TechDAS tonearm Air Force 10

[Ron Resnick]

 

[Ron Resnick]

 

[Ron Resnick]

Quick impressions:

The tonearm on the Air Force Zero achieves incredibly quiet vinyl playback.

Maier's whole system with Wilson Audio XVX and Master Subsonics is sounding remarkably natural and realistic.

 

[Ron Resnick]

- YouTube

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[Ron Resnick]

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

 

[Ron Resnick]

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

 

[Ron Resnick]

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

 

[Ron Resnick]

The Air Force 10 tonearm clearly is a very impressive piece of work. And it is built to the usual TechDAS very high standard of machining and build quality.

I imagine a lot of TechDAS turntable owners will want to add this tonearm to their TechDAS turntable.

 

[TLi]

The Air Force 10 tonearm clearly is a very impressive piece of work. And it is built to the usual TechDAS very high standard of machining and build quality.

I imagine a lot of TechDAS turntable owners will want to add this tonearm to their TechDAS turntable.

I ordered one already but there is still no delivery date yet

 

[Ron Resnick]

I ordered one already but there is still no delivery date yet

I am sure you will be very happy with it!

 

[mtemur]

Dear @Ron Resnick thanks for the pictures and report, much appreciated. Was there any other tonearm mounted on the turntable for comparison?

 

[Ron Resnick]

Was there any other tonearm mounted on the turntable for comparison?

no

 

[Ron Resnick]

Michael Fremer reports that the tonearm's price, just announced, is $45,000 for the 10" arm, $49,000 for the 12".

 

[mtemur]

Michael Fremer reports that the tonearm's price, just announced, is $45,000 for the 10" arm, $49,000 for the 12".

¥5.000.000 in Japan which roughly equals to $30.000

 

[CKKeung]

MF is super!

 

[BillK]

I'm surprised at Framer's statement that they hadn't really considered what would happen when the tonearm lost the bearing air cushion due to a power or pump failure when they have explicit instructions on what to do in case of a power/pump failure to avoid scratching the glass plate that is below the platter's air bearing in the manuals for the turntables.

 

[BillK]

Air Force 10 tonearm prototype was demonstrated in Munich Highend Show. The final product will be ready at the end of year, probably during the Tokyo Audio Show in November, we will see the real AF10.

The sound was very good during the demonstration, but I cannot tell how much is contributed by the tonearm.

Yes, I was surprised they didn't have a Graham Phantom Elite 12" or Kuzma Safir 9" mounted as well (with the same cartridge) so they could swap back and forth between the two; that's what I would have done.

 

[TLi]

In Tokyo Show, the rooms are allocated according to dealers most of the times and not to manufacturers. Stella Inc is the dealer for TechDAS and Graham. They don't usually do direct A/B comparison between two of their brands due to obvious reason. Only upon direct request from one of the members in this forum, a foreigner in Japan, they agreed to compare them.

All Air Force turntables use air bearing platter. If you switch it off, there is a delay of around 3 minutes to let the platter slowly comes to a complete stop before the air pump is shut off. If there is a blackout, the pump is out immediately. There is still some reserve pressure in the reservoir tank which should be able to support the platter for a few seconds or so. I don't know the exact duration since I have not tried.

If the user lives in an area where there are frequent blackouts, it is better for him to install UPS, uninterrupted power supply, for the turntable to protect it. Otherwise, he has to be quick to get up and goes to turntable to stop the platter before float pressure is gone. We rarely have blackout, so it is not a problem for me.

 

[audioblazer]

I'm surprised at Framer's statement that they hadn't really considered what would happen when the tonearm lost the bearing air cushion due to a power or pump failure when they have explicit instructions on what to do in case of a power/pump failure to avoid scratching the glass plate that is below the platter's air bearing in the manuals for the turntables.

According to the video, if there is a power outage , a spring mechanism will lift up the tonearm . Smart tonearm designed by smart Japanese

 

[BillK]

According to the video, if there is a power outage , a spring mechanism will lift up the tonearm . Smart tonearm designed by smart Japanese

Yes, but Fremer states at 2:18 in the video it's because he asked them what would happen if their tonearm bearing lost air pressure due to a power failure or pump failure.

I just stated I was surprised they hadn't considered that as they already included a warning to stop the platter ASAP because of the air bearing in the manual for their turntables.