Kuzma at Munich 2013 high-end audio show

[Bill Hart]

Your mass loaded table is a perfect candidate for gaining the benefits from an active isolation table. The risk to find out is $160 in shipping (if you return it)...and if you like like, an additional $12K.

Gonna wait til the system moves to Texas and I get set up before I confront that issue. But, since I'll be back in NY next week for the summer, expect a visit! How about Hatties' Chicken Shack?

 

[Bill Hart]

What can anyone say about this turntable he is photographed with? That's a massive armboard and it looks like passive isolation towers in a very rigid enclosure. Is this a new table design of his?

I've wondered who would be the first to design a turntable with a built in active isolation like what Rockitman just bought, the Table Stable.

I think this is just a show illustration/exploded view of the newest integrated table- the M? The older Reference also used adjustable pillars to level the top plinth as I recall, but not the turntable feet (it's been a while since i had the Reference, but it was very user friendly and easy to set up/excellent isolation without the need for external stuff- although of course, you could go there, but you'd quickly approach the cost of the table itself). The XL needs help to isolate, given its mass and lack of any suspension.

 

[rockitman]

Gonna wait til the system moves to Texas and I get set up before I confront that issue. But, since I'll be back in NY next week for the summer, expect a visit! How about Hatties' Chicken Shack?

Sounds like a plan. I won't have the Air Force One until probably early September however, but you can hear the great sound the system is making now along with checking out the Table Stable underneath my Master Innovation turntable.

 

[mep]

Sounds like a plan. I won't have the Air Force One until probably early September however, but you can hear the great sound the system is making now along with checking out the Table Stable underneath my Master Innovation turntable.

And that is a mighty fine turntable. I have expressed my thoughts on Christian's table numerous times on this forum. My memories of this table with the Graham tonearm and the Goldfinger cartridge are etched into my brain.

 

[Brian Walsh]

I think this is just a show illustration/exploded view of the newest integrated table- the M? The older Reference also used adjustable pillars to level the top plinth as I recall, but not the turntable feet (it's been a while since i had the Reference, but it was very user friendly and easy to set up/excellent isolation without the need for external stuff- although of course, you could go there, but you'd quickly approach the cost of the table itself). The XL needs help to isolate, given its mass and lack of any suspension.

Bill, you're right about that if your floors are a little bouncy. My customer getting the XL 4 has an HRS rack and is awaiting the custom shelf and solid brace inserts for it. The floor is slab on grade.

The Stabi Reference has three feet, two at the front corners and one in the center rear, with the individually adjustable spring-in-oil suspension towers at the four corners. The Stabi M takes a similar approach except there are no separate feet. There's also quite a bit of other vibration isolation inside such as for the motor. The M is also substantially more massive than the Reference.

 

[rockitman]

And that is a mighty fine turntable. I have expressed my thoughts on Christian's table numerous times on this forum. My memories of this table with the Graham tonearm and the Goldfinger cartridge are etched into my brain.

As good as it sounds, adding active isolation brought it yet to a new level of performance. I gave the AF1 second thoughts after adding the Table Stable. In the end, I am keeping it as my second table in the command chain.

 

[Brian Walsh]

I received the following information from Kuzma this morning about the Stabi M: (minor edit for clarity)

The Stabi M has leveling adjustable feet with spikes in cups (similar to the original wooden Stabi turntable but more massive). Rear is fixed while front two are adjustable - so you can horizontally level the Stabi M.

 

[sandrogelsomino]

Which pick-up with the airline tonearm? What are the best options for you for this combinaion ( XL 4 + airline)?

 

[Brian Walsh]

Which pick-up with the airline tonearm? What are the best options for you for this combinaion ( XL 4 + airline)?

My customer already owns a Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum, which is reported to be a very good match. He is also considering other cartridges.

 

[sandrogelsomino]

My customer already owns a Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum, which is reported to be a very good match. He is also considering other cartridges.

Do you think a van den hul colibri is a good match (reccommended for arms with an effective mass of11-12 grams- do you know the effective mass of airline)?
I was told that the combination xl-airline would require a light cartridge and hence that the koetzu it is not the best option. Better would be a high-level zyx (3-d or platinum) or an Allaerts cartridge.
Is it, in your/yours costumer opinion, true?
Thank you
Sandro

 

[Brian Walsh]

Do you think a van den hul colibri is a good match (reccommended for arms with an effective mass of11-12 grams- do you know the effective mass of airline)?
I was told that the combination xl-airline would require a light cartridge and hence that the koetzu it is not the best option. Better would be a high-level zyx (3-d or platinum) or an Allaerts cartridge.
Is it, in your/yours costumer opinion, true?
Thank you
Sandro

Sandro,
The effective mass of the Air Line is 13g (horizontal). The vdH Colibri XCM (with metal body) weighs 7g and static compliance is 35 u/mN which although vdH says is suited for arms with 10 to 14g eff. mass, I do not believe it would be optimal; I could be wrong but think the Colibri is better suited for lighter arms. The Koetsu RSP weighs 9g and its dynamic compliance appears to be 5 cu, but I have been told in no uncertain terms it is an excellent match, that the Air Line gets out of the way and lets the Koetsu's magic come through without the small colorations often attributed to it. The Allaerts cartridges, MC 1B for example, weigh 10g and have dynamic compliance of 12 cu which indicates an excellent match. As for ZYX I don't know, but one of my customers has I believe a Universe on his 4Point and gets great results; the 4Point's effective mass is 14g. Another customer has a Clearaudio Goldfinger V2 on his 4Point, and the match is also very good.

I will see in a couple of weeks or so when I set up my customer's system how the various cartridges work. He is getting the Air Line and the 4Point, and we will try the RSP in both arms, among other cartridges.

 

[Bill Hart]

Which pick-up with the airline tonearm? What are the best options for you for this combinaion ( XL 4 + airline)?

I used a Lyra Titan i and then an Airtight PC-1. I don't know about 'best', but both seemed to sound pretty good in the Airline. Keep in mind that you have to find a place far away from the listening room for the air compressor. Other than that, the arm is a delight to use.

 

[sandrogelsomino]

I own a Kuzma Stabi Reference turntable with a MG-1 MK1 Air Bearing Linear Tracking Tonearm re-wired van den hul, requiring a pump which has been placed in another room . I was advised by my friend to choose a light tonearm with a light cartridge for the Reference which, in his opinion, was a little bit " slow".Therefore, the cartridge chosen was a van den hul Colibri XGP, with the plastic body (weight 6 g). I had some concerns about the tonearm and its quality but, honestly, the sound of this match was very nice although some important drawbacks such as the difficult setup due to a not excellent engineering design (i.e lack of a screw to fix the trackng force which must be checked every time or the almost impossible fine adjustment of the azimuth etc....).
However the big unresolved problem was the isolation and the noise which was excluded to come from other parts of the system (pre-phono). I asked a very expert engineer working in the HI-end to resolve the problem but ,after many attempts ( isolation of the turntable, re-wiring of the tonearm, upgrade of the arm tube with a more performant [no plastic] one ) he was not able to find a solution and he attributed the noise entirely to the tonearm (poor quality?).In addition the pump, although "silent" and placed outside, adds some significant noise.
I had already the intention to switch ,in a near future, to a XLR4 /airline system, but now I am forced to replace the tonearm soon. The engineer , as confirmed above by Brian, is convinced that my vdh colibrí does not match with the airline ( and in general, he believes, with all linear-tracking tonearms due to the vdh's compliance).
You can understand that being on the point of selling my < 200 h cartidge at a price one third lower than its retail price, I do not want to make a further mistake buying a "wrong" cartridge.
I would like to buy a high-level cartrige suitable for the stabi reference/airline now and the Xl4/airline in the future.
Thank you for your kindness and your support

Sandro

 

[Bill Hart]

I own a Kuzma Stabi Reference turntable with a MG-1 MK1 Air Bearing Linear Tracking Tonearm re-wired van den hul, requiring a pump which has been placed in another room . I was advised by my friend to choose a light tonearm with a light cartridge for the Reference which, in his opinion, was a little bit " slow".Therefore, the cartridge chosen was a van den hul Colibri XGP, with the plastic body (weight 6 g). I had some concerns about the tonearm and its quality but, honestly, the sound of this match was very nice although some important drawbacks such as the difficult setup due to a not excellent engineering design (i.e lack of a screw to fix the trackng force which must be checked every time or the almost impossible fine adjustment of the azimuth etc....).
However the big unresolved problem was the isolation and the noise which was excluded to come from other parts of the system (pre-phono). I asked a very expert engineer working in the HI-end to resolve the problem but ,after many attempts ( isolation of the turntable, re-wiring of the tonearm, upgrade of the arm tube with a more performant [no plastic] one ) he was not able to find a solution and he attributed the noise entirely to the tonearm (poor quality?).In addition the pump, although "silent" and placed outside, adds some significant noise.
I had already the intention to switch ,in a near future, to a XLR4 /airline system, but now I am forced to replace the tonearm soon. The engineer , as confirmed above by Brian, is convinced that my vdh colibrí does not match with the airline ( and in general, he believes, with all linear-tracking tonearms due to the vdh's compliance).
You can understand that being on the point of selling my < 200 h cartidge at a price one third lower than its retail price, I do not want to make a further mistake buying a "wrong" cartridge.
I would like to buy a high-level cartrige suitable for the stabi reference/airline now and the Xl4/airline in the future.
Thank you for your kindness and your support

Sandro

The Airline will work well with the Reference, before the XL was introduced, that combination was Kuzma's best. As for the Colibri, you could eventually mount it to a second arm on the XL- I would also assume it has some value on the used market, although I'm usually reluctant to buy cartridges used.

 

[Marcus]

Sandro,

Just buy Benz Micro LP-S and you will be fine. This cartridge sounds fantastic with Stabi Reference and XL4, with the Stogi Reference, Air Line and 4Point. I lived with the Stabi Reference/Triplanar - Stogi Reference/LP for many many years and heard the XL/XL4/Air Line/LP combo many times. This is my current combination...

 

[sandrogelsomino]

Thank you for your suggestions.
Sandro

 

[MylesBAstor]

I own a Kuzma Stabi Reference turntable with a MG-1 MK1 Air Bearing Linear Tracking Tonearm re-wired van den hul, requiring a pump which has been placed in another room . I was advised by my friend to choose a light tonearm with a light cartridge for the Reference which, in his opinion, was a little bit " slow".Therefore, the cartridge chosen was a van den hul Colibri XGP, with the plastic body (weight 6 g). I had some concerns about the tonearm and its quality but, honestly, the sound of this match was very nice although some important drawbacks such as the difficult setup due to a not excellent engineering design (i.e lack of a screw to fix the trackng force which must be checked every time or the almost impossible fine adjustment of the azimuth etc....).
However the big unresolved problem was the isolation and the noise which was excluded to come from other parts of the system (pre-phono). I asked a very expert engineer working in the HI-end to resolve the problem but ,after many attempts ( isolation of the turntable, re-wiring of the tonearm, upgrade of the arm tube with a more performant [no plastic] one ) he was not able to find a solution and he attributed the noise entirely to the tonearm (poor quality?).In addition the pump, although "silent" and placed outside, adds some significant noise.
I had already the intention to switch ,in a near future, to a XLR4 /airline system, but now I am forced to replace the tonearm soon. The engineer , as confirmed above by Brian, is convinced that my vdh colibrí does not match with the airline ( and in general, he believes, with all linear-tracking tonearms due to the vdh's compliance).
You can understand that being on the point of selling my < 200 h cartidge at a price one third lower than its retail price, I do not want to make a further mistake buying a "wrong" cartridge.
I would like to buy a high-level cartrige suitable for the stabi reference/airline now and the Xl4/airline in the future.
Thank you for your kindness and your support

Sandro

Why don't you just email/contact A.J.? No one should know his cartridges and compatability more than him! And he's always willing to help.

OTOH, wonder where Mike L. is since I suspect he ran his Colibri in his Rockport (I don't think you're friend is right about linear arms since I know many people who ran the Grasshopper in Versa/Forsell tables with great results).

 

[Brian Walsh]

I own a Kuzma Stabi Reference turntable with a MG-1 MK1 Air Bearing Linear Tracking Tonearm re-wired van den hul, requiring a pump which has been placed in another room . I was advised by my friend to choose a light tonearm with a light cartridge for the Reference which, in his opinion, was a little bit " slow".Therefore, the cartridge chosen was a van den hul Colibri XGP, with the plastic body (weight 6 g). I had some concerns about the tonearm and its quality but, honestly, the sound of this match was very nice although some important drawbacks such as the difficult setup due to a not excellent engineering design (i.e lack of a screw to fix the trackng force which must be checked every time or the almost impossible fine adjustment of the azimuth etc....).
However the big unresolved problem was the isolation and the noise which was excluded to come from other parts of the system (pre-phono). I asked a very expert engineer working in the HI-end to resolve the problem but ,after many attempts ( isolation of the turntable, re-wiring of the tonearm, upgrade of the arm tube with a more performant [no plastic] one ) he was not able to find a solution and he attributed the noise entirely to the tonearm (poor quality?).In addition the pump, although "silent" and placed outside, adds some significant noise.
I had already the intention to switch ,in a near future, to a XLR4 /airline system, but now I am forced to replace the tonearm soon. The engineer , as confirmed above by Brian, is convinced that my vdh colibrí does not match with the airline ( and in general, he believes, with all linear-tracking tonearms due to the vdh's compliance).
You can understand that being on the point of selling my < 200 h cartidge at a price one third lower than its retail price, I do not want to make a further mistake buying a "wrong" cartridge.
I would like to buy a high-level cartrige suitable for the stabi reference/airline now and the Xl4/airline in the future.
Thank you for your kindness and your support

Sandro

Sandro, I said or meant to say that I wasn't completely certain that the Colibri isn't the best match with the Air Line. But since you own the cartridge and it sounds as though you are purchasing the Air Line, why not give them a try and let us know? Another option would be to ask Franc Kuzma rather than A.J. van den Hul, since Franc would have more data on which cartridges have been used successfully with the Air Line.

Thanks - please keep us posted. I'm curious to know.