Basis Superarm 9 arrived

[gian60]

Today,luckily with some change i took Basis Superarm 9

I listen it on Basis Work of Art today,and i like his natural sound and i am very impressed for how is made.
Very beautiful
I will use on AF3 Premium that will arrive end of may
I hope is a winner match

 

[DaveyF]

Gian, the Super Arm 9 is indeed a SUPER arm. I have also heard it on the best Basis turntables...and it is just incredible. Unfortunately, I believe that the Work of Art is in a completely different league than the AF3 Premium. Perhaps, replace the AF3 with a Work of Art?? Although, I'm not sure if Basis is still supplying these, after poor AJ's death. OTOH, the new Transcendence is right up there and would be my second choice.

 

[gian60]

Ciao Davey,
you have right but AF3 Premium price list is 29.000 euro while WOART 170.000 and Transcendence little more than 100.000
I believe in AF3 Premium,for his target price is good also because the weight of platter of Premium is 29 kg,has 2 air pump like AF1 Premium,plus other improvement,so i think is no bad.

Some months ago i spoke with Marc Gomes to ask info for his SAT arm and he has SAT on AF3 and told sound is very good because he believe that tonearm is more important than TT and cartridge,sure he sell arm,but could be also true,
so i think the result will be good,for this target price

 

[Ron Resnick]

WOW! WOW! WOW! I had no idea you had ordered one! That is fantastic! Congratulations!

While A.J. never published the effective mass specification of the Super Arm 9 I have a feeing it could be a great match with cartridges which are happiest riding on a fairly high effective mass arm (e.g., Koetsu, Benz LP S).

I am curious if you considered the Super Arm 12 (12.5?), and decided that the 9" is better for your purpose?

Who is assembling the tonearm and installing it for you on the AF3?

 

[Ron Resnick]

Davey, A.J. considered the Transcendence to sound closer to the master tape than the Work of Art, and, therefore, A.J. considered the Transcendence to be superior to the Work of Art.

What I find very interesting is that the Transcendence looks kind of like a less massive American Sound.

 

[gian60]

I am friend with Italian Basis distributor since 30 years.
He has at home Work of Art with Superarm 9 and he had one new in stock,so he did special price to me.
In the 9 user,s guide pages there is no written the effective mass,only that the material has been changed from Vector 4 to make every part more rigid,lowering the tonearm internal resonant frequency to below 2 hz and the tonearm/cartridge resonant frequency to below 4 hz to enjoy cleaner,deeper and more powerful bass and the pivot bearing tolerances have been decreased to level so small giving more precise tracking ability.
I will try this tonearm with Atlas sl,Goldfinger Statement,Opus 1 and Coralstone Diamond,i think will be very good with all this cartridges.

Distributor ask in Basis Audio about the Superarm 12,but they told the 9 is better,they will do the 12 because is in fashion and some customers ask.

I will put on AF3 Premium that with improvement of weight of platter of 29 kg,2 air pump like AF1 P,i think is very good,for his target price.
Sure AF1,Work of ART,AS 2000 will be better,but i cannot buy

Regards

 

[Ron Resnick]

I am friend with Italian Basis distributor since 30 years.
He has at home Work of Art with Superarm 9 and he had one new in stock,so he did special price to me.
In the 9 user,s guide pages there is no written the effective mass,only that the material has been changed from Vector 4 to make every part more rigid,lowering the tonearm internal resonant frequency to below 2 hz and the tonearm/cartridge resonant frequency to below 4 hz to enjoy cleaner,deeper and more powerful bass and the pivot bearing tolerances have been decreased to level so small giving more precise tracking ability.
I will try this tonearm with Atlas sl,Goldfinger Statement,Opus 1 and Coralstone Diamond,i think will be very good with all this cartridges.

Distributor ask in Basis Audio about the Superarm 12,but they told the 9 is better,they will do the 12 because is in fashion and some customers ask.

I will put on AF3 Premium that with improvement of weight of platter of 29 kg,2 air pump like AF1 P,i think is very good,for his target price.
Sure AF1,Work of ART,AS 2000 will be better,but i cannot buy

Regards

That is all very nice! (Unless we have all turntables lined up side-by-side with same tonearm and same cartridge we cannot be "sure" of what is better. )

 

[Tango]

Distributor ask in Basis Audio about the Superarm 12,but they told the 9 is better,they will do the 12 because is in fashion and some customers ask.
Regards

This sounds familair with what I heard from an arm designer. More of market driven and efficient manufacturing, but less of sonic driven.

Regards,
Tang

 

[byrdparis]

That is all very nice! (Unless we have all turntables lined up side-by-side with same tonearm and same cartridge we cannot be "sure" of what is better. )

+1

Gian, Congrats. this is a beautiful arm! enjoy.
and congrats on your upcoming AF3P! you will LOVE it, im sure.
i am very happy with my AF3! its a wonderful TT and with care, great tone arms and cart's you can go a long way.

 

[DaveyF]

Davey, A.J. considered the Transcendence to sound closer to the master tape than the Work of Art, and, therefore, A.J. considered the Transcendence to be superior to the Work of Art.

What I find very interesting is that the Transcendence looks kind of like a less massive American Sound.

Ron, I didn't know that. If AJ felt the Transcendence was more like the master tape, I'm sure he was right. I have heard both tables, but not in the same system or at the same time. I was actually more impressed with the WOA, but then the eye candy of that thing is over the top!! OTOH, I do remember thinking when I heard the Transcendence that this was really a stupendous sounding table and system. I think the Transcendence is also less expensive than the WOA.
BTW, I would place the Inspiration up there with all of these guys and would suggest to anyone looking for a table on the second hand market, that this is the one to keep an eye out for.

 

[Sammy T]

Talked to AJ on the phone all most everyday. He shared this bit of information with me: Work Of Art with the Vector 4 tone arm , verse the Inspiration turntable and Super arm 9 tonearm . He found that the tone arm is more critical in most cases than the turntable. The Super Arm 9 was the clear winner! I too own a Super Arm 9 on a Basis Debut table with a modified arm-board.

 

[Tango]

He found that the tone arm is more critical in most cases than the turntable. The Super Arm 9 was the clear winner! I too own a Super Arm 9 on a Basis Debut table with a modified arm-board.

+1.

Upgrading arm pay back more and cost less than upgrading a tt...especially when we talk about Techdas.

But ofcourse, if no financial constraint, upgrading both .

Kind regards,
Tang

 

[byrdparis]

+1.

Upgrading arm pay back more and cost less than upgrading a tt...especially when we talk about Techdas.

Kind regards,
Tang

so, you saying, i better to get a SAT tone arm on my AF3 instead of getting an AF1? (basically)

 

[Tango]

so, you saying, i better to get a SAT tone arm on my AF3 instead of getting an AF1? (basically)

I dont mean just SAT Avaid. It could also be this Basis, the Thales Statement, Acoustical System, or may be 3012R., etc.

Best,
Tang

 

[byrdparis]

I have some great tone arms, a lot of ppl will glad to have one of them.. not to mentioned all five.
I reached to the SAT cause of its price point and level of performance according What everybody said and I heard a couple of times...
So its a tose between pull the plug for one or saving for a couple Of years to get maybe the AF1...
I heard once that the AF3 with a great platform and stand with a top arm and cart will get you pretty close.
But I guess like always if you will flip under that exact set up the AF3 for a AF1... you’ll start all over again.
So, everything matter and if the budget permit one should buy the best gear he want/can.
Don’t he?
You got two SAT, I guess it’s no acciden. You know what you doing

 

[PeterA]

Distributor ask in Basis Audio about the Superarm 12,but they told the 9 is better,they will do the 12 because is in fashion and some customers ask.

I have heard this too. However, in the case of SME, I think people generally agree that the 12" 3012R sounds better than the 9" 3009 and that the 12" V-12 sounds better than the 9" V. SME even published tracking distortion figures for the comparison. The longer modern arms certainly present the music differently that the shorter arms, and to my ears in direct comparisons, I prefer the longer arms. Now, one could make the argument that SME developed the bigger turntables to support the longer arms, or visa versa, so that they could increase their model range and get more people to upgrade etc., etc. and sell more units to make more money. One could make that argument, but I don't know of anyone who has.

I have not directly compared arms of different lengths from other manufacturers, so I do not really know. Soon people will be able compare the sound of the longer and shorter versions of the new SAT arm.

 

[gian60]

I tested some years ago that Ikea 407 is better than Ikea 345 9",also FR 66 seems better than FR 64,
could be the kind of arm

 

[gian60]

@ byrdparis

I will buy in future AF1 Premium at very good price from Tang when he will buy AF0

 

[Ron Resnick]

I agree on the Inspiration; I think it is fantastic.

But I do have to say that it is interesting that A.J. dropped the acrylic design for an all steel design (something for which Michael Fremer, with reasonable justification as he criticized for years the Basis Audio acrylic approach, now claims some credit).

 

[jeff1225]

I agree on the Inspiration; I think it is fantastic.

But I do have to say that it is interesting that A.J. dropped the acrylic design for an all steel design (something for which Michael Fremer, with reasonable justification as he criticized for years the Basis Audio acrylic approach, now claims some credit).

In the end, AJ remade his tables to be more like the AF3. I think it will be a very fine match up with this new arm.