New Tonearm Release Date 2014
- Thread starter MylesBAstor
- Start date
I don't see how VTA adjusts. It's nice looking, though. My guess is that it may sound a lot like a Wilson Benesch tonearm, which in my mind sounds pretty good. Kara Chaffee's deHavilland room at RMAF a few years ago paired up with Wilson Benesch products, including their tonearm, and I thought it was the best room that year, as did at least one online reviewer, if I remember correctly...I digress. The largely ignored tonearm did nothing wrong that I heard. Was it 2009, or 2010? Anyway, it reminds me of that arm, except it is a lot prettier.
i think the vta adjusts with the knurled set-screw with the nylon pad at the tip, it must push against the arm mount to lift and lower the yoke. not an elegant solution but I don't know what they're charging for the arm.
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Looks pretty well thought out and executed. The vertical pivot is the same angle as the headshell offset which is nice. That way azimuth stays the same when the arm travels up and down on warped records. Has anti skate and VTA adjustment. Azimuth adjustment at the headshell. It would be better if the azimuth adjustment was at the same angle as the headshell offset. Being that it is not at the same angle, overhang will need to be reset after azimuth adjustment. Very few arms have that capability though. Looks like the pivot point is close to being in the same plane as the stylus. Ideally it would be in the same plane but most arms are not.
It looks like the VTA is determined by a gauge screw height, a bit like the SME which can be unscrewed and removed. You set it low by pushing down on the top of the arm and then turn the gauge screw to raise the arm to the proper height. This allows the locking collar on the vertical arm tower to be very rigid when tightened, which is good. It is not quite as convenient to change VTA on the fly as with arms that have an offset mounting tower, but it allows for a more rigid connection to the arm board. At least that is how it appears from the photos.
It's interesting that the arm cable is not broken at the headshell, ala some SME arms with detachable headshells, maintaining the continuous run to the phono amp. Entering the arm tube after the joint is a nice idea. This will make cartridge swapping more difficult but should result in better sonics. I agree it would be better to have the azimuth rotation after the headshell angle/break. Is that white ring at the thick end of the arm tube near the pivot a dampening ring? It appears that the horizontal pivot is considerably higher than the stylus or LP height.
I like the comment about Da Vinci and SME having a puppy. Good one. Does anyone know the price?
I like the comment about Da Vinci and SME having a puppy. Good one. Does anyone know the price?
this idea is straight from Kuzma's playbook, like I said lots if not too many similarities with the stogi
The designer's got a new Facebook page up: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Swedish-Analog-Technologies-SAT/681409891878607?hc_location=timeline
I was trying to get a sample for CES, but unfortunately it won't be ready yet.......
I was trying to get a sample for CES, but unfortunately it won't be ready yet.......
Hi,
I am the man behind the SAT pickup arm. I thought it would be better if I stepped in and make some clarifications about the engineering and features of the SAT.
If you have visited the Swedish Analog Technologies website www.swedishat.com, you may have read about the important role I consider the arm has in the vinyl playback system. I actually claim that, given a minimum level of performance of the cartridge and turntable, the pickup arm has far greater effect on the fidelity of the sound reproduction than the turntable has.
This is mainly due to the big difference in mass and dimension of these components. The mass ratios between platter and arm are typically in the range 100:1 - 1000:1. The rigidity ratios are also very high - one or two orders of magnitude higher in most cases and much higher in many others.
Under this conditions, the forces originated in the stylus-record interface which are equally applied to the arm and the platter, will cause a much higher displacement and deformation on the arm than on the platter. Thus, the distortion originated in the arm will be significantly much higher than that originated in the platter.
Given a minimum quality and performance of the turntable, the pickup arm has a much grater potential for improving the overall performance and fidelity of the analog system than the turntable. A more detailed article about this subject can be found at http://swedishat.com/articles.html.
This is a concept which very few are aware of and even less follow. Most audiophiles looking for the ultimate analog audio nirvana, place most of their budget in the best turntable they can afford and loose a lot of performance by failing to invest in an excellent pickup arm, which would bring them closer to nirvana at a fraction of the cost of a top flight turntable. An arm will last for many years, even generations, probably longer than turntables with their electronics and other wearing parts, and of course will outlast many times every single cartridge. I believe most buy equipment with their eyes rather than with their brains and ears; a big solid sculptured piece of turntable is much more appealing than a stick in a pillar… But I hope this notion is going to gradually change and a better balance will be achieved.
Marc Gomez
I am the man behind the SAT pickup arm. I thought it would be better if I stepped in and make some clarifications about the engineering and features of the SAT.
If you have visited the Swedish Analog Technologies website www.swedishat.com, you may have read about the important role I consider the arm has in the vinyl playback system. I actually claim that, given a minimum level of performance of the cartridge and turntable, the pickup arm has far greater effect on the fidelity of the sound reproduction than the turntable has.
This is mainly due to the big difference in mass and dimension of these components. The mass ratios between platter and arm are typically in the range 100:1 - 1000:1. The rigidity ratios are also very high - one or two orders of magnitude higher in most cases and much higher in many others.
Under this conditions, the forces originated in the stylus-record interface which are equally applied to the arm and the platter, will cause a much higher displacement and deformation on the arm than on the platter. Thus, the distortion originated in the arm will be significantly much higher than that originated in the platter.
Given a minimum quality and performance of the turntable, the pickup arm has a much grater potential for improving the overall performance and fidelity of the analog system than the turntable. A more detailed article about this subject can be found at http://swedishat.com/articles.html.
This is a concept which very few are aware of and even less follow. Most audiophiles looking for the ultimate analog audio nirvana, place most of their budget in the best turntable they can afford and loose a lot of performance by failing to invest in an excellent pickup arm, which would bring them closer to nirvana at a fraction of the cost of a top flight turntable. An arm will last for many years, even generations, probably longer than turntables with their electronics and other wearing parts, and of course will outlast many times every single cartridge. I believe most buy equipment with their eyes rather than with their brains and ears; a big solid sculptured piece of turntable is much more appealing than a stick in a pillar… But I hope this notion is going to gradually change and a better balance will be achieved.
Marc Gomez
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Hi again,
I will now address some more specific issues already pointed out in previous posts by some of you in this thread.
The arm tube, headshell and yokes are made of carbon fiber laminates, molded in a tool and then CNC-machined. Every single CF component is designed and manufactured specifically for the SAT; there are no of-the-shelf CF parts. I design the laminates and the tooling, and use specific grades of CF to achieve the very high level of rigidity that characterizes the arm tube and headshell of the SAT.
The silver ring in the arm tube is just a cosmetic feature -it has no damping function at all (by design).
The height of the arm, and thus the VTA/SRA, can be adjusted by means of a long set-screw with an Allen key. This can be done while playing, though it is somewhat cumbersome and definitely nothing to be done in a record-to-record basis. Nevertheless, it works very nicely for setting up purposes and once done, the position can be locked by the knurled counter-nut. The snug fit between the arm base and pillar, combined with the high weight of the arm assembly, makes the movement very smooth and precise -no need to push the arm down, as suggested in a previous post!
The headshell is detachable with adjustable azimuth in the standard arm -an option with fixed headshell is available. The offset angle of the headshell and the bearing are the same to keep the azimuth unaffected when changing VTA/SRA or riding a warp.
The vertical plane bearing axle is located slightly above (just a few millimeters) the position of the stylus. This decision has to do with rigidity and dynamic balance considerations.
I have chosen to have direct connections between the cartridge and the pre-amplifier to avoid degrading the signal where it is more sensitive. With the tweezers I supply and without rushing, it is easy to plug/unplug the terminals to the cartridge.
As per the resemblance with the Kuzma Stogi Ref arm, Frank Kuzma´s designs are clearly engineering-based and have interesting ideas and features in use. A tapered arm tube, gimballed bearings and tonearm cable entering the arm tube by the side are solutions applied in many designs long before the Stogi was launched. I use the concepts that others have already implemented if they are the best solution -I would be very silly not doing it! Then, I also use my own concepts and ideas when I believe they will provide the best performance. Just looking at the shape of the arm tube is too limited to be able to make a proper assessment- besides the shape, there is nothing else similar to the Stogi arm tube. And for the record, I believe the Stogi Ref is a very underestimated arm!
The fact that the SAT may look deceivingly simple, is actually no accident and has required a great deal of thinking. There is much more going on behind the simplicity and inside the arm which only a keen trained eye can catch.
With this I think I have answered to most of what has been speculated until now. Please, let me know if you have more questions and I will try to do my best to answer as much as I can.
/Marc
I will now address some more specific issues already pointed out in previous posts by some of you in this thread.
The arm tube, headshell and yokes are made of carbon fiber laminates, molded in a tool and then CNC-machined. Every single CF component is designed and manufactured specifically for the SAT; there are no of-the-shelf CF parts. I design the laminates and the tooling, and use specific grades of CF to achieve the very high level of rigidity that characterizes the arm tube and headshell of the SAT.
The silver ring in the arm tube is just a cosmetic feature -it has no damping function at all (by design).
The height of the arm, and thus the VTA/SRA, can be adjusted by means of a long set-screw with an Allen key. This can be done while playing, though it is somewhat cumbersome and definitely nothing to be done in a record-to-record basis. Nevertheless, it works very nicely for setting up purposes and once done, the position can be locked by the knurled counter-nut. The snug fit between the arm base and pillar, combined with the high weight of the arm assembly, makes the movement very smooth and precise -no need to push the arm down, as suggested in a previous post!
The headshell is detachable with adjustable azimuth in the standard arm -an option with fixed headshell is available. The offset angle of the headshell and the bearing are the same to keep the azimuth unaffected when changing VTA/SRA or riding a warp.
The vertical plane bearing axle is located slightly above (just a few millimeters) the position of the stylus. This decision has to do with rigidity and dynamic balance considerations.
I have chosen to have direct connections between the cartridge and the pre-amplifier to avoid degrading the signal where it is more sensitive. With the tweezers I supply and without rushing, it is easy to plug/unplug the terminals to the cartridge.
As per the resemblance with the Kuzma Stogi Ref arm, Frank Kuzma´s designs are clearly engineering-based and have interesting ideas and features in use. A tapered arm tube, gimballed bearings and tonearm cable entering the arm tube by the side are solutions applied in many designs long before the Stogi was launched. I use the concepts that others have already implemented if they are the best solution -I would be very silly not doing it! Then, I also use my own concepts and ideas when I believe they will provide the best performance. Just looking at the shape of the arm tube is too limited to be able to make a proper assessment- besides the shape, there is nothing else similar to the Stogi arm tube. And for the record, I believe the Stogi Ref is a very underestimated arm!
The fact that the SAT may look deceivingly simple, is actually no accident and has required a great deal of thinking. There is much more going on behind the simplicity and inside the arm which only a keen trained eye can catch.
With this I think I have answered to most of what has been speculated until now. Please, let me know if you have more questions and I will try to do my best to answer as much as I can.
/Marc
Marc welcome to this site. I can appreciate your use of post cured carbon laminates, i've worked with it in a previous life along with wet layup composite structures. its humbling to see other designers give credit where its due, I didn't mean for my comment to sound as if you copied Franks stogi, good ideas are borrowed all the time and your design tradeoffs appeal to my sensibilities as an end user. I look forward to one day seeing/touching/hearing you arm in action.
Thank you for welcoming me to WBF, Gary, Myles and Rob!
As you may know I am working in preparing production of the SAT and am looking forward to seeing, within a few months, some arms in the hands of someone else than me ;-)
As you may know I am working in preparing production of the SAT and am looking forward to seeing, within a few months, some arms in the hands of someone else than me ;-)
The SAT is now heading towards Malaysia to meet with the TechDAS Air Force One turntable.
This is the actual arm with the dedicated arm board.
I have made a simple but effective modification in the height adjustment device and now it is much more user-friendly -it is operated with the finger by means of the knurled knob. For the production arms a millimetre scale on the pillar and an indexed knurled knob will be implemented and the operation will certainly very smooth, accurate and repeatable. It can be operated on-the-fly.
Cheers,
/Marc
This is the actual arm with the dedicated arm board.
I have made a simple but effective modification in the height adjustment device and now it is much more user-friendly -it is operated with the finger by means of the knurled knob. For the production arms a millimetre scale on the pillar and an indexed knurled knob will be implemented and the operation will certainly very smooth, accurate and repeatable. It can be operated on-the-fly.
Cheers,
/Marc
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Production parts are being manufactured and gathered for assembling. The engraved scale in the arm pillar and numbers in the dial are now implemented -from 3D CAD model to physical parts.
Marc Gomez stopped me outside the AVM Gauder room in Munich two weeks ago. We shot a great video of the arm. And yes Marc, we can review it.
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