Your turntable history

Garrard SP25

Connoisseur BD1 

Linn Axis

SOTA Sapphire

[email protected]

Revealing my age (indirectly)...

Garard 301 (given me by my father when I was in high school: long gone)
C.J. Walker (a VPI-like table: gone)
VPI HW 19 Jr (very few hours on it: saved it in the event I want to use the motor)
VPI HW 19 Mk 1 (bought from a fellow forum member)

End of the line in TT purchases for me.

The list:

Dual 505 - upgraded with Nagaoka MP10

Linn Sondek LP 12 / Black Ittok / Linn K9

Roksan Xerxes / Alphason HR 100S / Van Den Hul MC One

Roksan Xerxes (V2) Roksan Artemiz / Roksan Shiraz

SME 10 / SME 309 / Koetsu Urushi

SME 20/12a / Van den Hul Frog

Technics SL1200g / Van den Hul Frog

Clearaudio Jubilee Reference / Universal / Van den Hul Frog

Clearaudio Jubilee Reference / Unity / Van den Hul Crimson Stradavarius XGW

@yoyoyaya 

Clearaudio Jubilee Reference / Unity

I'd like to hear more about this. I have a Master Innovation with a Universal 12" arm. I got both before the Unity tonearm ever came out. I've been eyeing the SUPRATRAC tonearms as a possible change. The Unity at $22K is rather out of my budget but I haven't heard anything about it from actual users.

@dwette You just reminded me that I had a Clearaudio Innovation before I got the Jubilee - I forgot to put it on the list. I had the Universal arm with the Innovation.

The Unity is a completely different design. Effectively, it has all the low friction benefits of a unipivot coupled without the potential drawbacks of yawing and bearing chatter. The armtube is a lot stiffer than the Universal's and the headshell - which is also more rigid is bonded to the armtube - but they have maintained azymuth adjustment by moving it to the other end of the arm - but done so in a way that this doesn't compromise rigidity. There are lots of other clever design details like the lockable micrometer VTA adjustment.

Sonically, its a very revealing, very low noise and tonally neutral arm - just lets the music flow in a very natural way.

I've heard the Blackbird a few times but not enough to be able to make any kind of comparison. The finishing on the Blackbird is a little "industrial", but that is reflected in its price.

You probably know the Unity it's a ten inch arm. I think there are plans for a twelve inch version, but I don't think its available yet. 

There are also some new power supplies coming which were unveiled at Vienna. I don't know what PSU you have with the Master, but given the massive improvement the Professional PSU made over the older wall wart, I would probably look in that direction first.

There's a new Clearaudio website under development - it's still mostly in German at the moment. But it has much better pictures of the equipment than the previous side did.