CES 2013

TriPlanar Shows 12 Inches In Las Vegas

Michael Fremer  |  Jan 9, 2013

Triplanar debuted a 12" version of its popular tonearm at CES 2013. Key to the design is a new damped carbon fiber tube that maintains the effective mass of the 9" model. There are pros and cons associated with 12" tonearms. The pros: approximately 23% lower tracking error and with a smaller offset angle, less skating.

The cons include a higher moment of inertia and thus a slower response warps, as well as the magnification of tracking error should you not do a spot-on set up. Also rigidity may be compromised depending on the construction of the longer tube.

My opinion is that all things being equal, 9" arms hit the 'sweet spot' and if you set one up correctly the amount of tracking error distortion will be lower than that of the rest of your system and thus become essentially irrelevant. That's just an opinion!

The photo shows both the standard and new 12" versions. The use of a different tube material may (or may not!) alter the sound.

COMMENTS
Agent002's picture
Submitted by Agent002 on Wed, 2013-02-20 08:49

 

The Tri-Planar U12 was conceived, designed and created by Tri Mai and a host of brilliant machinists. Your opinion Mr. Fremer, is always well respected, but your geometry and ridgity test is false and has no heft. Our mission is to provide precision tonearms, commendable customer service and an awesome analogue experience. After three years of research and development, the U12 has been perfected and will perform as well as the UII Mk VII. All sonic issues have been resolved before production and release. As the primary builder and quality control specialist at Tri-Planar, I stand behind our products with honesty and compassion for our customers. The U12 is simply, Ultimate! 

mercury007's picture
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