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Is this the best tonearm in the world?

Time for a rant:

To my mind that is just totally unacceptable at that price. Ergonomics are important. A good user interface design is essential. To be honest this is one of my biggest criticisms with modern audio.

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This is my turntable. A Thorens TD-124 fitted with a SME 3009. It is 1950s technology, though my specific example dates from the mid to late-60s. I use it because I like the sound it produces, but also because it is a simply stunning piece of aesthetic and ergonomic design.

To recap some 1950s functionality:

All four record speeds available with a fine-speed adjustment and strobe.
Built in clutch for fast start in a broadcast environment.
Pop-up adapter for ‘dinked’ 45s.
Easily levelled from above via thumb-wheels and built in spirit level (though mine is a little off!).
Armboard can be removed from above in seconds, the chassis can take 9” or 12” arms.
Once correctly floated the arm can be adjusted for tracking force without using a stylus balance.
The arm can be very easily aligned on its sliding base.
Bias, azimuth, VTA etc are all similarly simple adjustments.
Cartridges can very easily be fitted and removed for inspection or swapped.

The very best design is both functional and beautiful. Miss one aspect and the other is hugely diminished. In 2023 I expect more than more than this, not less, especially at these prices!

In 2023 I expect more than more than this
Reed 1c Idler only one with this spec in 2023
(62) Reed Muse 1C Turntable with 3P Tonearm - YouTube

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The TT you linked to on YouTube is not an idler..unless I misunderstand your post ?

The Reed can be ordered as either belt drive or 'friction wheel' drive, I'm not sure if this would be considered an idler, the bigger Reed comes with both.
 
I’d never even heard of Reed. Looks nice enough if one want to spend the price of a car on a record player, but I think the Technics SL-1200 posted inexplicably below is an exponentially better piece of industrial design.

The more I think about these things the more I arrive at a conclusion that genuinely good design also needs to be accessible to a majority. It needs to be in reach. This should diminish quality, ergonomics, aesthetics or performance. It is just part of what makes truly great design truly great design. I’m not sure what my favourite currently available record deck would be, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be high-end exotica regardless of my own spending power. I admire companies such as Technics, Rega, Michell etc who can bring genuinely superb design and engineering to market at very realistic prices. Each one has at least one indisputable design classic in their range.

PS Darko recently reviewed, if that is what he does, this new Cambridge Audio direct drive:


I assume it is made in China, which is a personal deal-break for me politically (I will happily pay twice the price for kit not made in a dictatorship, though I am sometimes trapped if no alternative exists, e.g. I am typing this on an iPad Pro), but that aside it looks like a logical and elegant solution for modern record buyers.
 
The Reed can be ordered as either belt drive or 'friction wheel' drive, I'm not sure if this would be considered an idler, the bigger Reed comes with both.

I introduced Reed tonearms in to the UK back in 2010 with the intention of offering them as an alternative to the elusive Schröder and Graham Phantom tonearms. When comparing them with the Phantom and the TW Acustic 10.5 tonearms to say I was disappointed with the Reed's performance would be a massive understatement. I think I mentioned this before on this forum. I had several Skype calls with them including the designer in Lithuania to try to see what could be done to improve their performance, but it was to no avail. Basically they have too many mechanical connections between the cartridge and the turntable. Also far too many ancillary bits sticking out of the tonearm body causing unwanted stored energy. After 9 months of perseverance I gave up and sold the tonearms into Europe. I hope their turntables are better than their tonearms. Reed try to solve a lot of mechanical failings of tonearms with over engineered solutions like the LED alignment system and their pivoted parallel tracking system. Compare their parallel tracking system with that of Thales, which is very simple and elegant, plus Thales tonearms sound significantly better. These over engineered solutions make the tonearms extremely complicated and adds large amounts of mass which stores energy, which is not great for a tonearm design and for getting the best sound. Having said this, Reed were a very nice company to do business with. The designer Vidmantas is a very nice and knowledgeable person and it was nice to meet up with him and his team in Munich in 2012.
 
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Of all these very nice arms my money would be on the Kuzma 4point9 without the VTA obssessive tower. It seems to me to be a very well designed bearing. I would love to spend some time comparing it to mine.
 
Couldn't agree more with this:

but I think the Technics SL-1200 posted inexplicably below is an exponentially better piece of industrial design...The more I think about these things the more I arrive at a conclusion that genuinely good design also needs to be accessible to a majority.

When I bought the Technics I'd sold a lot of records so I wanted something cheap, well designed ergonomically, functionally, so easy to use, reliable. The fact it sounded quite decent was a bonus. My days of worrying about suspension, 'offness', how tight the screws are, whether my belt has stretched are long gone.

I just want to play the records I have not engage in some time-consuming, anxiety-inducing ritual.

PS Although I sold most of my vinyl I bet I have more records than anyone who's bought an OMA K3; same goes for just about anyone here of course.
 
Of all these very nice arms my money would be on the Kuzma 4point9 without the VTA obssessive tower. It seems to me to be a very well designed bearing. I would love to spend some time comparing it to mine.

The Kuzma is still a big heavy tonearm. I love the neat and elegant design of the Breuer/Brinkmann tonearm design and those of Frank Schröder's tonearms, the CB in particular. Those will take a lot of beating for the money...
 
Silly me . It doesn't cost 20 grand ...it CAN'T be any good...:cool:

I did comment on the Audiomods upthread...they are very fine tonearms at their price point. Very hard to beat in fact but there are better arms ...but they are more expensive.

I have an Audiomods arm myself.
 
When comparing them with the Phantom and the TW Acustic 10.5 tonearms to say I was disappointed with their performance would be a massive understatement. I think I mentioned this before on this forum.

Yes you did and I remember (amazing considering my shot memory banks !). They are lovely looking unipivots, though that cantilevered one looks unduly and worryingly complicated. The TW 10.5 is gimballed but I think the Graham is another unipivot. My friend has a 9"one (not sure if it's the Phantom, but no more than 10 y.o.) on his SME 20/3 and considers it a leap above his previous Five on Orbe. The Phantom is not universally popular here (cost?) but I wonder how you rated it comparatively, assuming it was the 9".

Incidentally, the A.O. PU7 is a simple yet elegant arm, esp. in its 12" guise. The biasing wheel may be a bit peculiar but I've had no prob's, whereas others have (too close?) To my mind, it sounds good too.
 
Of all these very nice arms my money would be on the Kuzma 4point9 without the VTA obssessive tower. It seems to me to be a very well designed bearing. I would love to spend some time comparing it to mine.

The Kuzma is still a big heavy tonearm. I love the neat and elegant design of the Breuer/Brinkmann tonearm design and those of Frank Schröder's tonearms, the CB in particular. Those will take a lot of beating for the money...

I've owned the Kuzma 4 Point 9 as well as the standard 4 Point. I also recently owned (briefly) a Schroder CB-9. The 4 Point 9 sounded analytical but quite thin and lightweight and I ended up trading it back to my dealer. I eventually tried the standard 4 Point and found it much better but ultimately a little bland sounding. I much prefer my Audio Origami PU7, which I find far more musical, while giving up nothing in detail, dynamics or tonality. Oh, and it's about 25% of the price of the 4 Point.

The Schroder CB-9 was a massive disappointment, and again I ended up returning it to the dealer. After hearing so much about Frank Schroder's design genius, I thought it was a poorly designed and executed arm, and I also didn't care for its sound, which had an odd colouration I attribute to the carbon fibre shaft.
 
I much prefer my Audio Origami PU7, which I find far more musical, while giving up nothing in detail, dynamics or tonality.

9" or 12"? Anyway, nice to have my findings confirmed. A lot more musical and better all round than my previous Five, though in all fairness, a different deck was involved (Dais now; Orbe then) and longer arm.
 


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