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World's Best Tonearm
IKEDA offers the world's best tonearms that let your IKEDA and other cartridges realize their full potential. This tonearm is also designed and manufactured by Ikeda himself and is of incomparable quality. One of the features is its highly elegant appearance. The arm is vertically supported on two points, so the bearings, which are very important for the arm, are highly rigid. The diameters of the right and left bearings are slightly varied so that vibrations are transmitted to the arm base in a balanced manner. What is more, stainless steel, aluminum, gunmetal and brass are used in different parts to prevent unnecessary vibrations from degrading sound quality. As for the precision of engineering, the stylus pressure of this dynamic balance tonearm is very easy to adjust without a stylus pressure gage.
For all the music listeners who are thinking of purchasing a tonearm, whether to buy a short one or a long one is an inevitable question. In a nutshell, whether signals should be in phase or out of phase is eventually up to each listener. However, from a purely technological viewpoint, out-of-phase signals are not good for music. Provided that the majority of the buyers are music listeners, long-type tonearms will be better than short-type ones, because short-type ones' signals are often phase-shifted, resulting in the loss of harmonic tones. On the other hand, in audio terms, harmonic tones produced by in-phase signals of long-type tonearms can sound cloudy, particularly to those listeners who are used to CD players. Those people who like "crystal clear" sound might prefer the articulate sound produced by short arms, where harmonic tones are cut. Signals can be phase-shifted in various devices including the amplifier. The tonearm, which is the gate of sound, is not free from this problem either. If signals are phase-shifted at the entrance, there is no way to put them back in phase. For IDEDA Tonearm 345 (short type,) the length from the stylus tip to the spindle is 245mm, a bit long for a short-type arm, as signals would be phase-shifted if shorter. For IKEDA's long-type tonearms, the length is 309mm, which enables these arms to produce perfectly in-phase tones. Although long-type ones inherently better suit the needs of music listeners, some audio fans may complain that the sound is not clear. So IKEDA has developed and is offering short-type arms whose effective length is 245mm. If any shorter, they would sound more like digital.
The weight of the arm is also important for driving a MC cartridge. If the arm does not carry a certain weight, the sound might become too light. However, in audio terms, the weight of the tonearm, including vibratory mass, is not light enough, the pitching (up and down movement) of the cartridge is hindered. Therefore, knife-edge tonearms have been widely used. However, as this type cannot reproduce lower audio frequencies, the sound is too light. The same is true with static balance type. This is where low-mass arms and dynamic balance type come in. They press the cartridge against the groove with a certain force and thereby can lower the pitch. Fidelity Research's FR64s, developed by Ikeda almost 30 years ago, attests to this effect. Even today, FR64s tonearms are valued highly by audiophiles, and are being traded at very high prices on international auction sites. So if you want to extract the best out of your records, your best bet is to choose a rather massive, dynamic balance tonearm. Knife-edge and static balance tonearms may also provide rich audio experiences. Recently, however, there has been a shift in dominant cartridges away from MM type towards MC type, and many famous tonearm manufacturers are now adopting dynamic balance type. This shows how ahead of its time FR64s was. Nevertheless, many of these MC cartridges produce unclear sound, because signals are phase-shifted due to their long effective length, and what is worse, they are often made by die-casting. They, by rights, should be made of rolled materials, just as IKEDA's tonearms are. This is for the same reason that brass instruments are never made of low-density die-cast metal.
Next, here is some practical advice on how to use IKEDA products, as well as on tonearms in general. The prescribed lengths of the overhang are 9mm, 12mm and 15mm. Using the overhang of one of these lengths lowers the risk of tracking errors on the inner track. If the cartridge moves over the overhang, the inside force will pull it back towards the center of the record, making only the sound from the left speaker louder as well as making the sound flat and less detailed. If the prescribed length of the overhang is 15mm, it is safer to make it 14mm, in consideration of errors. If the overhang is above a certain length, the cartridge is pulled towards the inner track by the inside force, and as result, the vibration system of the cartridge is biased (left side.) When it comes to installing the arm, it is better to err on the side of caution, that is, too short is better than too long. The longer the arm, the stronger the inside force. The optimum weight for the inside force canceller is one third of the stylus pressure, and the maximum, a half.
After three to five years of use, the contact resistance of the gold-plated terminal (4P) on the joint between the arm and the shell will increase by 10 ohm to 20 ohm. For MM cartridges used in the past, the output impedance was low (in units of K) and could be ignored. However, if the contact resistance at the entrance of the sound becomes high, MC cartridges whose coil impedance is 3 ohm can produce only masked sound. Therefore it is advisable to treat the joint with due care, or plate it with rhodium, to maintain sound quality. The joint and wires inside the arm should be replaced after three to five years.
IKEDA IT345 Specifications
Type: dynamic balance
Full length: 326mm
Effective length: 245mm
Overhang: 15mm
Tracking error: +2 degrrees to +1degrees 21'
Stylus pressure: 0g to 5g (0.5g /step)
Diameter of mounting hole: 31mm
Arm height range: 25mm to 60mm
Maximum board thickness: 35mm
Applicable cartridge weight range: 6g to 38.5g (including headshell)
Notes: We have two types of extra heavier weights. If interested, contact us.
IKEDA IT407 Specifications
Type: dynamic balance
Full length: 388mm
Effective length: 307mm
Overhang: 12mm
Tracking error: +2 degrees to +1degrees 32'
Stylus pressure range: 0 to 5g. (0.5g /step)
Diameter of mounting hole: 31mm
Arm height range: 25mm to 60mm
Maximum board thickness: 35mm
Applicable cartridge weight: 6g to 38.5g (including headshell)
Notes: We have two types of extra heavier weights. If interested, contact us.
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