Your turntable history
When did you get your first turntable and what’s been your turntable history since then ?
Revealing my age (indirectly)... 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 |
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. |
