Tonearm recommendations

[Mikeeo]

Hi All,

In a hunt for a new tonearm to replace my starter one, the Jelco 12".

I am looking at the Reed, Kuzma and SME's. I have heard all at separate occasions ie the Reed 3P, Kuzma 313RefVTA and 4-Point plus SME V 12". Most on the same deck as I have, the Feickert Woodpecker (2013 model).
In my review memory I liked the 3P and 4-point best.
Any comments for the above as well as other suggestions!?

This arm catch my interest on web reviews: Artemis Labs TA Series Tonearm. Anyone listened to this or even now where this can be purchased as a web browse doesn't seem to show a manufacturer site.

Best/Mike

[Kunter]

I have the SME 312S and it is a great arm. Very easy to play with, precise setup and this thing is built like a tank.

My other arm (thanks to the Clearaudio allowing up to 3 arms) is the Clearaudio Universal 12" with VTA. I have the version where the sixstream cable is continuous until the phono pre. And I definitely love it. On par, may be even a bit better than the SME.

I also used the unipivot Clearaudio, the Unify, in the past and, although a bit fiddly to deal with and a pain to set up properly, this thing can manage great sound as well...

Cheers.

[Mikeeo]

I have the SME 312S and it is a great arm. Very easy to play with, precise setup and this thing is built like a tank.

My other arm (thanks to the Clearaudio allowing up to 3 arms) is the Clearaudio Universal 12" with VTA. I have the version where the sixstream cable is continuous until the phono pre. And I definitely love it. On par, may be even a bit better than the SME.

I also used the unipivot Clearaudio, the Unify, in the past and, although a bit fiddly to deal with and a pain to set up properly, this thing can manage great sound as well...

Cheers.

Thanks for your input! I start to realize more and more that for this matter I just have to trust my memory as there is no chance I would be able to compare the arms of interest within reasonable distance from my home.

Cheers/Mike

[Mikeeo]

Hi,

About the Artemis: Frank Schroeder has taken it under his wing and it can now be purchased with updates from him and not the US company.
Prices are the same as before but in Euros ie around 4000 EUR.

Time will tell if I will have a chance to listen to it.

/Mike

[f1eng]

I used to design and test prototype turntables and arms at Garrard, and evaluate competing products. Pretty well all arms, regardless of price, had enough resonances to move the cartridge body enough to see additional output from the cartridge.
Some of the "worst" were the most expensive.
Of the modern arms available, based on what I learned then, the Funk FX3 looks from its design parameters to probably be the most accurate arm out there, and is not too expensive.
That said, accurate sound is not always what people like best!

[Mikeeo]

I used to design and test prototype turntables and arms at Garrard, and evaluate competing products. Pretty well all arms, regardless of price, had enough resonances to move the cartridge body enough to see additional output from the cartridge.
Some of the "worst" were the most expensive.
Of the modern arms available, based on what I learned then, the Funk FX3 looks from its design parameters to probably be the most accurate arm out there, and is not too expensive.
That said, accurate sound is not always what people like best!

Hi and thanks for the kind input! i've heard this before about the Funk arm but never lend an ear to it. if money can be saved I am more than happy. However so far the arms that have offered the sound I like with on-the-fly VTA have been a bit costly but not necessary extremely costly (what ever that means ).
A Schroeder arm (cost wise) is as far as I would go I think at the moment considering the turntable that I have.

Cheers/Mike

[Mikeeo]

A short update about tonearms!

Will soon have the great possibility to listen, side by side, to the Kuzma 4P and Reed 3P with Benz LPS on both arms mounted on a Feickert Firebird. My dealer got the importer (Danish/Scandinavian) to put everything together, amazing for a small country like Sweden.
They will be played on Devialet so demo will be perfect.

Will report back after the demo!

Anyone else had the possibility to listen to these at the same time?

/Mike

[Mikeeo]

A little report from something that didn't happen yet. Anyway I will have the chance to listen to the above arms in January but still, ANYONE else that had the chance to listen to these, Kuzma 4P and Reed 3P?

/Mike