About eleven years after the launch of the first Tonearm, which was hailed as truly groundbreaking, the third generation offers more versatility, is simpler to operate and fine-tune, and, of course, performs better. Vertere says the Reference Tonearm will enhance the performance of a record playing system to a new level of resolution, clarity, dynamics, timing and sheer power that would usually be associated with live music. But we were wondering what it takes to get to this level of accuracy!
The philosophy behind the perfection
As would be expected, Vertere has yet again considered zero-based engineering principles. The habit of not relying on traditional hi-fi thinking but bringing the design process back to solid engineering and physics seems to have paid off. The Vertere Reference Tonearm is wholly engineered to give complete accuracy and certainty in cartridge setup. This all sound very, very impressive but as we all know perfection isn’t easily achieved. So, is this Tonearm perfect?
Is it actually perfect?
Well, no, but what piece of equipment ever is? The most important part is that Vertere is aware of these tiny imperfections and is always striving to fix them! In their own words:
The ideal Tonearm would be of variable effective mass and would be super rigid but without any resonances. It would be easy to setup but allow adjustment and it would be acoustically transparent and disappear, allowing the cartridge to do its thing.
The Gen III tonearm is close but still no cigar. The effective mass is adjustable, the titanium headshell and arm tube are super-stiff but have no apparent resonances, and every aspect of the setup is easy and repeatable. Some might describe it as the ultimate in flexibility and almost the Universal Tonearm, but it has one drawback: it’s not ideal for use with high compliance cartridges.
The key, though, is in the listening: mount the Reference to a good Turntable, set it up with a good cartridge and enjoy.
As always Vertere has put an enormous amount of engineering work into their new product. And it has definitely paid off, even if it isn’t perfection itself this Tonearm will give you as accurate of an audio experience as possible right now.
More details about the Vertere Reference Tonearm Gen III.
Visit the Vertere website.
