Sorane TA-1 Tonearms

Build quality is fanatical. The TA-1 and TA-1L look like you spent $10,000 dollars AND SOUND LIKE IT!
The TA-1 is a medium mass 9-inch tonearm supplied with an azimuth adjustable headshell. With a mounting distance of 216MM, it will fit and compliment any turntable.
The TA-1L is a medium mass 12.7-inch tonearm supplied with an azimuth adjustable headshell. The mounting distance is 310MM. If the Sorane TA-1L can be mounted on your turntable, the difference in length makes an absolutely monumental difference in the sound. 25% less tracking distortion! Recommended for all PolyTables.
TA-1 9 inch $1495.00 TA-1L 12.7 inch $1875.00
Why A 12 inch Radial Tonearm
By George MerrillThe master record cutting lathe moves in a straight line. Obviously the best method of recovering the groove information is to mimic the recording lathe. Most tangent tracking tonearms (linear tonearms) are pivoting arms on a moving sled. The sled and arm attachment point are moved via a motor. They play catch up, producing a series of small arcs across the record instead of a straight line. This is not the best method to achieve perfect linear tracking. A non-motorized true tangent tracking tonearm is expensive and extremely fussy. Older turntables (also today's less expensive) use 9 inch arms. The reason; overall size grows thus the cost and the turntable may not fit the average component rack. The 12 inch radial arm is 3 inches longer than the 9 inch. This difference as shown in the diagram above, relates to about 25% less tracking distortion. It may look like a small amount but when dealing in microns it is huge. The longer the arm the shallower the arc. The shallower the arc, the lower the angular error, and hence less distortion.A difference is the 12-inch arm's moment of inertia is only slightly higher due to extra length of the arm tube. However, the arm tube material is extremely light. The effective mass of the 12-inch is very close to the 9 inch arm. The reason is effective mass is derived by a complicated equation that uses mass and inertia.One overlooked aspect of 9 versus 12 is the effect of the 12 inch arms shallower offset angle creating less skating force.If your turntable will accept a 12-inch arm the performance difference will be very apparent. When you are ready to move to a 12-inch arm look at any PolyTable it is compact and will fit virtually any stand.