Why the sudden popularity of 12 inch arms

Sir, I promised the first member that mailed me privately "huge entertainment value". I intend to deliver on that promise. I am now going to attempt to defuse(?) a little criticism. A pre-emptive sort of clarification, if you will. Read my lips, "there is nothing wrong with enjoying a system built to a budget. New or used. Oh yeah, and mis-matched stuff sounds bad." There. New SOTA stuff however, outperforms old SOTA stuff. Period.

Inept, You are so far out in left field on this one buddy. EVERY E brake I have ever seen is cable actuated. On rear disc cars, it is a seperate little set of pucks, NO DRUMS. Please do not try to tell us that four wheel disc vehicles also have drums at the rear? I'm going clear back to my Jag. I put vented 13" GM rotors and Wilwood 4 piston calipers up front. Driver adjustable bias control, and spent more time under the rear of that automobile than I care to remember, trying to achieve something/anything that would resemble brakes. The only thing that did work, for a short time, 'till the diff or calipers puked oil/fluid all over them were the E brakes. The seperate, cable actuated set of mini-calipers, of the NON DRUM configuration. I just know you're kidding, or there is a camera here somewhere. You CAN"T be serious!?!

Now, does anybody want to (whatever Sir called it) about 12 inch tonearms? It seems like a lifetime ago I was wanting to share the improvement I heard going from a 9 that I have been tweaking on for years to a 12. Right out of the box. I still have some playing to do. Anyone? Z.

Is it OK for me to say I love my SME 312S ? I know, boring compared to emergency brakes. However, at this stage I have nothing else to "pedal."

I'm going to bow out and give you guys an emergency brake.

After lunch break for you

Inept, Please proof your last sentence and repost. Lack of clairvoyance is unfortunately, also one of my maladies. Also, you don't HAVE to address me as Dr.Z. Mr.Z. Or Sir Z. will suffice. I am flattered. If there is a camera here you can see me blushing right now, yes? One last thing, I do seem to remember one or two vehicles with a disc (that is to say a disc of the non drum variety) E brake on the driveshaft. Quite common on Hot Rods at the tranny end. Porsche did it on the 924/944/928 cars, if memory serves. When can we start on vehicle dynamics? Really one of my favorite subjects! Z.

heh dudes, you can discuss cars and drum brakes on rev head asylum.

Raul

" VPI, comes from SAEC." I had a search around the web. Since when does any VPI arm remotely look like or behave like a SAEC arm??.

Raul, I am not looking for any specific 12 inch arm, other than my VPI 12.7.

My original question was, why are SME, Schrodher, Brinkman, Kuzma now making 12 inch versions of their 9 inch arms???

Roy Gregory strongly believed that all the 12 inch arms were audibly superior than the 9 inch equivalents.

Yet, with your 6 "crappy" (yes my words)old out of production 12 inch arms, you indicated that the 12 inch arms sounded no better than the 9 inch arms.

Why can RG so strongly recommend that 12 inch seems to be the way to go now, yet you virtually dismiss it based on your old arms. Have you actually heard any of the arms RG was reviewing?? or is he full of shit??

Would a phantom or triplaner or even Cobra sound better if it was designed correctly at 12 inchs, rather than the current size.
It seems that no one has an opinion on this question??

The reason is, this Design can be sold. The world has to go round.
That's it.
And lots of Arms - even today- are not perfect, or have problems with bearings, work only well with some cartridges..., or the turntable is not able to show all differences or to bring out the best from every design ... there are various reasons.
When you don't believe it, buy a Phantom Arm and 2 identical Cartridges and the compare it. You will hear differences, but is the 12" (or all) really better?