Kuzma Stabi

[richidoo]

TAS review of a cool looking, good sounding TT



http://www.avguide.com/review/kuzma-12-stabi-s-12-turntable-and-stogi-s-12-arm-hi-fi-80

[topround]

my friend had that table...it was excellent
Kuzma makes great products, real science and engineering behind them, with some outstanding manufacturing skills

[richidoo]

Why is 12" arm better than 10"?

[topround]

It is supposed to have better tracking distortion, or less distortion, some people say it is at the expense of rigidity, and a 12 inch has to be setup dead on with geometry or it exxagerates the flaws of its setup.

12 inch arms are cool looking and expensive, but most of the top arm designs are 9 or 10 inchers, which might say something(or not)
You can buy a Fidelity Research fr64s for about 1500 to 2000, the 12 inch version the fr66s is about 6000 to 8000, sort of crazy no?

[richidoo]

Thanks Mike. Crazy price for crazy fun right? Still less than a Ferrari. 

What's amazing is the difference that the increased radius from needle to pivot makes to the sound, while the actual angle changes are extremely small. I guess tracking angle is very sensitive. Why hasn't linear tonearms research continued? Or swing arms with mechanical geometry that holds the stylus in perfect tracking? Masters are cut with linear arms, right?

Our Mike has this Stabi/Stogi rig and I've heard it couple times, sounds really great.   I always loved the look of it.

[mdconnelly]

Yup, still loving mine!  Unfortunately, I don't spend as much time listening to it as I once did.  It seems the pace of life coupled with the ease of digital makes me lazy.   But, I did spend some time with it recently after cleaning up some recently acquired used vinyl - forgot just how great vinyl sounds! 

The new 12" Stabi/Stogi seems a bit pricey and I have to wonder at that price point if it's the way to go.  On the other hand, perhaps the release of this 12" version will make the original cheaper - or perhaps more available on the used market.

[richidoo]

I see, so yours is a shorter arm. It's still called Stogi arm so I thought this review was the same rig as yours.

[BobM]

Like anything analogue, nothing is perfect. Linear arms reduce tracking angle issues but they definitely have issues of their own. The biggest being the stylus, although perpindicular to the groove, has to stay centered in the groove. These arms need to move immediately and freely with zero friction in order to do this as the groove shifts ever so slightly from side to side.

Well, since that is impossible what happens is the stylus is it bends left and right trying to move the bulky back end of the arm to one side or the other. This causes some mean tracking errors and "yaw". It costs lots of cash to do this right with an air bearing design. But still they remain finicky and a little bit of dust and dirt on the sliding surface and it's over until you clean it. 

Like I said, there is no perfect answer.

[richidoo]

So a cutting lathe probably has gear driven cutter advance. Thanks bob

[topround]

I heard the Kuzma 4 point tonearm a few times on 2 different tables and was very very impressed!
Big, bold beautiful images, it ain't cheap but it is worth it if you got the desire and the cash

[richidoo]

Reviewed in Sept Stereophile

So the head pivots left and right, and up and down to maintain perfect angle to the groove at all times?

http://puremusicgroup.com/cart/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=145

[musicfile]

The Kuzma Stabi is a very nice TT
I was very much impressed with the sound
I did however prefer a Lenco TT in a Modified Plinth
I thought it had better PRAT with that same ballsy sound

[mdconnelly]

What I have is called the Kuzma Stabi S/Stogi S.  Now I'm wondering if the S originally stood for 'Short'.   

[richidoo]

Stubby?

Small?

Scanty?

Skimpy?

Sparse?

Stunted?

Shrimp?

[mdconnelly]

Rich - who you callin' stubby, small, scanty....  

I'm thinking S = Sexy!   But then there's the whole 9" vs 12" thing and the conversation tanks quickly  


6 Moons review of the original:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/kuzma/kuzma.html