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Fingerlift for Tonearms question

vaathi

vaathi

baski
Subscriber
I have Alphason Designs HR100S and lost the finger lift that came with it. Is it absolutely necessary to have a fingerlift. Does it in anyway have an effect on the mechanics and balance of the arm? Or it is just a convenient handle. I apologize if this question is asked earlier.
 
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vaathi said:
I have Alphason Designs HR100S and lost the finger lift that came with it. Is it absolutely necessary to have a fingerlift. Does it in anyway have an effect on the mechanics and balance of the arm? Or it is just a convenient handle. I apologize if this question is asked earlier.
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There are a lot of things in life worth worrying about. This definitely isn't one of them. It's probably impossible to make a wrong decision here.
 
You could easily make a replacement fingerlift.
Just get some thin metal stock at a hobby shop and go at it.
 
Add one if you need it. Magnepan Unitrac came without a finger lift and later production added one that needed a bit more compensation on the azimuth weight arm to balance the arm properly. Probably folks not figuring out how to use the arm without the finger lift. I like the arm much better without it and when I first saw the lifts provided, I was shocked that they would think that would be a good idea. But some folks gotta have one.

Seems the original was a £ back in the day and project makes one for £3.5 today. Might find one that will work on the bay or make one if you need to.
 
vaathi said:
I have Alphason Designs HR100S and lost the finger lift that came with it. Is it absolutely necessary to have a fingerlift. Does it in anyway have an effect on the mechanics and balance of the arm? Or it is just a convenient handle. I apologize if this question is asked earlier.
Click to expand...

It is good to have a finger lift. Essential if your arm lacks cueing controls (many broadcast tonearms lack them)
 
On a lightweight unipivot arm such as the Unitrac mentioned above it might have just enough weight to make a small difference. On any other type of arm I can't imagine it would have any measurable effect unless the bearings were grossly maladjusted to the loose side. Even then it could be compensated for.
 
Montycat said:
On a lightweight unipivot arm such as the Unitrac mentioned above it might have just enough weight to make a small difference.
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Actually it makes a significant difference on a non-damped unipivot. The weights that are used to set azimuth are usually one or two ridges out from the counterweight (where the rod is that they slide on) and with the fingerlift these weights need to go nearly to the end of the rod. Of course, an additional weight can be used and the set of three would mount much closer to the counterweight, if it wasn't too much weight for the adjustment.
 
Yes, I probably understated the effect on an arm like that. I don't currently have a unipivot in rotation but I should have a look at my Audiocraft and Unitrac. The AC is damped though but also has an easy to use sliding counterbalance.
 
Some people think that removing the fingerlift contributes to a reduction in resonance and thus an improvement in sound quality.

These people should be viewed with grave suspicion...
 
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