GrooveMaster II Tonearms
- Thread starter nemu
- Start date
Sorry, I missed that you were talking about the Moldovan plinths, which I've not seen in person and seem solid and a bargain.
As I mentioned in a previous post the Moldova plinths are better than Acoustand, I had them both. The only problem it had was the position of the tonearm cut out.
I have no idea why people have this thing about why the arm should be central in its bed plate, SME designed the arm for this very situation so the correct mounting distance can be set.
It amazes me people mount the arm straight instead of pointing towards the spindle just so they don’t have to slide the arm forwards and they can mount it central.
Igor Smic of Moldova is a fantastic chap, he offered to send me another plinth at no charge but it did not sound right to me so I sold it.
He and his wife are incredible people, highly recommended.
I have no idea why people have this thing about why the arm should be central in its bed plate, SME designed the arm for this very situation so the correct mounting distance can be set.
It amazes me people mount the arm straight instead of pointing towards the spindle just so they don’t have to slide the arm forwards and they can mount it central.
Igor Smic of Moldova is a fantastic chap, he offered to send me another plinth at no charge but it did not sound right to me so I sold it.
He and his wife are incredible people, highly recommended.
Timestep tonearm [T609/610/612]. Identical to the Groovemaster. What's the story?
Timestep Tonearm T-609 T-610 T-612
For Sound HiFi often sold more SME tonearms that any other retailer in the world. However times change and they wanted a modern tonearm that would work well with the low compliance cartridges now in use. They also wanted lower bearing friction, silver wire as standard and absolutely no...
www.soundhifi.com
Per Hugo at Ammonite Audio (from whom I bought my Groovemaster 12-J), they're identical, yes. Here's an excerpt from an email exchange with Hugo. This is from a couple years ago.
"I am now the official UK dealer for both Groovemaster and Timestep tonearms, which will both be appearing alongside each other in my shop, priced the same. [...] I will be re-naming the Timestep arms, to avoid confusion. They will in future simply be known as Groovemaster-J tonearms, with the J denoting Jelco geometry, mounting and alignment. "
"I am now the official UK dealer for both Groovemaster and Timestep tonearms, which will both be appearing alongside each other in my shop, priced the same. [...] I will be re-naming the Timestep arms, to avoid confusion. They will in future simply be known as Groovemaster-J tonearms, with the J denoting Jelco geometry, mounting and alignment. "
Last edited:
I've recently received a Groovemaster III 12" Banana with Jelco geometry. I picked it up very lightly used at a little over a year old.
It replaced a Jelco TK-950L 12" knife edge bearing arm that I didn't get on with at all due to the ultra sensitive sprung tracking force system. The Groovemaster is superior in every way from build quality to every audio dimension. In fact the Groovemaster is so unexpectedly great that I think its going to find its way onto my main turntable very soon (Raven AC3). I think it will give the FR arms on my Raven a real run for the money. If I do I'll be looking to get the heavy VTA base as I find the B60 bases on my FR arms essential. Anyway for now, with this SPU Royal GM on the TD124, this tonearm has been a real surprise. I'm absolutely delighted with it.
It replaced a Jelco TK-950L 12" knife edge bearing arm that I didn't get on with at all due to the ultra sensitive sprung tracking force system. The Groovemaster is superior in every way from build quality to every audio dimension. In fact the Groovemaster is so unexpectedly great that I think its going to find its way onto my main turntable very soon (Raven AC3). I think it will give the FR arms on my Raven a real run for the money. If I do I'll be looking to get the heavy VTA base as I find the B60 bases on my FR arms essential. Anyway for now, with this SPU Royal GM on the TD124, this tonearm has been a real surprise. I'm absolutely delighted with it.
By the way, I've read that the Groovemaster 12" is 29g effective mass but is that including the headshell mass? It must do right? If so what head shell mass does is assume since the headshells are optional and there have been two different types that I know of?
yes, thats the plan. I wasn't suggesting I'd use an FR B60 base on the Groovemaster
Please be careful, Groovemaster has not exactly 20mm shaft diameter, but slightly less or bigger, I don’t know it any more, but you cannot interchange with the traditional 20mm bases of Ortofon, EMT, Shindo, etc.
So you should use the Groovemaster own bases.
The RotaryLift is a fantastic unit, I can recommend it highly.
So you should use the Groovemaster own bases.
The RotaryLift is a fantastic unit, I can recommend it highly.
I am very impressed with this tonearm too! Love your pictures by the way.I've recently received a Groovemaster III 12" Banana with Jelco geometry. I picked it up very lightly used at a little over a year old.
It replaced a Jelco TK-950L 12" knife edge bearing arm that I didn't get on with at all due to the ultra sensitive sprung tracking force system. The Groovemaster is superior in every way from build quality to every audio dimension. In fact the Groovemaster is so unexpectedly great that I think it's going to find its way onto my main turntable very soon (Raven AC3). I think it will give the FR arms on my Raven a real run for the money. If I do I'll be looking to get the heavy VTA base as I find the B60 bases on my FR arms essential. Anyway for now, with this SPU Royal GM on the TD124, this tonearm has been a real surprise. I'm absolutely delighted with it.
One thing I am not sure of is how to use the anti skate setting. Being a 12" arm it shouldn't require much but for the life of me I can't seem to figure out the micrometer. A senior moment perhaps.
Your pictures are of such high resolution that I could see that your setting was further out than mine, approximately 4 bars out. Is closer to the inner most detent more or less anti skating applied? Your insight would be appreciated.
You can see the recommended antiscating parameter on the mounting template. Unfortunately I have my Groovemaster not any more so I cannot show a picture.
I can see the parameters but I am not sure I understand how to set the micrometer. It's possible I have it set appropriately but maybe not, hence the question.
Anti-skate force on the GrooveMaster II/III is increased as the micrometer is screwed in, towards the pivot. So, a lower number on the micrometer actually means a higher anti-skate setting, which often confuses users who have not looked at the instruction booklet. For most instances, a micrometer setting of 4 to 5 will be appropriate.
The new GrooveMaster 4 has a completely redesigned anti-skate mechanism with a slider scale corresponding quite accurately to VTF.
Similar threads
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |