Continuing the idea that a turntable should be viewed primarily as a piece of functional audio gear, rather than a work of art meant to dazzle in an audio setup, it’s time to wrap up the discussion on installation and configuration.
The Tonearm
This is a crucial part of any turntable. In the “analog religion,” specifically its “turntable branch,” there are different schools of thought: some say the cartridge is the most important, others that the drive system matters most, and still others that it’s all about the tonearm. The truth is, the entire setup is only as good as its weakest link. You could compare it to a motor racing scenario:
- The cartridge is like the car,
- The tonearm is like the driver,
- The drive system is like the well-prepared track.
I once encountered a “remarkable” turntable that had a fantastic cartridge and an excellent tonearm but a terrible drive system. Even though two out of three components were top-notch, the whole rig was only fit for a museum—listening to it verged on masochism.
At BennyAudio, the tonearm is a unipivot design. We’re all familiar with the frustrations of a unipivot—constantly having to adjust azimuth because the arm can tilt to one side or the other, driving users nuts. Yet in the “Benny,” that issue doesn’t exist: you get all the best aspects of a unipivot while eliminating the dreaded “floating azimuth” problem. The azimuth is factory-set, with an option for fine-tuning if you’re an advanced user. If you must adjust it, you simply do it once and forget.
Additionally, the tonearm provides:
- VTA – adjustable “on the fly” with a simple knob (no complicated micrometer contraptions).
- anti-skating – a straightforward solution involving the shifting of the counterweight’s suspension point on an extension rod. It uses a small weight on a very thin thread—simple, reliable, and easy to fix if it ever fails.
- Overhang – very easy to set by rotating the tonearm base (left or right).
- Headshell – a proprietary solution that allows for separate tracking-angle adjustment and, if necessary, additional overhang correction.
- Wiring – the leads are somewhat stiff, but you don’t need the skills of a vascular surgeon to attach them to the cartridge.
- RCA cables – in the Immersion model, they plug into RCA jacks; in the Odyssey model, they’re wired directly into the tonearm leads. You can orient these cables however you like, which is helpful given their stiffness.
- Tracking force – adjusted by a large sliding counterweight and a smaller screw-on weight. Simple and effective.
Next time, I’ll address the remaining considerations:
- size,
- weight,
- user-friendliness,
- durability.