind of plastic clothespeg - odd, but it works well. The SME sliding base, while 100% functional and secure is plain and unbranded and feels less substantial than the one on my previous Ortofon; the azimuth adjustment is one bolt rather than the two substantial countersunk bolts on the Ortofon. And for smoothness and adjustability, the dynamic balance of my old Ortofon RMG does take some beating (that has some pretty nice bearings in it too as well as a lovely finish) - the static balance on the Timestep arm by contrast is a strictly manual affair involving fine motor skills to tweak the position of the counterweight.
But these really are just minor quibbles given its performance, and simply demonstrate priorities. All in all, for £1600 including the sliding base, brand new with with warranty, it seems to me to be an out and out bargain, though that doesn’t include a tonearm cable - I’ve been using my trusty Audio Note AN-V silver litz cable which seems to have synergy with the internal silver wiring. No-brainer indeed for us idler nuts.
Incidentally anyone referencing this for using this tonearm with an Ortofon SPU, using the supplied protractor and my Dr Freickert alignment tool, I ended up at 291.5mm for the 52mm collet-to-stylus tip distance on the SPU, rather than the standard 290mm which I assume is based on 50mm.
https://i.imgur.com/0iZi22J.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2WJjfBZ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/561kDeF.jpg