Hi,
@ Peterayer: Just to make sure that there is no mis-information spread:
Both armwands and headshells on the LT arms are made out of wood, albeit treated differently to make them impervious to humidity changes and otherwise improve their physical properties.
Some general info for those who consider wood unsuitable for armwands:
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/linear-expansion-coefficients-d_95.html
As you can see, the TEC of wood(here fir, untreated, along the grain; other wood species are in the same ballpark)is an order of a magnitude lower than aluminum, even perpendicular to the grain, they are comparable.
Although the headshells on LT arms can hardly be called "composite" headshells, I did use composites on No.2 and Ref. arms, incl. combinations of Delignit, phenolic impregnated silk or paper, different types of wood glued together or less well known high tech polymers.
The use of such materials vs. metals alone is no guarantee for a neutral/accurate tonearm, but properly implemented, they allow for building highly precise and non-resonant structures.
Does such a tonearm "sound" good, aka, does it have as small a sonic signature as possible? Many other factors at play, ultimately it is up to the customer to decide...
And yes, many high end products are overpriced, - but not all of them.
All the best,
Frank Schröder
P.S.: I tried to post essentially the same response a day ago, but it didn't show up til now, hence this, second attempt. I apologize should this lead to a douple posting.
@ Peterayer: Just to make sure that there is no mis-information spread:
Both armwands and headshells on the LT arms are made out of wood, albeit treated differently to make them impervious to humidity changes and otherwise improve their physical properties.
Some general info for those who consider wood unsuitable for armwands:
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/linear-expansion-coefficients-d_95.html
As you can see, the TEC of wood(here fir, untreated, along the grain; other wood species are in the same ballpark)is an order of a magnitude lower than aluminum, even perpendicular to the grain, they are comparable.
Although the headshells on LT arms can hardly be called "composite" headshells, I did use composites on No.2 and Ref. arms, incl. combinations of Delignit, phenolic impregnated silk or paper, different types of wood glued together or less well known high tech polymers.
The use of such materials vs. metals alone is no guarantee for a neutral/accurate tonearm, but properly implemented, they allow for building highly precise and non-resonant structures.
Does such a tonearm "sound" good, aka, does it have as small a sonic signature as possible? Many other factors at play, ultimately it is up to the customer to decide...
And yes, many high end products are overpriced, - but not all of them.
All the best,
Frank Schröder
P.S.: I tried to post essentially the same response a day ago, but it didn't show up til now, hence this, second attempt. I apologize should this lead to a douple posting.