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Supatrac: the world's best tonearm?

13th Duke of Wymbourne said:
Finally (as The Rock used to say), I got to hear the clips through my system. First impressions when I listened on the laptop with headphones is that C is louder and brighter. I put the clips into Audacity and matched the results by YesMan. C really is louder, by 1.33dB in the left channel on 0.45dB in the right channel (so Mr Fremer didn't get the channel balance the same in both set-ups!). Also, C has some digital clipping at the end of the track that D doesn't. The peak-to-rms ratios are the same for C and D so one does not measure more dynamic than the other.
I adjusted the rms levels for D to match C and made a new copy for comparisons. C does have a bit more life but I suspect that is from the frequency balance difference, with a bit more treble that adds to the percussion and the piano attack. I compared the spectra of the two level matched clips in Audacity and C does get a little louder above 6kHz with more than a 1dB difference at 10kHz. PFM won't let me paste in the picture :(

I could happily live with either. Perhaps, I'll invest some money and wait for compound interest to give me enough for the SAT and see whether that happens before my Supatrac order is fulfilled.
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I found out how to post images, here is the spectra comparison after rms level matching and you can see the Supatrac ~1dB louder at 10kHz. Is this due to different VTFs, the SAT being inherently duller of the Blackbird being inherently brighter? By the time my order is fulfilled I'll probably have lost my high frequency hearing so it will be a bonus :)

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C vs D adjusted spectra — Postimages

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I'm constantly aware that customers are still waiting patiently for arms and I'm working my balls off to try to catch up. It's 2am on a Sunday bank holiday night and I've been working all weekend. I'll be up early again tomorrow morning (today) and into the workshop before driving to Germany for an exhausting but exciting week in Munich (there are two set-up days and four show days). As soon as I'm back I'll be working on outstanding orders again and I have no more shows to attend in the near future. In front of me are about 40 arms at various stages of manufacture and the rate at which I will ship them will pick up as ther batches come through. Thanks for your patience - I promise the wait will have been worth it.
 
tuga said:
@sonddek , are you allowed to disclose whether Fremer charges for his reviews?
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I think it's ok for me to reveal now that not only did I not pay anything for the review, but Michael Fremer has now bought his review arm. He is very straight and insisted on buying it. Thoroughly decent, and I can't say I'm not flattered that someone with his track record, knowledge and access to the world's best kit wanted to buy it rather than send it back.
 
Though I've lived in the US for many years I haven't yet got to full 'Where's my Waldorf Salad' mode and it's nice to have a chance for a good old British passive-aggressive moan (you must have missed my last one about compound interest accruing enough to buy a SAT arm first :)). Please don't agitate your gentleman's area for me (that sounds wrong). I am glad I ordered when I did.
 
Maybe the world's second best tone-arm.

Today we announced the SUPATRAC Nighthawk. At Munich High End's first day we have demonstrated three prototypes of SUPATRAC's second tone-arm model, the Nighthawk. Hear it in the Cessaro/Alieno/Döhmann Audio system I'm the Cessaro room F001 on a Döhmann Audio Helix One, and on a Grand Prix Audio Parabolica in the Vienna Acoustics room E101 and in the Moonriver/OePhi room in Hall 2 ground floor.

Thre Nighthawk is liberated from the constraints of production cost, compatibility with the lids of the popular Rega/Linn/Technics decks and the narrower armboard holes of the Rega/Jelco mounting scheme. Consequently it is even stiffer and less resonant with a hand-made higher mass armtube, one-inch pillar and 8mm diameter pivot. It will retail at around €13000.

The Blackbird wil continue to be available.

Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
 
MVV said:
£13000! Is it nearly as good as a Wiim pro plus now then?
Must be getting there.
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On migrating to a SUPATrac / full StackAudio LP12 - I gave my youngest daughter my old LP12 / Ekos I / Asaka - feeding a new Claymore Amp. She also purchased a Wiim Pro Plus. Not a bad device - but quite embarrassing how much better a moderate LP12 is :)
 
A SUPATRAC Nighthawk prototype on the Döhmann Helix One in the Cessaro/Alieno/Döhmann Audio room:
 
“ will retail at around €13000“…

Strange, ah predicted this on page 2 #27. , “Mebbe in 4/5 years when it’s sold 10,000 and it’s in its 12th/13th iteration, but, sadly will probably cost £12000. So most folk will not be able to afford it”
 
The Nighthawk does not replace the Blackbird. The Blackbird does not cost £12,000, it is still under £4000. There is a market for tone-arms at the higher price. Now that the Blackbird is established as a "game-changing" mid-priced arm, it is feasible to produce an arm which pushes the boundaries even a little further. Here's a video which I think will, if you have the patience to listen all the way through, suggest why pushing those boundaries is a worthwhile pursuit:

 
sonddek said:
The Nighthawk does not replace the Blackbird. The Blackbird does not cost £12,000, it is still under £4000. There is a market for tone-arms at the higher price. Now that the Blackbird is established as a "game-changing" mid-priced arm, it is feasible to produce an arm which pushes the boundaries even a little further. Here's a video which I think will, if you have the patience to listen all the way through, suggest why pushing those boundaries is a worthwhile pursuit
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Is the Nighthawk a cost-no-object pimped-up Blackbird (same engineering principles and similar configuration)?
What drove you to produce it, market research or a distributor's suggestion, something else?
Is there an audible performance gain or only technical improvements/optimisations?

It's pretty amazing that you can achieve a very high level of performance for £4k; if you can increase your profit margins with a more expensive model then that's just good business practice.
I have a friend who started his own brand o electronics and he chose to cater to the 'high-€nd' market only.
 
tuga said:
Is the Nighthawk a cost-no-object pimped-up Blackbird (same engineering principles and similar configuration)?
What drove you to produce it, market research or a distributor's suggestion, something else?
Is there an audible performance gain or only technical improvements/optimisations?

It's pretty amazing that you can achieve a very high level of performance for £4k; if you can increase your profit margins with a more expensive model then that's just good business practice.
I have a friend who started his own brand o electronics and he chose to cater to the 'high-€nd' market only.
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All great questions - thanks. What has driven the invention/development of the Blackbird and the Nighthawk is the same thing: the desire to hear my records more perfectly and more excitingly reproduced, and to share what I have discovered with fellow vinyl appreciators. As I've said before, my goal is to bring the pleasure of the SUPA invention to the widest audience and to get paid an appropriate sum for my hard work!

The price of the Nighthawk is set at a level which we hope will raise my compensation above minimum wage.

Yes, I think there is an audible performance gain but it is not of the same scale as the gulf I have heard between the Blackbird and some other tone-arms. Nevertheless, if you can afford the best I can make and you use medium to low compliance cartridges, I recommend it.
 
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