Viv Lab Owners

[mtemur]

Spin Doctor #17: Paging Dr. Löfgren, ViV Laboratory's Rigid Float 9ha tonearm

It started one evening when I was killing time watching YouTube videos and stumbled across a 2017 talk given by Jonathan Carr, Lyra's brilliant cartridge designer (footnote 1). After discussing his design and Lyra's manufacturing processes for about 18 minutes, Carr opens the floor to questions...

www.stereophile.com

I read the review on Stereophile. It contains mistakes IMHO and that’s why I sent an e-mail to Stereophile. In short;

I am not sure why this inaccurate information was included in the review. It could have been a direct reference to the manufacturer’s comments, or perhaps it was an oversight in research. Either way, such misinformation is problematic and misleading for readers.

 

[bonzo75]

I read the review on Stereophile. It contains mistakes IMHO and that’s why I sent an e-mail to Stereophile. In short;

I am not sure why this inaccurate information was included in the review. It could have been a direct reference to the manufacturer’s comments, or perhaps it was an oversight in research. Either way, such misinformation is problematic and misleading for readers.

Hi which part of the info are you referring to

 

[mtemur]

Hi which part of the info are you referring to

Almost whole review is full of mistakes, but I addressed skating specifically;

The review suggests that the offset angle is responsible for skating and that by eliminating the offset angle and making the tonearm straight, the ViV Labs arm eliminates the skating force. This is incorrect.

In reality, skating is not caused by the offset angle, and making the tonearm straight does not negate the need for anti-skating. Skating occurs due to overhang or underhung geometry. Specifically, straight, underhung arms like the ViV Labs model switch the direction of the skating force after the null point while regular overhang arms have same direction of skating throughout the record. Unlike regular arms with overhang and offset angles, underhung arms only have one null point. Designing an anti-skating mechanism that compensates for this directional switch after the null point is complex. Perhaps this is why the manufacturer chose not to include an anti-skating mechanism, or they may be unaware of this nuance. Nonetheless, it is incorrect to suggest that anti-skating is redundant for this or any similar arm. It is not negligible either.

IMHO it’s more like a manufacturer’s claim than a review.

 

[Dogberry]

We have a hint that Michael Fremer is getting into underhung arms:

 

[KPC]

I was hoping Sterephile’s M Trei would figure out the ViV Sonic mystery.