Kuzma Questions


I'm about to take delivery of a Kuzma Stabi Reference 2 turntable, as an upgrade from my two-armed Stabi S which has both a Stogi Reference arm and an Audio Origami PU7.

I plan to put the Stogi Reference arm on the mew turntable, but may also try my Audio Origami PU7 as well, since it has the same mounting arrangement.

I have a couple of questions.

There is currently a VDH Frog on the Audio Origami arm and a VDH Black Beauty on the Stogi Ref. I have also used various cartridges on both arms, including a Benz LP-S and Ortofon Cadenza Black.

The consistent impression I get is that the Kuzma arm, while colourful, with deep bass and great detail, is also just a little dry and grainy sounding. By contrast, the Audio Origami is more fluid and smoother. Would others who are familiar with the Kuzma arm agree with this assessment as slightly "dry"?

My second question: the Stogi Ref has a pivot to spindle distance of 212mm, while the AO arm is 211mm - a difference of 1mm. The armboard for the Stabi Ref 2 is drilled for the Stogi Reg at 212mm. How critical is that 1mm difference? If I want to use the AO arm, should I get a second armboard drilled for it, or just mount it at 212mm and adjust the overhang accordingly?

If the latter, is it just a matter of setting overhang using my Feickert protractor using the actual pivot to spindle distance of 212mm?
rossb
1mm difference in P2S will not allow you to get the desired alignment no matter how much you adjust overhang, it would be like swapping Baerwald for lofgren as borne out by this heated discussion https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/curved-and-straight-tonearms/post?highlight=fR64&postid=1...

so do get the correct arm board, sorry

I own the, say, MK1 Kuzma Stabi Reference which is made for

one tonearm only and well 9'' long. The armboard is made as

sandwich from aluminum and acrylic and need to be ordered by

Kuzma for specific tonearm. However one can use 10'' tonearms

like Triplanar , Reed, etc., because their pivot is next to the

VTA tower which means longer distance to the spindle.

For those who want an second tonearm the use of an ''armpod''

is neccessary as well one 12'' tonearm. Both should be put at

the left back side of the Kuzma. I use the Reed 3P , 12'' as well

the armpod made by the Reed. The other tonearm is Sumiko 800

(aka ''the better Breuer''') 9'' long and with all 6 counterweights

meant for carts from 6 g till 35 g. Both arms are with fast headshells

such that changing carts is an exercise in frustration. So, sometime,

one ''really need '' an second TT + a toneram with removable

headshell before one can start his own  cart collection(grin).



Dear @rossb : You can make changes in the cartridge/tonearm set up but when doing those changes we need to be aware of this:

the Löfgren equations ( for A and B alignments. ) are the foundation for alignmets as Baerwald or Stevenson.

Löfgren fixed input " numbers " for equations solution are: tonearm effective length, inner most groove and outer most groove.
From here those equations gives: linear offset, overhang, offset handle and P2S distance.

Depending which alignment type we choosed and the whole accuracy on the tonearm/TT/cartridge set up will be the tracking error and tracking distortion: before, inside and after the calculated null points.

The audiophile target is to have the distortion levels at minimum and for that we need that the set up been made it with zero tolerance.
Zero tolerance is almost imposible to have and that's why we need to take extreme care on that " accuracy " word.

In your case you can mount the AO arm at 212 ( using your F. protractor. ) if the AO/cartridge set up is amde it with the new offset angle and overhang inside the same type of alignment choosed.

When the P2S is changed what we are doing is changing the tonearm effective length and this means that depending on the P2S changes the new set up can has lower or higher tracking distortion levels inside the alignment choosed for.

So, you can mount the AO in your TT taking care of what I'm telling here.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.