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| Beyond time THE GLANZ’ s legend has revived. Many of long-established audio manufacturers vanished away since analog audio ran into the glacial epoch with the advent of digital audio. Against this tide, GLANZ who threw up chef deouvre products such as tone arm and phono cartridges favored long among audiophiles has survived with its ingenious technology. The birth of an ultimate tone-arm - THE GLANZ - proving the real advantage of analog audio, and tells its regeneration. |
| ◎ "The Glanz" Extra Heavy Weight Tone Arm Technical Description (2012.May) | ||||
| ◎ Specification | Sibatech Inc, Japan | |||
| MH-94SX | MH-104SX | MH-124SX | ||
| Total Length (*1) | 260 mm | 290 mm | 340mm | |
| Effective Length/Practical Length | 230mm/215mm | 245mm/230mm | 305mm/290mm | |
| Offset Angle | 23 ° | 22 ° | 20 ° | |
| Adaptable cartridge weight | 13 - 40g (Incl.headshell) | 9 - 40g (Incl.headshell) | 7 - 42g (Incl.headshell) | |
| Total weight | 1.03kg | 1 kg | 1.05kg | |
| Balancing | Static Balancing | |||
| Overhung | 15mm | |||
| Tracking weight range | 0.25g (Minimum scale) - over 6g (3g/360 °rotation) | |||
| Adjustable height (*2) | 41 - 70mm | |||
| Fixing hall size | 30mm dia.(24mm dia./option. Another size available) | |||
| Fixing depth size | Up to 20mm (Another size is availabel) | |||
| Equipped Accessories | 12g (Incl.screws and lead wires) | |||
| Lead wires (Inside of Arm tube) (*3) | 0.09Φx4 (4N Copper ) | |||
| Lead wires (Head Shell)(*3) | 0.2Φx 7 (5N Copper) | |||
| Equipped Accessories | Standard head shell, 4 fixing screws, 2 hexagonal wrenches | |||
| (*1) : From counter weight shaft end to Headshell terminal. | ||||
| (*2) : From plinth surface to horizontal height of arm tube | ||||
| (*3) : Subject to change by manufacturer | ||||
| ◎Typical Product Feature | ||||
| (1) Extremely massive, rigid, but dumped tone arm
body with simple structure. (2) All parts are made of stainless steel (SS), highest hardness but moderate stickiness material, both of which are quite self contradictory in nature but found to be ultimately suitable for tone arm parts, rather than another tone arm related conventional material. (3) Even from much wide variety of SS family, Glanz selected the most appropriate SS sort, after numerous sound comparison test in each different SS material, namely possibly highest ratio in both Hardness/Stickiness. (4) Selected SS has very poor machinability against machine tools which is the substantial point for extremely high product cost , in addition to primarily high material cost. (5) Absolutely no adhesive, no pivot is applied in every parts assembly to ensure smooth and direct metal contact, deleting any mechanical backlash and loss to get pure and precise sound. (6) All hand made and assembled by Glanz superb workmanship, one by one. (7) Massive but simple structure, being able to dismantle even Anti Skate Adjustment and arm lifting devices. (8) Dumping is another essential key factor for appropriate sound reproduction from record groove and even to cancel SS metal related metalic sound. Glanz installed typical dumping system onto head shell, tone arm pipe and counterweight assembly. |
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| ○ Design concept | ||||
| (a) | "The
Glanz" Extra Heavy Weight Tone arm is the final answer from Glanz
(Founded in 1951), in terms of tone arm design and superb craftsmanship.. |
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| (b) | Ideally,
Tone arm itself shall absolutely be earthed mechanically, stationed just in
still on plinth, allowing only cartridge cantilever for vibrated motion, being forced to move by vinyl record groove through cartridge stylus. |
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| (c) | However,
in general, mechanical vibration picked up by cartridge cantilever is not
fully transduced to electric signal, leaving very tiny mechanical signal to tone arm itself, as mechanical loss which delays the sound rise time and reproduce only poor base and dull sound. This mechanical loss also creates higher harmonic distortion as multiple sound wave towards higher frequency |
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| (d) | Fundamental design concept of Glanz tone arm is to take serious notice on above problem (c) and to get ultra high rigidity and give massive weight in tone arm to sustain cartridge, which picks up tiny analog signal from disc groove, to minimize above mechanical loss. | |||
| (e) | In order to keep highest rigidity to ensure
mechanical unity between tone arm and cartridge, Glanz regulate total gravity point, inertia moment and mechanical resonance frequency of each parts, as well as whole full product scale by appropriate selection of dumper material (Used in top head shell, inner arm and counter weight mechanism) and it's relative mechanical combination. |
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| ○ Damping system in Counterweight Assembly (CA) | ||||
| (f) | CA
composes of 6 layers of circular tube in different material, 3 layers of
which are made of pure rubbers (Dumping for lower frequency, namely arm resonant frequency area), ABS Butyl by resin anodized ( For Mid/High frequency dumping) and thin plastic film ( For Mid/High frequency dumping). Combination of these dumping material, together with adaptive mechanical design help depressing total harmonic distortion in higher frequency tremendously for high fidelity sound reproduction. Dumping for tone arm itself, mainly lead wire dumping is made for the best sound. |
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| ○ Bearing | ||||
| (g) | Both
horizontal and vertical tone arm movement is critically tuned and adjusted
through finest ball bearings (3 radial bearings / 1 thrust bearing) to get highest moving sensitivity, created by record groove signal. As one phase of total concept, avoiding any intermediate material or mechanical looseness from cantilever stylus to tone arm base onto turn table plinth, no pivot in these bearing is applied, but instead, high pressure insertion of bearing outer race to bearing pillow block is required with highest attention by Glanz craftsmanship. |
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| ○ Anti Skate Adjustment | ||||
| (h) | Cancelling
amount of this device is adjustable by changing small weight linking position
against horizontal arm and Glanz requests consumers to get his best position, referring to his test hearing. To make it more simple tone arm, consumers could get rid of whole of this device from tone arm body by hexagonal wrench. |
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| ○ Arm lifting device | ||||
| (i) | This device, also made of stainless steel, is easy to get on and off from tone arm body, if consumers prefer simple structure of whole tone arm body to kill any mechanical looseness.. | |||
| ○ Head shell | ||||
| (j) | Whole
head shell body is made of solid stainless steel even to cable sockets,
avoiding any mechanical contact loss. Width of shell is relatively narrow to spare enough space for direct screw fixing between finger pick (Even this parts is made of stainless steel) and cartridge body. This way is to increase actual contact surface of cartridge back body to head shell plate, ensuring better mechanical contact between them. Top plate of shell is adequately dumped by butyl rubber. |
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Matej Isak Mono and Stereo ultra high end audio magazine All rights reserved, 2012 www.monoandstereo.com