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Re: S shape Tonearm vs straight tone arm

I believe the S arm was designed to allow proper offset angle while accommodating interchangeable headshells mounted straight to the end of the arm tube. When concern for a lower mass arm developed to match high compliance cartridges back in the 70s, someone realized a fixed headshell could reduce mass. Once the fixed design gained popularity, designers realized they could utilize a straight arm tube, further lowering mass, with the fixed headshell itself being offset. Now that high compliance cartridges are not so common, medium mass arms can offer interchangeable headshells once again. Cartridge compliance matching with arm mass for best resonant frequency is more important that arm shape, in and of itself.

The other consideration is arm bearing angle as discussed by BK.


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  • Re: S shape Tonearm vs straight tone arm - M3 lover 14:40:09 04/24/07 (0)


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