Durand Tonearms Tosca

[Ron Resnick]

At T.H.E. Show Newport 2018 Joël Durand debuted a prototype of his newest tonearm, the Tosca. The Tosca is Joël's first gimbal bearing design.

Visually, the Tosca reminded me of the SAT tonearm. But the Tosca looks even more solid and massive than does the SAT.

The Tosca has what looks like an intermediate connector (that black piece) to attach the headshell to the armwand. Joel said this allows the user to adjust azimuth easily.

With the Tosca looking more massive than his unipivot designs I asked Joël if the Tosca has a higher effective mass than his unipivot tonearms. Joël answered that the Tosca has approximately the same effective mass as the Telos.

 

[bazelio]

The all-important question being, is it 9" ? Actually, on a serious note (pun intended), where is the anti-skate mechanism on the Tosca? The SAT appears to have a rather traditional (if not somewhat cheesy) fishing line with counter balance weight and pulley system. But, in these pics, I can't quite see how the Tosca does anti-skate.

Thanks!

 

[Tango]

Same style of headshell junction as Axiom.

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . . where is the anti-skate mechanism on the Tosca? . . . I can't quite see how the Tosca does anti-skate.

Thanks!

I have no idea.

On a different feature Joël was proud of how releasing a nut or knob or something allows a little vertical elevator mechanism to go up and down to adjust VTA.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Good point, Tang. I wonder of what material Joël's black connector piece is made.

I have a feeling that someday there will be a very serious showdown between the Tosca and the SAT: A Thai tonearm version of the "Thrilla [sic] in Manila"!

 

[Mike Lavigne]

the headshell design really works well (I was skeptical). it has a clamp, and a scale for azimuth adjustment......in the correct plane. when azimuth is adjusted at the bearing yet the cart angle is offset it's less accurate.

super solid.

 

[Tango]

I bet Mike is already a testing ground for this arm...with confidentiality agreement .

Tang

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I bet Mike is already a testing ground for this arm...with confidentiality agreement .

Tang

 

[Walnut Horns]

Anyone know the expected price point for this arm? Thanks.

 

[PeterA]

Same style of headshell junction as Axiom.

It appears to place the stylus in line with the tonearm center line. Clever. The headshell is the best place to adjust azimuth, and some think SRA.

 

[PeterA]

At T.H.E. Show Newport 2018 Joël Durand debuted a prototype of his newest tonearm, the Tosca. The Tosca is Joël's first gimbal bearing design.

Visually, the Tosca reminded me of the SAT tonearm. But the Tosca looks even more solid and massive than does the SAT.

The Tosca has what looks like an intermediate connector (that black piece) to attach the headshell to the armwand. Joel said this allows the user to adjust azimuth easily.

With the Tosca looking more massive than his unipivot designs I asked Joël if the Tosca has a higher effective mass than his unipivot tonearms. Joël answered that the Tosca has approximately the same effective mass as the Telos.

Thanks for posting, Ron. How long is the arm and did Joel mention if it will replace any existing arms in his lineup? The SAT gimbal cradle actually looks beefier to me. The VTA adjustment seems interesting. I wonder of Joel has a preferred protractor or alignment method.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Thanks for posting, Ron. How long is the arm and did Joel mention if it will replace any existing arms in his lineup? The SAT gimbal cradle actually looks beefier to me. The VTA adjustment seems interesting. I wonder of Joel has a preferred protractor or alignment method.

the Tosca uses the identical alignment as the Durand Kairos.

typically Joel provides a Mint LP protractor (the only type I've observed him using) with all his arms (custom to the spindle size of the customer tt).

 

[Ron Resnick]

Peter, I posted everything that I know. I do not have any other details.

 

[jeff1225]

The all-important question being, is it 9" ? Actually, on a serious note (pun intended), where is the anti-skate mechanism on the Tosca? The SAT appears to have a rather traditional (if not somewhat cheesy) fishing line with counter balance weight and pulley system. But, in these pics, I can't quite see how the Tosca does anti-skate.

Thanks!

I asked him and he said it was 10 1/2"

 

[DaveyF]

Anyone know the expected price point for this arm? Thanks.

I asked Joel this question. His answer was that it was a prototype and he didn’t have an exact price yet. When I asked him if it was going to be in the same league, price wise, as the SAT, he told me that it would definitely be less.

 

[jtinn]

How long is the arm and did Joel mention if it will replace any existing arms in his lineup?

The arm is about 10.35" in length and will not replace any of the existing arms.