Series Six arms

The Series Six arms feature the latest thinking in tonearm design with a multi-layer carbon-fibre/aluminium arm tube assembly with detachable cartridge plates, built-in azimuth adjustment and a multi-element counterweight with constrained layer damping.

Full review by John Hoffman for "Positive Feedback" HERE

Review by Clive Meakins for "Enjoy the Music" HERE

Owner observations
HERE and HERE

Those are the opinions of long-term Series Five arm owners who have updated to Series Six, so very well informed observations.

Why carbon fibre?
Carbon fibre is very much stiffer than an aluminium or steel tube (a factor of 9 to 6.5) and only about 60% of the density. This means that we can make a far stiffer arm tube for the same weight. Stiffness isn’t everything in an arm tube and here the major advantage of the new material really makes a difference. As a composite, a carbon fibre tube has a far superior internal damping than a metal one, a factor of 150:40 for aluminium.

The carbon fibre arm tube is a multi-layer design. The first 50mm is less than 0.5mm thick, effectively isolating the headshell and cartridge to minimise any acoustic feedback. The tube thickness progressively increases internally with the layers of fibres aligned along and cross-woven for the best combination of stiffness and feedback supression making it possible to achieve far greater control than with a metal tube.

The audible difference is an exceptionally neutral arm with a major improvement in definition, imaging, fine detail and exceptional neutrality.

The evolution version
The internal changes made for the 12" version have been incorporated into the shorter arms, they include:

• A redesigned bearing carrier, bearings and shaft assembly in the base.
  
• Teflon-insulated cryo-treated silver litz wiring.
• A new carbon-fibre over brass cored counterweight.
• A revised arm lift mechanism.

The arms come with a new setup kit that includes an acrylic cartridge alignment protractor, an azimuth mirror and cartrige screws. The only other tool needed is a cartridge scale for setting vtf.

Features

• Micrometer height setting for precise and repeatable vta/sra adjustment.
  
  
• Built-in azimuth adjustment.
  
  
• Detachable cartridge plates for single-screw cartridge fitting.
  
  
• Complete balanced one-piece wiring loom. Silver litz wire in micro-Teflon tubing, cryogenically treated a single run from tags to KLE "bullet RCA plugs. XLR termination optional.
  
  
• Variable mass counterweight.
  
  
• Set of four cartridge plates for easy setup.
  

Arms come with a set of four cartridge plates, including a threaded one to replace screws and nuts for unthreaded cartridges.

Completely redesigned headshell
Less is more! By reducing the mass of metal around the cartridge we eliminate a source of vibration and also make setup much easier. The headshell uses a removable plate to locate the cartridge. These are available in different weights to vary the effective mass for matching to a wide range of cartridges. The new headshell provides a more positive fixing than the familiar slots and makes setup easier. The cartridge is fitted to the plate first, then a single screw fitting for setup and adjustment.

Built-in azimuth adjustment
Though the arm arrives set true to the record surface tiny variations in stylus and cantilever mean that some adjustment might be necessary for a perfect setup. Releasing theazimuth lock and reference pin allows the arm tube to rotate to set a custom azimuth.