This tonearm seems to be receiving a lot of interest Michael Fremer was interested in it at the recent Munich High End show.
SUPATRAC Blackbird Tonearm
- Thread starter Stevied
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There's a very healthy thread on the arm at Lenco Heaven, as well as a DIY thread about the SUPA idea. Really fun reads, and some spectacular DIY versions explored...I've ordered one from Richard (the designer) which will be the basis for a "new" Lenco-powered 2-arm table (the other arm will be a Gray 108 in magnesium, running a GE VRII and a Zu Denon DL-103r on Karmadon sleds (the Gray has both stereo and mono wiring harnesses).
I am very interested in this arm as a second arm for my garrard 401 project! The videos and the logic has convinced me.
The video: I like that he says inertia instead of arm mass.
Yes, it took me a few back-and-forths to understand the concept, but then I realized it had the benefits of my beloved WTT Reference tonearm, but with improved stability. A brilliantly simple concept executed nicely. I do look forward to giving it a listen one of these days.
Should you be interested in reading more from the designer, there's a long thread over in the UK on pink fish media:
pinkfishmedia.net
Shoutout to @Salectric above - it's been a while.
Sideways Uni-Pivot Arm, SUPATRAC Blackbird, formerly "Ekos Killer (Price?)"
How much would people be prepared to pay for an arm which outperforms Ekos SE and Well Tempered Ltd? Is there a general perception that expensive tonearms are near optimum?
pinkfishmedia.net
Shoutout to @Salectric above - it's been a while.
We have a 10.5" Supatrac here, fitting it to a 401 plinth top plate next week, comparison to the Viv Labs will be interesting as this is my current arm.
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There's been quite a kerfuffle over on Lenco Heaven about this geometry....will be interesting to read your impressions!
The Viv Labs was held up as an example of a successful underhung configuration. It got heated as a few pedants had already decided that underhung cannot under any circumstance sound good. So it became one of those classic internet arguments of pedants (the objectivist side) vs peasants (the subjectivist) with everyone losing.
i didn’t pick a technical side, as i don’t have the acute hearing that supposedly i once had. Instead i tried to keep each side from being a-holes, and failed miserably.
i didn’t pick a technical side, as i don’t have the acute hearing that supposedly i once had. Instead i tried to keep each side from being a-holes, and failed miserably.
Well that is to be expected, partly because we have used calculations to indicate errors which some will pass judgement on emphatically, while others are prepared to experiment to verify how valid this data is, or not. It is understandable if your hobby is looking at graphs, it may provide some mild excitement / amusement, though there is little learning gained. Still, to this day, the finest sound from LP I have heard came from a 7" no offset tonearm, pivoting headshell, active MM cartridge into a unique phono section that employs no RIAA eq, and works by displacement / current. The graphs, calcs, data for this would look shocking and pretty off putting, however the sound was more realistic that one could imagine, go figure..!
Richards solution here is certainly an interesting one, so I'm very much looking forward to experiencing soon.
Richards solution here is certainly an interesting one, so I'm very much looking forward to experiencing soon.
Maybe the code is too complicated for me, but what does Nigeria have to do with UK Paul’s comparison of arms?
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