Benny Audio writes: “Opinions on the importance of different turntable components in achieving high-quality sound are deeply divided within the audiophile community. There is a widespread belief that the cartridge is the primary determinant of a turntable’s final sound. Some, however, subscribe to the idea that all equipment sounds the same and that the various technologies and price tags are just one big hoax. Well…
Those who emphasize the importance of the cartridge often view the tonearm merely as a kind of holder for the cartridge—a mechanical guide that doesn’t significantly contribute to the sound. In this view, the plinth is seen as a not particularly important part of the turntable, whose main function is just to spin the vinyl—some do it better, some worse, but that’s not the point here…
I’ve already written about how crucial the drive system is. It’s extremely important, with no room for doubt.
Now, it’s high time to focus on the tonearm and its complex relationship with the cartridge.
In the past, tonearms were fairly straightforward in their design. There were tangential arms (in the minority) and classic arms with various suspension methods. The latter came with either straight or S-shaped tubes. When buying a turntable, there wasn’t much choice because the lucky customer usually received a complete package, often with a pre-installed and pre-adjusted cartridge. All you had to do was unpack, place it on a shelf, and start enjoying your record collection.
Today, the situation is a bit more complicated. Firstly, a complete turntable (drive and tonearm) from a single manufacturer is a rarity. Secondly, as a result of the first point, the tonearm market has flourished, but perhaps not in the right direction. The specialization of production, whether in drives or tonearms, has somewhat forced manufacturers to overemphasize the importance of their components, often forgetting about the required synergy with the other parts. What’s the point of having a great tonearm if you already have a fantastic 300 kg drive? Or why bother with a drive if you have a golden tonearm?
Types of Tonearms
A tangential tonearm is one that has no tracking angle error. In other words, it moves parallel to the grooves, with the cartridge and stylus traveling the shortest possible path from the edge of the record to the center, mimicking the movement of the cutting stylus.
It’s important to note that the first stage of creating a vinyl record involves cutting the master record—on a rotating platter, the record is placed (without going into details), and above it moves a cutting head with a stylus from one end to the center. The tangential tonearm reproduces the sound by guiding the stylus on the record in exactly the same way.
I believe that this is unfortunately the only advantage of this type of tonearm. With this honest confession, I probably won’t gain the sympathy of tangential arm enthusiasts. But so be it.
A classic tonearm is mounted at a single pivot point, and the cartridge along with the stylus moves over the record in an arc. With this kind of tonearm, there are only two points where the tracking error is minimal or close to zero. In general, tracking error is the biggest flaw of classic tonearms, but in my view, the list of advantages not only forgives this sin but actually makes these tonearms far superior to their parallel counterparts.
Classic designs can be divided into kardans, unipivots (a nightmare for users), and combinations of the two.
Today’s market is flooded with new (not innovative, because that term carries too much optimism) designs that try to combine a classically suspended tonearm in a single pivot axis with an attempt to guide the cartridge in a parallel manner. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, these creations have little to do with sound engineering, at best with art—and I’ll stop there. Why? The answer will come later in practice. Additionally, there are various accompanying inventions, such as swinging headshells or other elaborate cartridge mounts.
The tonearm has an unimaginably large impact on the sound that we ultimately get from a turntable. If someone asked me whether I’d prefer a good tonearm with a cheaper cartridge or an expensive cartridge with a poor tonearm, I would immediately and confidently say—a better tonearm with a worse cartridge. A good tonearm will allow the cartridge to showcase 100% of its charm, while a bad tonearm will ruin even the best cartridge’s performance.
To understand the purpose of the tonearm and what it should do, one must first understand how a cartridge works. After all, the tonearm serves the cartridge, not the other way around.
More on what happens inside the cartridge and how it relates to the tonearm next time.