They include spindle to distance as the arc represents the distance he needs to mount the tonearm.
mr_petit
High on Vinyl
Basically you can use a tape measure or a string.
The mounting distance is important otherwise the length of the slots in the headshell won't be able to compensate for the different alignments.
My favorite is to use a generic SME style adapter/sliding base, like these ones on alie:
www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005244106271.html
As you can see you can get them for different tonearm mouning diameters (the tonearm obviously has to have a round mounting shaft)
There are 2 major advantages to this type of sliding tonearm base imho:
1. because you have a really long sliding slot, you can fit different types of tonearms afterwards, so you only have to cut your armboard once. And any alignment will fit.
2. you can align your cartridge by sliding the base instead of sliding your cartridge in the headshell slots. This is a much easier and more controlled setup (lots of stylii die because of accidents during alignment).
So you just mount the cartridge in the headshell somewhere in the middle of the slots, in such a way that the cartridge sits 'straight'. And then by loosening the the screw in the base that holds the sliding part, you can very controlled slide it a bit forward or backward to align the arm with a protractor.
The only thing that doesn't work with this type of tonearm base is if you want to use something like an easyVTA (if that is available for your tonearm). The base obviously has VTA control (set screw) (that said, easyVTA has a version with sliding base, but only for 1 shaft diameter)
The nice thing about those SME style sliding tonearm bases is that you can get spacers (in brass, aluminium, plastic, wood etc) for them for underneath to raise to complete tonearm.
Like these
SME Spacer
Spacer for SME Tone Arms CNC precision machined in the UK by SMD Acoustics this superbly made spacer is machined from a solid single piece of aluminium alloy for optimal performance. The spacer is 10mm thick and suits all SME tone arms from the 3009, 3010, 3012 through to the modern Series 300...
www.peakhifi.co.uk
SME Solid Brass Spacer
Solid Brass Spacer for SME Tone Arms CNC precision machined in the UK by SMD Acoustics this superbly made spacer is machined from a solid single piece of brass for optimal performance. The spacer is 10mm thick and suits all SME tone arms from the 3009, 3010, 3012 through to the modern Series 300...
www.peakhifi.co.uk
As you're going to mount it on a 401, that is definately something that you'll need as the 401 is pretty high as deck+platter (if you're gonna use a flat upper deck on your plinth). Some tonearms might have a long enough mounting shaft, but if you extend most arms that high, things tend to get very wobbly.
A spacer solves that.
Last edited:
I think turntables like this (the OP said no arm, no plinth) can handle just about any arm, provided the plinth you settle on can accommodate it: something to pay careful attention to if you're getting a longer arm or mounting more than one arm to the plinth. If you look, there is a great diversity of arms seen on Garrard 301/401 and other turntables that were designed and sold in armless, pllinthless configurations. You could also have up to four arms, though I think any more than two is getting crowded, and the rear and right-side mounting locations are good positions for operating the arms, the left-side and front rather less so.
What's of greater importance than which arm "goes" with a 301 - anything good on a 401 should be similarly good on a 301 (please someone correct me if I'm wrong about this) - is which cartridge you'll use with the arm, so either decide on a cartridge you want to use first and then select the arm that will work well with it, or choose the arm first and fit an appropriate cartridge. I don't think it matters which way round you do that, though I get the impression that there are probably more people who focus on the cartridge first.
What's of greater importance than which arm "goes" with a 301 - anything good on a 401 should be similarly good on a 301 (please someone correct me if I'm wrong about this) - is which cartridge you'll use with the arm, so either decide on a cartridge you want to use first and then select the arm that will work well with it, or choose the arm first and fit an appropriate cartridge. I don't think it matters which way round you do that, though I get the impression that there are probably more people who focus on the cartridge first.
cafe latte
Addicted Member
cafe latte
Addicted Member
You are correct the conversion factor is no more than a fudge.
Chris
kyle
Super Member
It applies to the type of cartridge you will use more than the table. For modern cartridges I stand by my recommendations for the Fidelity Research FR-54 and Micro Seiki MA 505. They are bothe fantastic arms that work well with today's carts. They aren't over priced and you'll get years of great performance from them. The money you save over some other arms will buy you a lot of nice records.
The FR-54 is very affordable, and there are plenty of them available. I'll probably pick one up myself one day, just because.
Anyway, it's well under the $1200 mentioned in the opening comment (about $350), and leaves enough money over to supply a two-arm Garrard (and what could be cooler) with a second excellent arm. As long as the turntable itself is functioning well (I'm sure I don't have to rehash the usual idler/Garrard caveats), it's worth spending some real money on, and fortunately good arms aren't ruinously expensive. My list earlier shows some of the prices: buying an FR-54 at that price would leave around ¥120,000 ($750) for a second arm, with a small though possibly not sufficient buffer for packing and shipping. I believe that would actually run to about $100 per arm.
And yes, I may be too enthusiastic about 2-arm setups. But no plinth, man: you gotta go big when the chance is just sitting there.
Last edited:
flavio81
Turntable technician
Grados have a high-Q (peaky, resonant) suspension and thus they're not easy to match to a tonearm.
I had the Grado MCX (low impedance) on the SME 3009 III, it sounded wonderful, but i was using the fluid damping, which makes all the difference in the world in this specific case.