Tonearm Reviews

Spotheim La Luce turntable and SpJ tonearm

Jonathan Scull Aug 06, 2006 First Published: Oct 06, 1998

The La Luce turntable's elegant form usually stops audiophiles dead in their tracks. Then comes a long, low "Wow." I'm hardly immune myself. And that's not even considering the sound, which has always been wonderful, as it was in the Joseph Audio/Cardas room at CES '98.

Turntable Reviews Tonearm Reviews

VPI HR-X turntable & JMW12.6 tonearm

Brian Damkroger May 28, 2006 First Published: May 28, 2006

VPI Industries' TNT turntable and JMW Memorial tonearm have evolved through several iterations over the last two decades. Some changes have been large, such as the deletion of the three-pulley subchassis and the introduction of the SDS motor controller. Others have been invisible—a change in bearing or spindle material, for example, or the way the bearing attaches to the plinth. And, as longtime Stereophile readers know, I've been upgrading and evolving along with VPI, most recently reporting on the TNT">http://www.stereophile.com/turntables/498">TNT V-HR turntable (Stereophile, December 2001).

Audacious Audio Turntable Reviews Tonearm Reviews

Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable & Cobra tonearm

Michael Fremer Jan 14, 2006 First Published: Jan 14, 2006

Part New Jersey diner, part Wurlitzer jukebox, with a snakelike tonearm that at certain angles looks vaguely lewd, this boxy, man-sized creation from Australia seems to have been built around its distinctive looks rather than for any functional purpose. Combine that with its sky-high price—itself almost obscene—and the result is apparently the sort of product that envious, cynical, self-loathing audiophiles love to hate, and reviewers love to write about.

Tonearm Reviews

Immedia RPM-2 tonearm

Michael Fremer Oct 03, 2004 First Published: May 01, 1997

If the sole criterion for choosing a winner in today's hotly contested premium arms race was original thinking, the Immedia RPM-2 might well come out on top. While some of its design details resemble those found on other products, in many significant areas the arm is unique—not for uniqueness's sake, but in order to efficiently implement some clearly considered goals. If the unipivot RPM-2 bears a resemblance to any other contemporary arm, it is Naim's highly regarded ARO—which I've never heard. The similarity, though, would appear to be superficial.

Tonearm Reviews

Kuzma Air Line tonearm

Michael Fremer Aug 15, 2004 First Published: Aug 01, 2004

The lacquers from which LPs are pressed are cut in a straight line, and that's how the LP groove should be traced. Even when set up perfectly, a pivoted arm describes an arc across the disc surface, maintaining tangency to the groove at only two points on that arc. Yet despite numerous attempts at building and selling linear-tracking tonearms, few remain on the market, and most are fraught with technical problems. Linear-tracking arms can be anything but linear, committing more sins of geometry as they meander across the record surface than do their pivoted brethren.

Turntable Reviews Tonearm Reviews

Clearaudio Champion 2 turntable & Unify tonearm with Benz Micro L2 phono cartridge

Paul Bolin Jul 26, 2003 First Published: Jul 26, 2003

Turntables are intrinsically cool. Maybe it's that I am of the pre-CD generation, for which the acquisition of one's first really good turntable marked an audiophile's coming of age. Just as turntable technology has progressed to such awe-inspiring pieces as the SME">http://www.stereophile.com//analogsourcereviews/796/">SME 30/2 and Rockport">http://www.stereophile.com//analogsourcereviews/258/">Rockport Technologies Sirius III, less stratospherically priced 'tables now offer levels of performance that, if not revelatory, show why so many audiophiles (including yours truly) continue to love their LPs with something just short of fanaticism.

Tonearm Reviews

Graham Robin tonearm

Art Dudley Apr 20, 2003 First Published: Apr 20, 2003

The best tonearm I ever heard was a second-generation Mission Mechanic, ca 1986. It was mounted on a Roksan Xerxes turntable, and I spent several happy hours listening to records on that combination (with a low-compliance EMT cartridge) in two very different systems: one with solid-state amplification from DNM and Roksan's own dynamic Darius loudspeakers, and the other—my home system of the time—using tube amplification from Conrad-Johnson and a borrowed pair of Stax electrostatic speakers.

Turntable Reviews Tonearm Reviews

VPI Aries Scout turntable & JMW-9 tonearm

Art Dudley Feb 16, 2003 First Published: Feb 16, 2003

Oh, I talk a good game when it comes to the whole music-lover-vs-audiophile thing. But I admit that when it comes to record players, I'm just another hardware junkie. I love turntables and tonearms for more than the musical enjoyment they give me. Turntables and tonearms are my favorite toys.

Turntable Reviews Tonearm Reviews

VPI TNT V-HR turntable & JMW 12.5 tonearm

Brian Damkroger Dec 20, 2001 First Published: Dec 20, 2001

I'm a tinkerer. From homemade audio isolation and room-treatment products to a local area network (LAN) connecting my Macintosh laptops, I'm always building or modifying something. One of my latest projects is a combination of parts swaps and custom-machined bits to better adapt the ergonomics of my exotic Italian Bimota motorcycle to my distinctly un-Italian 6'3" frame. But regardless of what I'm into, I can't resist the urge to tinker.

Turntable Reviews Tonearm Reviews

Rockport Technologies System III Sirius turntable and tonearm

Michael Fremer Aug 20, 2000 First Published: Aug 20, 2000

Andy Payor hurls a briefcase full of engineering and scientific mumbo-jumbo at in an attempt to justify the $73,750 price of the latest and greatest edition of his Rockport Technologies turntable, but really—isn't this all-air-driven design a case of analog overkill? After all, defining a turntable's job seems rather easy: rotate the record at an exact and constant speed, and, for a linear tracker, put the stylus in play across the record surface so that it maintains precise tangency to a radius described across the groove surface. By definition, a pivoted arm can't do that, so the goal there is to minimize the deviation. That's basically it. Right?