Cartridges & The Wand Tonearm;
The Wand Tonearm lets cartridges express themselves for what they are but not neutral in the
‘cold and analytical’ sense. So cartridge recommendation comes down to the flavour you like.
The Wand is "Medium Mass" at 12.5g effective mass (15g for the 12in), so will work with most
cartridges. Even a high compliance cartridge like a Shure V15Vx gives a measured resonance at 7Hz, so is
ok. At the other extreme, conventional low compliance cartridges work well.
Arm/Cartridge matching is frequently over-stated, unless you have a system with massive bandwidth or
insist on playing badly warped records, it shouldn't be an issue.
The Wand Tonearm has been used with some of the world’s best cartridges
. Two of my retailers have
independently chosen Transfiguration cartridges, one of them having settled on the Axia & Phoenix S.
(after trialling Ortofon’s Cadenza Red & Black along with the Rondo Blue, ZYX B50 Bloom & Zu / Denon
103.) But many users have ‘exotic’ Japanese cartridges, particularly ZYX models. My Swedish & French
Distributors favour Lyra and Dynavector cartridges which are at the analytical / quick end of the
spectrum. Miyajima are musical cartridges and work well with The Wand. Analogue Works and my
German distributor like dynamic /punchy cartridges, both have used Soundsmith, Nagaoka and Decca
London. The latter is very notable as Decca’s are wonderful (I had one) but are fickle and very hard to
match to arms. Ask for our Blog on why The Wand is a good match for Decca’s.
Popular Cartridges
; Denon 103 and related cartridges are the most popular to use with The Wand, (they
have a grand sweeping sound). Ortofon 2M Blacks are popular but may hum in some systems. Hana
have a wonderful balance of virtues. Dynavector DV10x and 20 are also popular and seem to work well.
In terms of high output cartridges; Sumiko Blue Point are good options. Nagaoka cartridges are
wonderfully dynamic and punchy without being edgy.
Problem Solving;
Mounting the arm
;
-
The existing Mounting hole is too big
;
-Holes up to 28mm are fine
-For holes 28-48mm we can provide an alternative clamping plate, contact us.
-For holes above 48mm, you can use out ‘SME style’ mounting plate. Contact us.
-
There is not enough space beside the mounting plate
; We can provide a smaller diameter mount.
-The platter is too low or high
; if the platter is too low (<23mm from the arm mounting surface to the
top of the platter), you may have to use a thicker mat. If the platter is thick, a thicker mounting boss is
available. (the black mounting part can be turned over too). Contact us.
-
The plinth is too thick / thin
; For thicker plinths, longer bolts or ‘top mounting’ may be substituted
-
The mounting hole is in the wrong place
; Generally you will have to drill a new hole but there is a kit
that gives an offset hole. Designed originally for Lencos, this may work in other contexts, just ask.
Noise problems;
Always tricky as you can have too many earthing points as well as to few. A great
resource is Jim Hagermans website;
http://www.hagtech.com/pdf/eliminatingnoise.pdf
that Carbon fibre has less electromagnetic shielding than metal so may be more prone to hum pickup
with MM cartridges. But this is very system dependent. We offer a ‘short leads’ option that may help.
Setting up the cartridge:
-Tracking weight is too low
; If the bolt can’t wind in far enough, remove a plate (or two)
-Tracking weight is too high
; If the bolt can’t wind out far enough, add a plate (or two)
If neither of these work, talk to us!
-If you can’t get the azimuth right
; talk to us.
-If you can’t get the antiskate right
; talk to us.
www.thewandtonearm.com
© Dec 2012 design
build
listen Ltd. v17
