What's the best unipivot to arm ever made?


I'm really fond of unipivot tonearms in their way of music reproduction. For my point of view they represent the music with full of energy without loosing its authority and signature. Less is more? I do not know! I'm currently using a Mayware Formula 5 tonearm and believe is one of the best to arms ever made regardless price. Much better than my previous Schroeder Reference (even though I must admit Schroeder was mounted in an inferior turntable). What's your opinion about the best unipivot tonearm ever made and why your preference is so special?
pentatonia

Showing 2 responses by dover

"i use 15ips 1/4 inch master tape dubs as my reference and the Telos is as good as those in my system."
Mike have you cut records from the master tapes in question. If any tt front end can be as good as a master tape in your system then that suggests a lowest common denominator effect is resident. That is your system is only resolving as much as the lowest quality component. How else could everything sound the same - or "as good as".
There is no best or perfect unipivot, or even tonearm. The performance of any tonearm has to be viewed in the context of the rest of the playback system - the cartridge and the turntable. How has the cartridge designer dealt with unwanted energy - have they dumped it into the arm, have they designed the cartridge body to dissipate it ? What about the turntable tonearm interface, metal, polymer, composite, wooden materials used ? All these choices will impact the performance of the tonearm.
From the Durand site -
"When a musician goes to a luthier or an instrument maker to buy an instrument he/she doesn’t spend too much time on the issues of engineering--although the materials and techniques used in the construction can be of the highest interest; the musician plays the instrument, and listens. He wants to know if the instrument can do what he wants it to do, if it produces the sound he wants to hear

Choosing a tonearm involves the same process."

The Durand is a tone control - no problems, if it produces the sound you like then thats fine.

My current unipivot tonearm of choice - Naim Aro, used with Koetsu & Dynavector Nova 13D Ebony. Does not work with MM's or Ikeda Kiwame also owned.
Would like to try - Graham Phantom Supreme, Spiral Groove Centroid and Telos.
Any of these should be pretty good assuming they match the cartridges chosen. What my experience was as a dealer was that any differences in these arms could be easily lost or reversed through sub optimal set up.
What I do like about unipivots is their degree of freedom to the sound, the ease of presentation, but they will not always be the best choice as alluded to above.