Japanese Tonearms

[Wakefield Turntables]

Wow a real hornets nest. I've had little time today to research tonearms I've been completely stumped putting the 401 back together!

[montesquieu]

I have a serious soft spot for the IKEDA 407 although they are a bit sample dependant some sound darker and fleshed out and some clean and fast I have owned several over the years also I have had issues with alignment and sticky bearings, even so I love the arm.

Yes I would agree with this, my IT-345 CR1 (the chrome finish 9 inch version) wasn't performing its best, this is a post-2011 (post Ikeda's retirement and handover of the company) arm, when I got it looked at it needed some fairly stiff intervention to bring it back to top performance.

By contrast when my IT-407 was looked at - an early one with the brushed finish - it was pronounced to be in perfect health despite being a couple of decades older. (And this chimed with listening to it - which is always a pleasure). Thankfully the IT-345 is also performing beautifully now.

[Vrajbasi]

Yes I would agree with this, my IT-345 CR1 (the chrome finish 9 inch version) wasn't performing its best, this is a post-2011 (post Ikeda's retirement and handover of the company) arm, when I got it looked at it needed some fairly stiff intervention to bring it back to top performance.

By contrast when my IT-407 was looked at - an early one with the brushed finish - it was pronounced to be in perfect health despite being a couple of decades older. (And this chimed with listening to it - which is always a pleasure). Thankfully the IT-345 is also performing beautifully now.

i love the brushed finish of the early ones, your example looks lovely. I have just purchased what is supposed to japanese market 407it from Unique Audio, the arm has a sharper bend and aligns perfectly using the smart tractor, its a superb arm indeed.I have only ever had one 345 thankfully it worked well. Of all the modern Ikeda 407 arms this is the first example I have had zero issues with with getting to to align a spu and other cartridges it does sound rather good.

[JohnG]

I've been looking at some of the Tonearms that have been put forward as suggestions.
It is a good selection from design to price point, there is a lot to consider.
I was wondering about the possibility of another option that I will share, as it is on the topic.
It could also be cost effective, If a Tonearm Brand has a interchangeable arm tube, that can be a 9" and 12".
This would meet the requirements of the OP, but may require a variation to the counterweight and will require a mounting plate that can allow for the positioning of the pillar to suit either arm tube length.
A Audio Technica AT-1100, AT-1120 ( can be found at a fair price) and AT-1010 ( rarer and usually more expensive than the other two models), these all have Detachable Arm Tubes and the ASP-11 Curved Arm Tube having Detachable SME Type Bayonet Head Shells, as a result, offering plenty of options to interchange components in the make up.
If a arm tube could be produced in the length to produce a 12" version, using donor parts from another say
ASP-1 arm tube, this might work if a straight arm is acceptable.
If a Curved Arm Tube was required, a ASP-1 and a little further investigation into how the head shell will attach
would be necessary, in my mind a Female SME Bayonet Socket would be fine.
I know there is a lot of knowledge available about the Audio Technica Tonearms being referred to, so this concept could be put to bed very shortly.

[AJSki2fly]

Thought you might find this interesting as I have just tried out the JELCO TK850M (10") the whole 850 range I have been told is good and very good value at around £1K.

So I have been playing with the Voyd again, this time with a new tone arm that was recommended to me. I have always wanted to try a 10" arm out and so as the Voyd can take one that is what I decided to do. The arm is a new JELCO TK850M. I found fitting it not too bad although setting the arm up needs a little patience, not a job to rush, and I checked everything several times.

I have listened to my 15 or so favourite evaluation tracks and in summary the result I think is this:-

The Jelco TK850M tonearm is very impressive. I expected it to be quite good but maybe not as good as it has turned out. It seems to be an arm that does not clutter or colour the music, far from it the result is a very open soundstage and it seems to get great clarity. I find it more lively than the SME IV that I own, I think that a sense of more rhythm comes to mind and hence it all sounds more musical. From my scoring across the board the Jelco is certainly at least as good as the SME IV, and in my estimation in my set up is pulling more detail out of the groove, maybe this is due to more accurate tracking at 10", and presenting it very nicely. I would give it a 9.5 out of 10, the SME is a low 9.

So to sum up with the right cartridge and turntable in my opinion the Jelco TK850M is a bit of a giant slayer and is an absolute bargain for the cost.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[Yorkrise]

Some small points of order. I’ve just finished a spree so I have most of the below.
1 the 12 inch fidelity research. This is the fr66. This goes for silly money these days - about $5000.
2 a stax ua 70 is good but seems lightweight. It’s not that expensive I’ve but some say that the detachable arm tube creates resonance. Make sure the optional additional counterweights come with.
3 the ac3000 is 9 inches - the audio craft 12 incher s are the ac400, ac400 ii and the ac4000. I have an ac400 but haven’t not installed it yet. It’s a unipivot.
4 you might also consider a jasmine audio tp297. This is Chinese but well built. Installing this one next week in my sp10 / Acoustand deck ((huge thanks to Lee).

If you’re interest in getting stuff from Japan directly - and the prices are good but do bear in mind shipping and duty- try zenmarket. It works, but make sure you use PayPal, in case.

Cheers

We

Made.

[Vrajbasi]

Some small points of order. I’ve just finished a spree so I have most of the below.
1 the 12 inch fidelity research. This is the fr66. This goes for silly money these days - about $5000.
2 a stax ua 70 is good but seems lightweight. It’s not that expensive I’ve but some say that the detachable arm tube creates resonance. Make sure the optional additional counterweights come with.
3 the ac3000 is 9 inches - the audio craft 12 incher s are the ac400, ac400 ii and the ac4000. I have an ac400 but haven’t not installed it yet. It’s a unipivot.
4 you might also consider a jasmine audio tp297. This is Chinese but well built. Installing this one next week in my sp10 / Acoustand deck ((huge thanks to Lee).

If you’re interest in getting stuff from Japan directly - and the prices are good but do bear in mind shipping and duty- try zenmarket. It works, but make sure you use PayPal, in case.

Cheers

We

Made.

If you can find a FR66S for $5000 I would buy it like a shot.

[Yorkrise]

My bad. 5000 pounds!

Why though, is it that good? Reports on fr 64 seem mixed ...

Or would you flip it?

B


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[paulf-2007]

Maybe something like a SAEC with their somewhat crazy one nullpoint geometry and double knife-edge bearing? Or one of the vintage unipivots like Audiocraft or even Stax UA-something (hmm were those even unipivots, I seem to think so)? If going for vintage, there are a crazy amount of Japanese tonearms around, some of them very good, some of them not so, but most of them very well made, though bearings might (probably?) need attention at this point.
Kmm
The Sorane definitely looks interesting, if I had the expendable dough, I'd get one just out of curiosity

What about ViV lab rigid float? Completely straight (no offset angle) and very short tonearm with weird bearings for crazy money. How could you go wrong with that

stax UA-70 is a kind of unipivot but not as wobbly as the usual unipivots. I use one on my Denon DP80, excellent arm.

[paulf-2007]

Some small points of order. I’ve just finished a spree so I have most of the below.
1 the 12 inch fidelity research. This is the fr66. This goes for silly money these days - about $5000.
2 a stax ua 70 is good but seems lightweight. It’s not that expensive I’ve but some say that the detachable arm tube creates resonance. Make sure the optional additional counterweights come with.
3 the ac3000 is 9 inches - the audio craft 12 incher s are the ac400, ac400 ii and the ac4000. I have an ac400 but haven’t not installed it yet. It’s a unipivot.
4 you might also consider a jasmine audio tp297. This is Chinese but well built. Installing this one next week in my sp10 / Acoustand deck ((huge thanks to Lee).

If you’re interest in getting stuff from Japan directly - and the prices are good but do bear in mind shipping and duty- try zenmarket. It works, but make sure you use PayPal, in case.

Cheers

We

Made.

The Stax UA-70 may be lighter than some but I've found it to be very versatile, used it with a Benz wood, Decca C4e and Shure ultra 500, that is my favourite cart. Has an additional counterweight for heavier carts. I'm sure the arm tube can be swapped for a 9" arm tube and the carbon tubes. I have the UA-7 9" arm too but haven't tried the arm tube on the 70 as their us little point when I have both arms. They look to be identical bedsides the tube length. I would like to try a carbon fibre arm tube but it's not cheap or easily available.