Munich 2014

Swedish Analog Technologies SAT Tonearm Ready For Third Quarter 2014 Launch

Michael Fremer  |  Jun 10, 2014

This massive arm of a special carbon fiber laminate from Swedish Analog Technologies appears to take its general inspiration from SME’s Model V but uses brass and composite materials as well as a more traditional mounting system.

The construction is costly and time consuming, which helps explain its high price. The arm’s first resonance frequency is 2.8kHz more than twice that of the SME V. Designer Mark Gomez has a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science so he comes to this with a great deal of knowledge.

Clearly this is a product born of vinyl passion: his "real" job is working on projects ranging from the Ariane rocket engine, the Porsche Carrera GT as well as for Saab and Volvo, among others.

He spent a generous amount of time with me going over the design and I came away impressed by the presentation. The arm’s final price hasn’t been firmed up but it will probably be in the neighborhood of $15,000. Read more on the SAT website

COMMENTS
Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on Tue, 2014-06-10 18:54

...system hierarchy that Linn has always put forth, except that now it's the tonearm that takes precedence. The proof will be in the listening, but, for the same $15K, you can have an SME V - with a Model 20 turntable included at no extra charge.

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Wed, 2014-06-11 10:05
One arm is the result of a design from the 1980s.
Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on Mon, 2014-06-16 11:19

...more than twice that of the SME V.

Yes, but in one of the VPI tour videos, Harry Weisfeld asserts that the 3D printed arm has "no resonances." Let's see SAT top that claim.

BB's picture
Submitted by BB on Sat, 2015-06-27 17:48

"Yes, but in one of the VPI tour videos, Harry Weisfeld asserts that the 3D printed arm has 'no resonances.'"

...which of course is ludicrous.

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