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Sideways Uni-Pivot Arm, SUPATRAC Blackbird, formerly "Ekos Killer (Price?)"

This seems like a very impressive arm. Very outside-the-box thinking. But honestly, you have to give up on the string lift. It really just cheapens the look and takes away the fact that this is now, in fact, a consumer ready product, vs a diy exercise. And I understand you find the string easy to use, but sometimes sacrifices must be made for aesthetics. Sticking with just the normal lift is definitely the way to go.

I have been watching the development of this arm for some time, as with you I found the string lift a bit of a turnoff but with time as well as feedback from users that have found string to be a good method as a finger lift I am now actually excited about it. Change is often hard to accept but if the string works better than an arm lift then I am game to give it a go!
 
I have been watching the development of this arm for some time, as with you I found the string lift a bit of a turnoff but with time as well as feedback from users that have found string to be a good method as a finger lift I am now actually excited about it. Change is often hard to accept but if the string works better than an arm lift then I am game to give it a go!

It's not about whether it's a good method as a finger lift, it's that it cheapens the look of the arm. The design of the arm is very angular, rigid, and sleek. Putting a floppy piece of string on it just looks awful. A regular tonearm lift (which is also an option that is provided) is much better aesthetically with the rest of the arm and works just as good as the string.
 
It's not about whether it's a good method as a finger lift, it's that it cheapens the look of the arm. The design of the arm is very angular, rigid, and sleek. Putting a floppy piece of string on it just looks awful. A regular tonearm lift (which is also an option that is provided) is much better aesthetically with the rest of the arm and works just as good as the string.

The arm comes with a rigid finger lift as well as the string lift (see my avatar).

As regards aesthetics, just about every turntable ever looks better with no arm at all. My Amadeus is sitting on my electrics table in front of me now without an arm, and it's beautiful. I personally use string because it works really well. Others may prefer a rigid lifter or no lifter at all, like the original Amadeus arm.

So far, many people have reported being surprised at the ease of use of the string, so maybe in time it will cease to look ridiculous and start to look practical. In the end, I'm more interested in stuff that works than stuff that just looks good, as my wife would confirm ;-)
 
BTW, I don't have a picture of the current (non-prototype) rigid finger lift right now as I don't use them, but here's a graphic of the 3D part and animation looking around it...

rigidliftgraphic.jpg


http://www.supasound.com/videos/rigidlift.mp4
 
The arm comes with a rigid finger lift as well as the string lift (see my avatar).

As regards aesthetics, just about every turntable ever looks better with no arm at all. My Amadeus is sitting on my electrics table in front of me now without an arm, and it's beautiful. I personally use string because it works really well. Others may prefer a rigid lifter or no lifter at all, like the original Amadeus arm.

So far, many people have reported being surprised at the ease of use of the string, so maybe in time it will cease to look ridiculous and start to look practical. In the end, I'm more interested in stuff that works than stuff that just looks good, as my wife would confirm ;-)

I definitely don't agree that just about every turntable looks better with no arm at all. Not sure what turntables you've used, but the tonearm always complements the platter and plinth. If a turntable was just a platter and plinth, you may as well call it a Lazy Susan and start serving food on it when guests are over.

That said, I would think most people who hand cue their tonearm, like to lean their pinky on the plinth as they're lowering the needle into the groove. With the string lift being above the tonearm, it makes that method of cueing almost impossible. The rigid lift, which is installed on the side of the arm, makes this much more easy to accomplish. Also add in the fact that the string is not rigid and can shift positions while moving, which may in turn change VTF during playback. I'd much have a rigid lift that is going to stay exactly where it's screwed into.

Again, I love the concept of the arm, but do think the string, regardless of how it works for you, takes away from the rest of the design, and in some ways, compromises it.
 
The arm comes with a rigid finger lift as well as the string lift (see my avatar).

As regards aesthetics, just about every turntable ever looks better with no arm at all. My Amadeus is sitting on my electrics table in front of me now without an arm, and it's beautiful. I personally use string because it works really well. Others may prefer a rigid lifter or no lifter at all, like the original Amadeus arm.

So far, many people have reported being surprised at the ease of use of the string, so maybe in time it will cease to look ridiculous and start to look practical. In the end, I'm more interested in stuff that works than stuff that just looks good, as my wife would confirm ;-)

I’m going to try the (stiffened) string option on my DIY well tempered copy. The possibility of more intuitive operation and a reduced risk to cantilever damage is much more appealing than aesthetic considerations…
 
I presume there are now a few arms out there being used by customers. It would be great to get feedback from them on the performance of the arm.
 
Again, I love the concept of the arm, but do think the string, regardless of how it works for you, takes away from the rest of the design, and in some ways, compromises it.

Have you tried a cuing string?

As I mentioned, the arm includes a rigid finger lifter for those who are not willing to try the string or who do not prefer it. I have put a picture of it up as my avatar! ;-)

...most people who hand cue their tonearm, like to lean their pinky on the plinth as they're lowering the needle into the groove...

Why? Is there something wrong with the arm design?
 
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I presume there are now a few arms out there being used by customers. It would be great to get feedback from them on the performance of the arm.

Status: there's one in London - customer not a forum type. One in Canada - Adam of hifiaf has provided a fine review. One went to the home counties but is not installed yet as the deck will be upgraded at the end of August. One is installed on a Sondek in Malaysia, again, the customer does not appear to be an English-language-forum regular, and today one was sent to a UK customer who looks likely to report his experience on another forum. I hope to send out more arms this week to the customers who have paid and are patiently awaiting their hand-made arms. I try to batch each part of the production process, so several arms will go forth in a flurry.
 
I presume there are now a few arms out there being used by customers. It would be great to get feedback from them on the performance of the arm.

Over at Lenco Heaven, the owner of the fifth Blackbird in the wild has installed it today and says:

Listening to The The - Dusk. Phenomenal!

I'm not as articulate as I used to be. I've only listened to a couple of sides and no fine tuning yet but the music has a HUGE presence.

Edit, I'm going to add epic, EPIC. WOW.

I expect he will have a few more things to say when he has an extensive listen. Interestingly his other arm is a clone of the Well Tempered arm.
 
That looks interesting but years from production.

I have ten arms in the final stage of production in front of me, mostly pre- ordered, and today I've had reasonable quotes for batch production of several of the key components. Before Christmas I should have capacity to ship hundreds of SUPAs annually.
 
Over at Lenco Heaven, the owner of the fifth Blackbird in the wild has installed it today and says:



I expect he will have a few more things to say when he has an extensive listen. Interestingly his other arm is a clone of the Well Tempered arm.

wow - also as someone with a Lenco and a WT clone I find this very interesting…
I’ve been contemplating how difficult it would be to convert my WT clone to a horizontal unipivot. Is looking very feasible, especially if I retain the main post/fishing wire as the hoists. I’d just need a pillar for the horizontal bearing and a flat surface for it to bear against…
 
Have you tried a cuing string?

As I mentioned, the arm includes a rigid finger lifter for those who are not willing to try the string or who do not prefer it. I have put a picture of it up as my avatar! ;-)



Why? Is there something wrong with the arm design?

offer the choice of either rigid lift and the string que….everyone covered. For what it’s worth I think the string lift is genius.
 
I have ten arms in the final stage of production in front of me, mostly pre- ordered, and today I've had reasonable quotes for batch production of several of the key components. Before Christmas I should have capacity to ship hundreds of SUPAs annually.
I said that a year ago!
 
This thread is jumping the shark. sonddek's sold less than 10 thus far (not a criticism), why would he suddenly get an order for 1000? Scaling up is definitely something that needs building into any business, but scaling up to that extent is not going to happen anything like immediately from where he is now so not worth worrying about. It's a bit of a daft question frankly. Oh and before you say anything I work in R&D consultancy and small embryonic business development, this sort of thing is my bread and butter and sonddek is doing extremely well and with little external help it seems.

Look back and you will see many on this thread at the start suggested he wouldn't get this far yet here is the arm, the manual, sales, R&D happening to improve the product, good feedback etc. I think he is to be commended and given the concept is genuinely something different in a world we all care about we should be positive in our critique. He knows his stuff, e.g. I engaged in some PMs with him over the string lift, but he explained the principle and why it is better and you know what, he is right. Not the last word in aesthetics, but it is a better engineering solution less likely to damage records and cartridges.
 
Allegedly Naim only ever produced a little over 1000 AROs. They're going back into it now.

I think David's point is that producing a few arms a month isn't really 'production' in the sense he originally meant it.

However, if David transfers a million and a half into my bank account I think it would be possible to deliver the thousand Blackbirds in a month. It would be all hands on deck, hiring, new premises, multiple suppliers for CNC parts, but for that fee it could be done, partly because non-precision manufacture was one of my original design goals, as the impressive creativity at Lenco Heaven demonstrates.
 
It certainly wasn't meant as a criticism!

My point was that a 'Production' item that could be easily rolled out in quantity would likely look different.

Rega's RB300 is an interesting case in point as it was clearly designed from the outset for easy volume production.
 


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