Surprised that a Reed will fit and not a Triplanar, since the Reed is basically a copy of the TP, in terms of the VTA adjuster which affects the arm geometry as regards mounting. Unless you refer to a 10.5-inch Reed. Don't know whether Tri can supply a 10.5-inch option for the TP, but its worth asking if the OP wants to spend that much. The Technics SP10 turntables, with their square, raised escutcheon surrounding the platter, is also a problem for my standard 9-inch TP, but no problem for my 10.5-inch Reed. I vote again for the Eclipse motor and motor controller/speed control upgrade, for what it's worth.
recommendation for a high end analog system
I never had an analog system until last month. I bought a 1989 SOTA TT with vacuum/Sumiko MMT arm/Dennon 103R retyped with elliptical/sapphire cantilever. My phono is Kitsune MK5 WBT that is amplified by Don Sach 2 tube preamp and Pass X350.5. My speaker are Sound Lab M545 ESL. The TT has been very well maintained despite its age. It sounded very good until I heard my friend's system which has the same TT but with Lyra Skala cartridge and first generation Triplanar arm (Spectral pre/amp). His sounded noticeably clearer and fuller. What is the best way to get a noticeable improvement in my system without breaking the bank (or before I have to squint to hear the improvement). I would love to hear some wisdom from analog-philes.
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Triplanar will fit on a Sota Sapphire - https://www.stereophile.com/tonearms/the_tri-planar_tonearm/index.html Also no problem Cosmos or Millennia either. In the old days Wheaton used to supply precut armboards for Sota’s.. All you need to do is order a blank armboard. mark it up and get a machine shop to cut it for you if you cant do it yourself. |
At the time I purchased my Graham, it was a great deal less costly than they are now. I'm not sure I'd go that way now given the now-doubled investment. I'd started with the DV 17D3, having moved up from an antique 23RS MR that was originally on my Magnepan. It was not a good match with the Graham (too light), so went with a XX2 MK II and have been very happy with it. @lewm @dover When I went through this project 10+ years ago, I'd contacted Kirk at Sota to get some advice before I started narrowing down my choices. He'd mentioned that the TriPlanar was rather tricky to set up on the Sota and that the Reed was a more forgiving design in that respect. Because I live in a rural area with limited audition and inspection opportunities, I took him at his word. Tricky set-up didn't bother me, but my installation requires pretty much a once-and-done to be useful. Pulling the table out and adjusting was not desirable. So I shelved the TriPlanar. A personal fit as opposed to a mechanical fit. My time last evening was limited and I did not communicate that well. Apologies. I decided to stick with 9" arms and found that a 9" Reed was a unicorn at the time. No one had one that I could find, new or used. I didn't like the nearest retailer for the Kuzma, so leveraged an old contact for a Graham. The table had already been upgraded, so I called Kirk again and had him make up a pre-balanced hybrid aluminum / composite armboard for it. After some very minor adjustment to get things just so, the Graham fit perfectly and has maintained that fit ever since. I kept my old bucket of Sota balance shot for nostalgia's sake. Hope this clears things up. |
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FWIW, Dover is correct; the Triplanar does fit fine. I now recall that I had my Triplanar mounted on my Star Sapphire once upon a time. The only issue is in the vertical direction wrt the max extension of the VTA adjustment and the height of the platter or rather the sunken depth of the arm board. Anyway you’ve made your choice. My recommendation was to go for the Eclipse system as biggest bang for the buck. |
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