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