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Naim ARO vs OL Conqueror tonearm

From my own experience (limited) and those of more knowledgeable members of this forum, 12" doesn't make for 'lively' compared to 9". The extra length bestows other virtues. Again, maybe it's the incompatibility of the 3012 with your cart. causing an imbalance of presentation.

I had a 3012 (maybe very different to your incarnation, however) in 1969/70, but they were supposed to go with m/m cart's then (Shures, mostly), and wouldn't have suited a modern low compliance m/c cart., I would have thought.

Maybe an SME Five-twelve would do the trick; it would certainly float my boat !:)

This was also my understanding until recently but I have since seen the light, due in no small part from speaking with Tony.

The older 3009 arms were medium mass with the supplied shells - medium for the 9" and medium-high for the 12". You could increase this with heavier shell.
Those arms should be fine with MC.

The later Series 2 Improved versions reduced the mass and were designed for the higher compliance MMs of the 1970s.

I'll be trying a MC in a very early Series 2 myself soon.
 
Linear trackers with air bearings just look so much Cooler Just fitted a conductor myself


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Currently playing - Apparet - Duplex
 
Ummh arms 12" or 9" is always a debate about their virtues. Having listened to a SME V, an SME 312s, a SME V12, a Kuzma Stogi 12" and the Kuzma Airline. What I can tell you is that the SME V12 is streets ahead of the 312s, the 312s sounding flat a boring by comparison, so lets count that one out. The Stogi 12" falls somewhere between these 2 SME's a bit too bass heavy for me.

The Airline is a great arm but it is expensive and a pain in the arse with the pump and all that.

That leaves us comparing the SME V with the V12 (both Kondo wired). The V12 brings a calmness and authority to proceedings when compared the V, and lacked the bass extension of the V, which some people may find appealing.

Ultimately the SME V won for me it was more dynamic, got to the rythmn of the music better and was more entertaining.

There you have it calmness and authority of a 12", or dynamism and the more musical entertainment of a 9".

I would suggest a great compromise is the Kuzma 4 Point, which I know Kevin Scott rates very highly way above a Graham (which he bought to try). But Kevin usually goes back the SME V.

A really of the wall suggestion is the new Thales Simplicity arm, highly rated by Graham Tricker and recently purchased by Badger748 who is raving about it. It might be worth speaking to badger as he has tried quite a few arms.

The choice is yours.
 
What is the general thought over here about Fidelity Research FR64s tonearms ? Are they in the Rega/Jelco category or do they fall more into the Ekos/ARO category ? I understand cartridge compatibility also matters but lets consider I will use a typical medium mass cartridge on it, where do they stand ?
 
Only having owned an Ittok and an ARO, I found that the ARO was only an improvement over the Ittok with higher end MC cartridges. With MM cartridges I found what others have noted, that the ARO tends to soften the frequency extremes. However with a decent MC the ARO shines.

Perhaps we should concentrate more on the cartridge / arm synergy than the individual elements, after all the arm and cartridge make up essentially a single mechanical unit that responds to the groove undulations. I imagine that there is a very important correlation between arm stiffnesses, effective mass and resonances and the cartidge compliance and resonances, more than is suggested by merely matching the arm effective mass to the cartridge compliance.

Cheers
 
Thanks Martin, that was helpful. Which MC cartridges would you consider high end in general ?
 
Or there's the Audio Origami PU7, which I'm using very happily on the NA Dais. J7 will build it to any effective mass you like, and 12" also. I've heard the Ace Anna also, and that's great too - can't say whether better than the PU7 as the decks were different. But both very capable performers.
 
How about a Talea

Like the Thales, its seems to be the arm that folk with tri planars, grahams, sme's, grandezzas, schroeders etc. upgrade to and keep forever. No point piddling around in the mid ground if you have the budget.
 
Or there's the Audio Origami PU7, which I'm using very happily on the NA Dais. J7 will build it to any effective mass you like, and 12" also. I've heard the Ace Anna also, and that's great too - can't say whether better than the PU7 as the decks were different. But both very capable performers.

Not really impressed by the engineering on the only PU7 I auditioned recently. Its anti-skating device was fouling or had stuck (I learnt afterwards), and certainly it seemed to have a rather complicated bias device; certainly compared to the Ace Anna's, which is simplicity itself.

Yes, I am quite impressed by the A.A. (12") It's a straightforward design and although visually a bit quirky, I think it's ergonomically very acceptable. Moreover, a doddle to set up and adjust, despite rudimentary instructions.
 
How about a Talea

Like the Thales, its seems to be the arm that folk with tri planars, grahams, sme's, grandezzas, schroeders etc. upgrade to and keep forever. No point piddling around in the mid ground if you have the budget.

I've seen and heard it; pretty nice. But somehow I can't get enthusiastic about a design which 'solves' minor tracking issues by doubling the number of bearings and arm rods. Too much complexity, too many potential sources of friction.
Still, good to see slightly left-field ideas getting an airing.For me, if you really want to eliminate tracking angle issues, get a parallel tracker and have done with it. Of course, that raises other issues and so on. Which is why, after owning Grahams, Wheatons etc I settled for a nice, well-made, SME V12. Not perfect, but intelligent and superbly built. Call it being timid, but......
 
I've seen and heard it; pretty nice. But somehow I can't get enthusiastic about a design which 'solves' minor tracking issues by doubling the number of bearings and arm rods. Too much complexity, too many potential sources of friction.
Still, good to see slightly left-field ideas getting an airing.For me, if you really want to eliminate tracking angle issues, get a parallel tracker and have done with it. Of course, that raises other issues and so on. Which is why, after owning Grahams, Wheatons etc I settled for a nice, well-made, SME V12. Not perfect, but intelligent and superbly built. Call it being timid, but......

Yes, I think the Telos is more appealing from a design POV and reportedly an order of magnitude superior to the Talea II, but the price is, well ... you could almost say 'outrageous'.
 


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