Durand Tosca tonearm at Axpona

[Mike Lavigne]

enjoyed listening to the new 10.5 inch Durand Tosca tonearm yesterday at Axpona. this is the production version and it did not disappoint. Wow!

Bravo Joel!

full disclosure.....i have one of these on order for my turntable. can't wait to get it.

an Ortofon Century was mounted and the system was very familiar to me; Wave Kinetics NVS tt, darTZeel preamp and Model 2 stereo 108 Amplifier, with the amazing Evolution Acoustics Maestoso speakers. the digital was the 3 box Merging Technology NADAC, with their new clock, not heard this version of this digital before and was impressed.

the Tosca is a gimbal design, with a removable head shell; allowing multiple cartridges to be pre-mounted making switching carts with one arm much easier. the cartridge pins don't go through the head shell mount, so you are not adding another cable junction, which makes perfect sense to me. it uses a din connector for choices of tonearm cables. price is just under $15k from what i recall.

 

[dminches]

This room sounded fantastic. Jonathan spun a couple LPs and everyone agreed that the sound was very well dialed in.

The Tosca is on my very short list now.

 

[etunes]

Mike,

Thx for posting it looks awesome. Is the azimuth adjustment on the back of the headshell? I see a few marks on top. Hard to tell from the photo is the arm nude carbon or painted carbon? It has a similar look to the SAT arms is the design similar?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike,

Thx for posting it looks awesome. Is the azimuth adjustment on the back of the headshell? I see a few marks on top. Is the headshell removable? Do you think that compromises rigidity? Hard to tell from the photo is the arm nude carbon or painted carbon? It has a similar look to the SAT arms is the design similar?

yes, the markings on the head shell neck are for azimuth adjustment. i'm told that the arm is 'nude' carbon fiber. as far as a separate head shell affecting rigidity i have to defer to my ears, which tell me that is not an issue. knowing Joel and his whole approach, this is not only not an issue, more some sort of advantage....or he would not have done this.

and yes; it certainly does resemble the SAT. i've only heard the SAT in shows in unfamiliar systems, so hard for me to make any performance comparisons.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

This room sounded fantastic. Jonathan spun a couple LPs and everyone agreed that the sound was very well dialed in.

The Tosca is on my very short list now.

David, it was a pleasure to finally meet you.

you need to go back to that room today and hear it again. the gain on the dart pre was set far too low for that cartridge, and it was corrected later on yesterday after you and i spoke. much more dynamic and lower noise now.

 

[dminches]

David, it was a pleasure to finally meet you.

you need to go back to that room today and hear it again. the gain on the dart pre was set far too low for that cartridge, and it was corrected later on yesterday after you and i spoke. much more dynamic and lower noise now.

Mike, same here.

We did go back and Chad played a test pressing of Roger Waters’ amused to death. It sounded great.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Mike, what differences in sound do you here between the Tosca and the Telos Sapphire?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

i took a couple more pictures today of the Tosca to show the anti-skate mechanism on the other side of the base and the other side of the head shell.

 

[KeithR]

Mike, was this the arm Joel played last summer in LA? That Maestoso system sounded awesome.

 

[tima]

This appears a very interesting tonearm. The removable headshell with continuous tonearm wiring is similar to the 4Points and should work well in the Tosca design. If the separate headshell is tightly keyed into its fitment and is dedicated to a particular cartridge, the Tosca may allow removal and return of the headshell without requiring zenith or offset adjustment, (a blessing imo).

I see a screw or bolt next to the headshell entry point. Is it a clamping mechansim that holds the headshell tight? Is azimuth adjusted by loosening that bolt and rotating the headshell by hand, using the marks as guides?

Thanks for your report.

 

[dminches]

Tim, the answers to your questions are yes and yes. I had a chance to look at the tonearm up close. That is one well engineered piece.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

This appears a very interesting tonearm. The removable headshell with continuous tonearm wiring is similar to the 4Points and should work well in the Tosca design. If the separate headshell is tightly keyed into its fitment and is dedicated to a particular cartridge, the Tosca may allow removal and return of the headshell without requiring zenith or offset adjustment, (a blessing imo).

I see a screw or bolt next to the headshell entry point. Is it a clamping mechansim that holds the headshell tight? Is azimuth adjusted by loosening that bolt and rotating the headshell by hand, using the marks as guides?

Thanks for your report.

Adding to David’s answer; the head shell is tightly fitted, so switching pre-mounted carts should require minimal hassle.

I did get more info on tonearm cable details last night from Joel. There are 2 choices, both with standard lengths of 4 feet.

The standard cable is $1850, the upgrade is $4000. Of course with the DIN plug one can choose any tone arm cable out there.

 

[dminches]

The DIN connector is at the base of the mount? Do you know why Joel changed the design from the Telos which is wired through?

 

[harleyguy]

lets hope it sounds better than it looks

 

[Genghis6400]

lets hope it sounds better than it looks

Me too

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Me too

can't say i agree.

-- i think the Durand Tosca is a beautiful looking tone arm with first class fit and finish.

-- best sounding tone arm i've heard.

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . .

-- i think the Durand Tosca is a beautiful looking tone arm with first class fit and finish.

. . .

+1

The Durand Tosca is the contemporary pivoting tonearm I would be the most interested in owning.

PS: It doesn’t hurt that Joël is a musician, an engineer, a perfectionist and a truly delightful person!

 

[108CY]

I have just got he Tosca in am waiting for the correct arm board made something temporarily, its certainly a great performer tremendous stability the the midrange have real resolve and scale with texture. Bass is fast yet very deep. Ofcourse this is first impressions am sure it will get even better on further listening. Its a beautifully built tonearm and Joel is a real delight to deal with.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mik you are up way past your bed time!

and....agree with your first impressions of the Tosca. can't wait for you to dig deeper and get a proper arm board set up.

 

[108CY]

Mik you are up way past your bed time!

and....agree with your first impressions of the Tosca. can't wait for you to dig deeper and get a proper arm board set up.

Just got the arm board today try it over weekend