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Developing A List Of Tonearm Candidates For A SOTA Turntable

So this month i sent my SME V off to a new home, and that leaves my SOTA armless. My other table has a schroder CB-1L on it and I have run either an Ortofon Verismo or Transfiguration Proteus on it. I did put both those same cartridges on the SME on the SOTA and it always had a disappointing presentation of harmonics and texture. A monochromatic sound could be the best description I have. Time for another arm.

The SOTA armboard restricts the type of arm that can be installed. The arm types that have a VTA tower and separate pivot point take up too much real estate to fit. So fitting something like a Wheaton, Reed, or Durand does not seem possible. I wondered about elevating the arm board so its level with the top plate, but I am not sure if there is enough room for the want to pivot without removing the dust cover. It is a possibility, but I wonder how it effects the travel of the suspension. and if there are unintended consequences. I have yet to read about any SOTA owners doing this.

So I am trying to put together a list of candidates. I do know some folks appreciate the Origin Live arms, but I am not very well versed in their lineup. I have wondered about the Groovemaster arms also. I have looked at the Moerch, but its kind of a fiddly thing. The point is the table is on the sidelines at the moment because there is no arm in place. I typically shop the used market, but I can be patient and wait for the right arm to come along. The benefit of having more than one table i guess. 

Anyone else have any suggestions. Appreciate your thoughts and experiences.

neonknight
kennyc
1,306 posts
 

+1 Kuzma 4point - plenty of very positive reviews. I purchased it as it seems to be best at it’s price point, and I’d have to spend >10k to beat it.

I also have the Schroeder CB-1L to match my VDH GC cart.

lewm
12,636 posts
 

Pryso, I would think that the mass that moves in an ET or ET2 (the arm wand, cartridge, and mounting hardware) is small in magnitude, small enough not to disturb the suspension, I hope.

pinwa
247 posts
 

@vinylshadow Good luck actually getting a tone arm from Supatrac.  I ordered the Blackbird at the end of December and still haven't received it and they didn't respond to my last email asking for a status update.  They started telling me it was imminent in April but clearly that wasn't true.

pindac's avatar
pindac
2,540 posts
 

The Link will drip one in a Thread that has a variety of Supatrac Variants produced by DIYers' taking on many cases guidance from Supatrac, who still contributes to the thread for over three years.

There is enough seen to inspire anybody to build a version of a Supatrac.

I also believe some of the design tweaks made to the Supatrac, have been inspired by the learning had from the DIYers'. This sort of shows certain DIYers' had found their path and brought further design ideas to the table that were seen to be very worthwhile implementing.

 

 

  

pryso
1,915 posts
 

lewm, you must be right or that combination wouldn't have been so popular.

I've owned a large number of turntables over my years in this hobby and the majority of them were suspended.  But the compliance of their suspensions could be quite different.  One was an early generation Oracle which seemed to get out of balance if you breathed on it wrong.  ;^)

So I assumed most tangental arms work best on tables without much suspension, meaning not much more than their feet.

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