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Revisiting the Zeta

Just one thing about my Zeta, and that is that it's lost it's damping in the lift/lower, so it's ok, untill I forget that and then the cartridge can hit the record at a rate of knots!
 
sq225917 said:
Can you strip the lift lower?
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Yes, I think so; there’s a screw that holds the lift/lower platform, so I can take that off, then there’s a grub screw that holds the mechanism in place, so if I loosen that, it drops out, but I’ll have to take the arm off to allow the headroom. The way I mounted the arm, is that I have 4 x nuts that hold the arm mounting plate, so if I take those off, the whole arm, including the mounting plate, comes off in one hit. I’m not sure if I can strip the actual mechanism until I get it out; if not, them maybe a Rega lift/lower would be a drop in replacement?
 
wylton said:
Just one thing about my Zeta, and that is that it's lost it's damping in the lift/lower, so it's ok, untill I forget that and then the cartridge can hit the record at a rate of knots!
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It's got a finger lift on the headshell doesn't it?
 
Tony L said:
My feelings too. I remember attending a three-LP12 dem between Aro, Ekos and Zeta. I didn't really like the Ekos, kind of dry and over-damped for me, I liked the Aro, but it was a bit gutless and not being able to align cartridges properly is just stupidity, and the Zeta was better than both. Like an Aro with real slam and dynamics to my ears. Rather wish I'd kept mine, though it would look very wrong on a 124!
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An old thread, but Interestingly, on previous LP12s I have owned, this mirrors my own experiences.

I am looking for an arm upgrade for my current LP12 and I have been looking at arms and am now considering the Zeta.
 
darkmatter said:
An old thread, but Interestingly, on previous LP12s I have owned, this mirrors my own experiences.

I am looking for an arm upgrade for my current LP12 and I have been looking at arms and am now considering the Zeta.
Click to expand...

I have decided to hunt for a Zeta arm
 
Do you know how all three compare Sound wise?

When we bought our Zeta, we compared it against an Ittok.
 
The 774SM was a more affordable variant. It is a very good arm IMO, not as good as the Zeta, though certainly Ittok-level, albeit with slightly different strengths and weaknesses. My LP12 trajectory was Ittok, 774SM, Zeta, so I know them all pretty well. The 774SM is around the same weight as an Ittok too, maybe a hair lighter, so very easy to get a nice even bounce out of the LP12. The weight of the Zeta makes this much harder as the rear spring ends up more compressed than is ideal. It is doable though and I’d not let that aspect deter. Some of the best sounding LP12s I’ve heard have had Zetas.

Never heard a Mechanic, though it was as I recall the final GB Tools design and I suspect brought the experience from the other two and took it further. As I remember the Zeta was first, by a long while, then the two Mission appeared around the same time at different price points.

As always with tonearms, especially from the dreaded ‘Linn tight’ era, I’d buy on condition over and above anything else. That and be wary of sticky bearings in the Zeta, they have a reputation for it which implies a lubricant drying out. My old one is still working fine though (a friend has it on my old LP12 with a DL-103, might even be one of my old 103s! Nice to hear it now and again via his Gale 401s or LS5/8s).
 
I use a Zeta with my vector drive PT PT1 and Transfiguration cart. Sounds the business with my Paradise phono amp.
 
The Mechanic is a better tonearm than the Zeta, especially on an LP12, being easier to balance and has the 3rd linn hole for fixing Troika's eg. Also has varying balance weights to allow a range of cartridges to be used. The Sumiko MDC 800 mentioned above is better again, superbly engineered, very easy to set up with the supplied jig, and with more accurate bias adjustment and dynamic balance. I'd seek out a Sumiko over the GB offerings, good as they are.
 
nmtjb said:
Also has varying balance weights to allow a range of cartridges to be used.
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The Zeta had too as I recall. My memory is foggy, but I‘m pretty sure the main counterweight was tapped for additional mass plates to be bolted on. A complete boxed Zeta should have these plates etc (mine hadn’t, it came on a Linn I’d bought specifically to get the arm!).
 
Yes, same system as the Mechanic. I had 2 Zeta's, one mint, boxed, all the bits. Should've held onto it but the Mechanic came along and I was being sensible back then, one in, one out....
 
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