Pundit
Post by garym on May 23, 2018 12:26:07 GMT 12
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Post by Citroen on May 23, 2018 16:32:37 GMT 12
I have a Wand Plus 12 inch and couldn't be happier with the performance of this arm. The only niggle would be the counterweight loading mechanism - having to add plates for weight changes, rather than a simple weight dial. 
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Post by Owen Y on May 23, 2018 17:09:53 GMT 12
There is a screw for fine weight adjustment IIRC Citroen? Excellent thks Gary. When I Simon shipped us a 9" Wand to listen to for AudioEnz back in 2012, it sounded v good indeed, a unique mass-loaded unipivot with large carbon fibre arm tube. It produced a distinctively 'big' sound. I remember it had a special synergy with the Denon DL103 & was good enough for the best cartridges that I had on hand at the time....   
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Post by Citroen on May 23, 2018 17:32:11 GMT 12
A screw for fine adjustments but a needing to add base plates to the counterweight for coarser adjustments.
Worked well, but a bit more work than just rotating a counterweight.
Please bear in mind that this was my only complaint apart from headshell adjustment (fixed). Not a problem on my deck as the arm could be moved to adjust overhang.
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Post by Owen Y on May 23, 2018 17:37:57 GMT 12
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Post by jon on May 23, 2018 18:24:12 GMT 12
I had an early model for review. At the time I had an Origin Live Silver Mk II arm so did a comparison.
It was at least as good as the Silver and was so much cheaper that it became a no brainer and I said so.
That was a long time ago and Simon has, no doubt, improved it with the passage of time.
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Pundit
Post by simonb on May 23, 2018 19:44:16 GMT 12
Thanks guys! Yes, things have been building up nicely, though 90% exported. I am almost embarrassed by my early arms which ironically include all the ones mentioned above. The finish and details have all been very much refined in the last few years. In particular the bearing changed at the beginning of 2015 to one with significantly lower friction, this mostly had the effect of making it a lot easier to get tracking force right. The Master arms gain more features and in particular silver over copper wire which is a surprisingly large step up (even for cable agnostics..). I also offer a variant of this wire as an upgrade on other models (including retro fit) I have tries to make the arms retro-fitable with kits for Lenco, Thorens TD160 / 320 etc Finally, the 10.3in arm is the longest arm you can fit on a Technics SL1200 family / Linn or Michell. Turntable is coming out in the next few months (Currently have a batch of six scattered around the world being tested). There will be a small batch of around 10 being sold on a NZ Crowd Funding site at a good price in about a month.....
Simon Brown
Design Build Listen Ltd,
Makers of The Wand Analogue Products
Distributor of Hana Cartridges
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Post by cooksferry on May 24, 2018 7:12:43 GMT 12
Count me as a fan boy, love the performance and the looks. With hindsight I wish I'd gone with the 12" rather than the 10" for no logical reason other than I've always lusted after one. A few months back when I was swapping around cartridges I did find changing the larger weights a bit challenging but that's totally down to how I have to have the TT/arm situated. The Project arm was getting very little use which is why it now carries a mono cart . One mod I did do was to trace the arc for checking over hang onto a stiff piece of card because I don't always trust my eyes and shaky arms with an expensive tip near a piece of metal. With the card I can lower the needle down onto the two arc points without fear. Pleased I did the wiring upgrade as well. Combined with a switch to some Wire world ICs it's moved things up a notch. Still peeved that I missed the chance for a look and listen of the new table a couple of weeks back but always seem to be in the right place with no time. 
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Post by cooksferry on May 24, 2018 15:48:50 GMT 12
I have a Wand Plus 12 inch and couldn't be happier with the performance of this arm. The only niggle would be the counterweight loading mechanism - having to add plates for weight changes, rather than a simple weight dial. A bit off topic but I do like the looks of those Dyna arms. Missed my chance some years back to get a nice Oracle table with one fitted. How do you find the arm to set up ?
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Post by Citroen on May 24, 2018 16:11:09 GMT 12
Despite it having lots of bits and pieces you can adjust, I actually find it very set and forget and simple to change cartridges on it. VTA on the fly, accurate tracking force dial (antiskate not so much!). garym will tell you that the 505 is the ugly sister cf 501 and 507. And probably with good reason, as the 501 and 507 rarely come up for sale, in NZ anyway.
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Post by cooksferry on May 25, 2018 7:12:25 GMT 12
Despite it having lots of bits and pieces you can adjust, I actually find it very set and forget and simple to change cartridges on it. VTA on the fly, accurate tracking force dial (antiskate not so much!). garym will tell you that the 505 is the ugly sister cf 501 and 507. And probably with good reason, as the 501 and 507 rarely come up for sale, in NZ anyway. Showing my ignorance, didn't realise that there were variations on the design. From an aesthetic view I find tone arms endlessly fascinating, so many designs all just to drag a very small diamond across a slab of vinyl. Compared with most The Wand looks very simple and uncluttered yet does an out standing job.
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Post by Owen Y on May 25, 2018 10:13:51 GMT 12
The DV tonearms, with the small 'sub-arm' & heavily (magnet) damped horiz main arm movement, was thus designed with low vert Eff Mass & adjustable/high horiz Eff Mass. Meant to track record warps well & I suspect v good bass performance. But (like my own tonearm) the short cartridge-carrying sub-arm would be very sensitive to VTA (ie also differing record thickness). (Sorry digression from The Wand  )
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Pundit
Post by LinnBoy on Jun 24, 2018 12:29:53 GMT 12
Count me as a fan boy, love the performance and the looks. With hindsight I wish I'd gone with the 12" rather than the 10" for no logical reason other than I've always lusted after one. A few months back when I was swapping around cartridges I did find changing the larger weights a bit challenging but that's totally down to how I have to have the TT/arm situated. The Project arm was getting very little use which is why it now carries a mono cart . One mod I did do was to trace the arc for checking over hang onto a stiff piece of card because I don't always trust my eyes and shaky arms with an expensive tip near a piece of metal. With the card I can lower the needle down onto the two arc points without fear. Pleased I did the wiring upgrade as well. Combined with a switch to some Wire world ICs it's moved things up a notch. Still peeved that I missed the chance for a look and listen of the new table a couple of weeks back but always seem to be in the right place with no time. Flog that horrible old Wand off. Ugh. I will take it off your hands if you're desperate. 
I am a non-recovering audioholic, and Ivor is my higher power.
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Member
Post by cortez on Jun 24, 2018 16:16:58 GMT 12
Mr cooksferry.
Any chance of a photo of how you mounted the Wand to your project TT.
I'm wanting to do the same.
Thanks.
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Post by cooksferry on Jun 24, 2018 16:40:50 GMT 12
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