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TechDAS tonearm Air Force 10
- Thread starter TLi
- Start date
After much delay, the box for my Air Force 10 was delivered. This is the first batch of final product to customers. TechDAS team will come to my place to install it tomorrow. They will also host a demonstration in Hong Kong dealer showroom on Friday.
Naturally, I am very excited and grateful for the tonearm to be professionally installed by the manufacturer, just have to wait one more day though.
Naturally, I am very excited and grateful for the tonearm to be professionally installed by the manufacturer, just have to wait one more day though.
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Congratulations!
I received my TD Dia already but am still waiting for my AF10 allocation. I was told last quarter of this year. I opted for a 12" wand since the SAT can't be mounted in the rear position of an AF1/1P and only a 12" AF 10 can be mounted in the rear. Bye, bye Elite which will go to an AF3P.
I received my TD Dia already but am still waiting for my AF10 allocation. I was told last quarter of this year. I opted for a 12" wand since the SAT can't be mounted in the rear position of an AF1/1P and only a 12" AF 10 can be mounted in the rear. Bye, bye Elite which will go to an AF3P.
I am very grateful for the TechDAS team to come to my place and install Air Force 10 tonearm on Air Force Zero. Using TechDAS TDC-01 Dia cartridge, it is now an all TechDAS system.
Although I already expect AF10 to sound good, it is beyond my expectation that AF10 is this good. I have SAT CF-09 Ti, one of the most expensive and best sounding tonearms, AF10 is on par with SAT at less than half the price. I am very impressed.
In recent years, there is noticeable improvement in every aspect of vinyl playback. Anything from turntable to tonearm to cartridge, it keeps getting better and better. TechDAS TDC-01 Dia and Air Force 10 tonearm are the best of the best. Just give it an audition, you will be convinced. I am so glad to witness this transformation, wouldn't be happier.
Although I already expect AF10 to sound good, it is beyond my expectation that AF10 is this good. I have SAT CF-09 Ti, one of the most expensive and best sounding tonearms, AF10 is on par with SAT at less than half the price. I am very impressed.
In recent years, there is noticeable improvement in every aspect of vinyl playback. Anything from turntable to tonearm to cartridge, it keeps getting better and better. TechDAS TDC-01 Dia and Air Force 10 tonearm are the best of the best. Just give it an audition, you will be convinced. I am so glad to witness this transformation, wouldn't be happier.
How fun it must be to experience such fine gear and meet the team from TechDAS!
Here is a video on the installation by TechDAS team.
Fantastic Thomas! That's an awesome analogue set up you have right now! Congratulations - the best of the best. Plus it look sooo good
Is the AF10 arm really so much better than the S.A.T.? Incredible.
Is the AF10 arm really so much better than the S.A.T.? Incredible.
I believe he said exactly the opposite. I had high hopes for AF10 after listening in Tokyo last year.
For the past week or so, I have tried different configurations with my two tonearms and two cartridges. There are TechDAS Air Force 10, SAT CF-9 Ti and TechDAS TDC-01 Dia and DS Audio Grand Master Extreme. Swapping back and fore is time consuming. There are 10 inch and 12 inch wand of AF10 to play with as well.Fantastic Thomas! That's an awesome analogue set up you have right now! Congratulations - the best of the best. Plus it look sooo good
Is the AF10 arm really so much better than the S.A.T.? Incredible.
My preliminary conclusions are
1) TechDAS TDC-01 Dia sounds better with 12 inch wand on Air Force 10 tonearm. The sound on 10 inch wand is a little too sharp.
2) TechDAS TDC-01 Dia actually matches better with SAT CF-9 Ti, TDC-01 Dia is good in midrange and treble while SAT is strong with bass.
3) DS Audio Grand Master Extreme works very well with 10 inch wand in AF10. It is better than 12 inch.
4) Adding active isolation to air pump of AF10 takes its performance to another level. It is certainly at the same level with SAT CF-9 Ti.
Currently, my system uses TechDAS cartridge on SAT arm and Grand Master Extreme on AF10, it is kind of the best of both worlds. I am very surprised with the improvement with active isolation on air pump of AF10. My compliment go to TechDAS for developing this wonderful tonearm. It is one of best arms available.
Between the SAT and the Elite I assume because I haven't used or heard the AF 10. The SAT and Elite differ in areas. SAT definitely has tighter bass and a more open top end. Broadly speaking the midrange qualities of the SAT can vary according to how tightly you set the bearings. Tracking is never really a problem with any arm on an AF Table with the vacuum on so this takes away what would have been an advantage for the unipivot Graham.
Honestly I think the cartridge matching is more important here. I did not like my GFS at all on the SAT but works very well with Elite. Koetsu on the SAT a totally different story. MYSonic-Airtight-TD carts don't seem to care one way or another. Lyras on the SAT I prefer over the Elite as well.
Downside of the SAT is that in a humid country like ours, keeping that raw carbon looking clean can be challenging when you've got a high four or low five figure cart hanging off its end.
Honestly I think the cartridge matching is more important here. I did not like my GFS at all on the SAT but works very well with Elite. Koetsu on the SAT a totally different story. MYSonic-Airtight-TD carts don't seem to care one way or another. Lyras on the SAT I prefer over the Elite as well.
Downside of the SAT is that in a humid country like ours, keeping that raw carbon looking clean can be challenging when you've got a high four or low five figure cart hanging off its end.
R
Thanks. Now I recently bought the AF3 Premium which comes with the Elite arm. I decided for the TD brand new DIA cartridge for that arm. Would dat work well? There was no way to test it. So a bit of a gamble. But before the AF 10 was available they even used the Elite on the ZERO so guesses the arm must be top quality for the AF3.
It undoubtedly will Erik, here is a toast to hopefully many years of analog bliss. Cheers!
Congratulations on your new turntable! I’m sure you’re enjoying it. As for the Graham Elite, unfortunately, it’s not on the same level as the AF3P. The TechDAS titanium version does sound better than the regular one, but it’s still not a great tonearm. It’s not even a true unipivot. The azimuth assembly is connected to the base using a cardanic or similar type of bearing, and the arm is tightly coupled to the azimuth assembly via magnets. You can try disengaging the azimuth assembly and see for yourself how tightly it’s connected—there’s almost no difference from a physical connection.
Additionally, the tonearm’s high center of gravity causes it to tilt strongly to one side when azimuth assembly is disengaged, due to the heavy main bearing (unipivot). As the arm moves across the record, it drags the azimuth assembly along with it, meaning the arm rides on the azimuth assembly’s bearing as well as the main unipivot. This “unipivot illusion” makes the arm less rigid without offering any real advantage over rigid race or ball bearings used in other tonearms. The anti-skating mechanism, borrowed from Jelco, also doesn’t work well in my experience—possibly due to the added resistance from the azimuth assembly.
Another issue is that the azimuth assembly introduces side force to the main unipivot because of the magnetic coupling. In my opinion and experience, the Graham is not a great tracker because it struggles to keep the cartridge steady. This is noticeable on low-frequency tracks and results in artificial high-frequency distortion with less-than-perfect bass. Please take my comments seriously —you can clearly see the azimuth assembly in the pictures below.
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At Audioquattr's place, the 3012r sounds better than the Elite on the AF3p with the vdh strad, the Ikeda sounds best with the Dava reference and the combo sounds the best overall, and the Dava Soul also works better on the Glanz than on the Elite. You can check with him by PM if required.
What turntables do you use? Pictures would be nice as well :-)
So here is the first turntable that I actually payed money for… a Sony PS-X7. Turns out it is still useful. Now I periodically utilize it, with its replay feature, this and a dollar record, and forty hours or so, you have a relaxed cantilever former, and you’re ready for a final alignment.
www.whatsbestforum.com
The arm came with the AF3. I also considered the Kuzma Safir. Is it possible to upgrade the want for the Titanium version? Or is the Azimuth control the bigger problem?
Kuzma Safir is a much better arm and sounds very good when matched with Techdas cartridge IMHO. You can upgrade Graham armwand to titanium Techdas version, rest is the same. Azimuth assembly is the same for both versions and obviously problem applies to both Graham Elite and Techdas.
What about the Techdas AF10 arm? Or is this an overkill for the AF3? But with the top TD dia cartridge?
I don’t believe that installing what may be the best tonearm is overkill for the AF3P, though I’m not sure if the AF10 is the top choice. Members who own the AF10 can provide better insight on how it compares to other high-end tonearms. It’s also worth noting that the AF3P isn’t the pinnacle of performance; there’s a significant improvement when stepping up to the AF1P.
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