Best switchable wand tonearm?
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Kuzma 4 point that I have has something that can cater your need. Its head-shell is removable with just one nut. You can align your cartridges on their own headshells (mine came with two headshells) and just change them as you wish. Of course you will need to correct the vta, vtf and anti-skating but they are very easy to do on this arm, especially with the vta tower (with the exception of 9") You can mark the correct vta and vtf for lets say two carts and then you can do a fully adjusted cart change under a minute.
Cost no object I’d vote for the Graham Phantom Elite 12” arm. That has a removable titanium arm wand as Bonzo eluded to. That said, I don’t have personal experience with Graham arms or how easy that operation is. Though I’m sure another member will chime in here.
I do have a number of 12" armwands for my graham phantom III. Each of my dynavector XV-1s, Lyra Titan s, allearts MC-1, Io-j and Io-m is fitted to an arm wand. It takes less than a minute to change the wand and then obviosly adjust TW and possibly azimuth. job done. Certainly a lot cheaper than adding extra arms; which i could not do anyway. For those who need a high mass arm, you could add mass to the headshell end which i do for my Decca London Jubilee cart.
The best single arm 'system' was the top of the range Audiocraft arm that enabled you to add three different mass arms, 9" and 12"lengths, as well as an S shaped arm, together with the appropriate counterweights and side weights. It was a superb bit of Japanese kit. I had it for four years before going down the Graham route. I wish I had kept it. It is a shame that Bob Graham did not develop his arm to the same extent, although I did hear that he did produce a prototype S arm but I do not think that it made production
The best single arm 'system' was the top of the range Audiocraft arm that enabled you to add three different mass arms, 9" and 12"lengths, as well as an S shaped arm, together with the appropriate counterweights and side weights. It was a superb bit of Japanese kit. I had it for four years before going down the Graham route. I wish I had kept it. It is a shame that Bob Graham did not develop his arm to the same extent, although I did hear that he did produce a prototype S arm but I do not think that it made production
Why recommend something with which you've got no personal experience?
Anyhow, as mentioned, the 4 point headshell system is great. It's really about a 5 minute affair, though. If you've set up a particular cart previously and you leave it mounted to a headshell, then all you need to do is restore its alignment settings after a quick swap.
Wands are much more expensive to stock up on, and sometimes much harder to source, than good headshells. I have Fidelity Research FR64fx and FR64S tonearms, and like the Ikeda headshells on them. I do prefer them to my Graham Phantom Supreme. Headshells are universal and generally give you more flexibility (e.g. change mass & materials to match a particular cartridge). Plus wands get versioned and their length is specific to a geometry (e.g. I have 3 Phantom II Supreme 10" arms but the new Phantom III wands have "better internal wiring" - doesn't happen with a headshell). The Graham wand mechanism does work well and secures to the stub very, very well though.
That said, for me even a wand system is far preferable than the fixed-wand, fixed-headshell arms, which I HATE.
Note that there is almost always some slight degree of play in azimuth for the headshell in the universal bayonet mount before & while you tighten, so if that's a problem you'll want to stick with wands. I like it because that little bit of play is usually all that's needed to fine-tune azimuth.
That said, for me even a wand system is far preferable than the fixed-wand, fixed-headshell arms, which I HATE.
Note that there is almost always some slight degree of play in azimuth for the headshell in the universal bayonet mount before & while you tighten, so if that's a problem you'll want to stick with wands. I like it because that little bit of play is usually all that's needed to fine-tune azimuth.
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Heh. Why take a recommendation from a person with no personal experience?
When you're changing an arm wand or a headshell, you're likely changing from another arm or headshell that has a different cartridge on it. That typically means different VTF, VTA and Azimuth for the new cart+wand/headshell, so those will need to be re-set anyway or at minimum, checked.
It seems to me the main advantage of a multiple wand or headshell tonearm can be not having to remount the cartridge and re-do its offset and zenith. That's assuming sufficiently exacting tolerances on the wand/shell mount arrangement that those setting remain fixed from the previous use. With some arms, such as the SME Vd ('d' for detachable headshell) there is no such exactness of fit. Never used a Graham so canna speak to its wand fitment precision.
The 4Points do not use a standard 'universal headshell', only 4Point headshells. However I've found the fitment precise such that the alignment is stable or very very close assuming the arm is returned to (or remains unchanged from) the settings in place when doing the original alignment. (You will need to re-fit the tonearm wire cartridge clips to the cartridge pins.) I change carts with some frequency but still go through checking the normal setup parameters each time I switch.
So, imo, while wands and swappable headshells can make the vinylist's life a bit easier, there are no fast cartridge exchanges when using them.
edit: I believe VPI offers tonearms (the VPI JMW Tonearm Base) with switchable arm wands - they call them arm-tubes iirc.
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Like most things, once you are familiar with making the adjustments with the Graham it becomes second nature. There is ,however, an arm that is rarely discussed that allows you to use interchanageable headshells; the VIV Rigid float. Ignore the naysayers who will tell you that it cannot work properly but have never heard it but insist on having an opinion. There is plenty of factual info on this arn on the net so no point in repeating it.
I lived with both the 7" and 13" for about six months and it does some thing rather special. It did not have the dynamic textures of the Graham but it had a flow and coherence that characterised it across all the carts that i put on it. You can use its own Nelson hold headshell or any other that takes your fancy. I have heard this arm on my TT (Verdier) and on the Grand Prix Monaco. On the latter it sounded magnificent. Anyway something else to think about
I lived with both the 7" and 13" for about six months and it does some thing rather special. It did not have the dynamic textures of the Graham but it had a flow and coherence that characterised it across all the carts that i put on it. You can use its own Nelson hold headshell or any other that takes your fancy. I have heard this arm on my TT (Verdier) and on the Grand Prix Monaco. On the latter it sounded magnificent. Anyway something else to think about
An opinion is not a recommendation. The first quoted post is an example of well structured post explaining the objective why's and the particular conditions - no personal experience. IMHO it is a very reasonable and welcome contribute to the thread.
I have owned the old Graham 2.2 and really miss the removable wand - mounting cartridges was much easier and rigorous than with small headshells or fixed arms. The wand had the proper size to get a good grip in a well cushioned vice and I felt much safer carrying the alignment in it.
Right, it's not a lickety split operation. But with the Kuzma headshell swap, I do find that zenith and overhang are repeatable, and I never need to readjust those. Just vta, vtf, and azimith. Two of those three are easy to mark on the Kuzma so that returning to prior settings is simple. Vtf isn't easily marked, but is quick and easy to set without disturbing any other settings.
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Yes we need more people to give opinions and accept them when they are not based on evidence.
Most Schroder arms would work. For mine, the wires terminate in a connector block. Fairly simple to lif each wand off the pivot. I've been thinking about getting another wand just for that purpose. Depending on your table config you might even be able to switch between BA and CB configurations as I believe the pivot/base is the same. You could also experiment with just changing the mounting plate he uses to attach to the wand.
VTA and VTF would need adjusting each time but easier than mounting a cartridge each time.
Of course, you could wait for Wilson Benesch to come out with their new TT/Arm!!
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/highend2019/highend2019_wilson_benesch.htm
VTA and VTF would need adjusting each time but easier than mounting a cartridge each time.
Of course, you could wait for Wilson Benesch to come out with their new TT/Arm!!
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/highend2019/highend2019_wilson_benesch.htm
Heh. it's usually fairly easy to spot those who don't know what they're talking about, but it is still a disservice to the one looking for experienced opinion, as the OP did.
the Thales Simplicity II has replaceable head shells for easy cartridge swap. You set up the cartridge separately on an alignment jig before attaching it back on the tonearm.
It's not as easy as the Graham Phantom arm wand thou in swapping carts.
It's not as easy as the Graham Phantom arm wand thou in swapping carts.
Copy that. On my €1k Terminator LT arm, you can swap out armwands in seconds, spare ones costing €200 each.
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