batnoises Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Hey everyone. I'm buying a new turntable very soon and I've realized that I'm lacking some knowledge on tonearms, which can ultimately hinder my decision on a turntable (and can cause me to be unhappy with my decision over time and want to upgrade yet again). I've noticed that on certain models (such as the pro-ject rpm series) that price is directly proportional to tonearm length - increasing in price as length does; particularly the pro-ject rpm1.3 and rpm 3. Fidelity wise, is there a reason for this? What's the effect of tonearm length on audio? I'm also unsure how tonearm shape affects sound quality, if it does at all. I always figured that S shaped tonearms had an effect on the angle of the stylus and made certain cartridges/styli more suitable than others for turntables (elliptical, conical, linear, etc...), and were also a way to affect torque of the arm when the turntable is spinning- and as a result making them superior to straight tonearms. I've since realized S shaped tonearms are in fact longer in general (fairly obvious, but this also relates to my previous question), causing me to wonder if their entire purpose is also to increase the length of tonearms. Could someone provide me with some insight on these things? Everything I've found online looks like marketing jargon to justify substantial price increases. Thanks ahead of time for any help you may provide, and I apologize if this post was at all confusingly worded as I tend to be fairly verbose. I'm sure I'll edit this post around 50 times before I'm finally ok with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Both size and shape have an effect on sound quality, but they are far less important than for example the materials, engineering, design concept, wiring etc. If you're not spending $1.5k+ on the tonearm alone, you shouldn't waste your energy on it. If you are, you probably took the time to learn up on the subject already. Technically the increased length reduces inner groove distortion by reducing the tracking error produced by the pivoting design. Shape is usually more aesthetics and an application-specific solution than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Girth. It's all about girth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batnoises Posted July 27, 2015 Author Share Posted July 27, 2015 I knew about the materials impact, but not Technically the increased length reduces inner groove distortion by reducing the tracking error produced by the pivoting design. Shape is usually more aesthetics and an application-specific solution than anything else. so thanks. because of this, would it make more sense to get the pro-ject rpm3 over the rpm 1.3? Either way the upgrade would be significant since I'm upgrading from an ATLP120. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 You seem to be over thinking this a bit. There isn't a huge difference in effective arm length in any of those tables and it would only be a really noticable thing if you were talking about the differences between 9 and 12 inch arms or in a really high end system where every slightest error stands out like a sore thumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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