Industrial evolution

摘要

Forty-some years separate the tonearms shown here - the Pickering 190D and the SME Series V, which debuted in 1986 after years of exhaustive research and development. The two couldn't be more different in fit-and-finish, but they share commonalities the way all automobiles do, regardless of purpose or price. The most obvious is that designers of both arms chose to concentrate mass near the horizontal pivot, so minimising the strain on a cartridge as it pulls the arm across a record. The 190D's massive counterweight is very near the pillar, secured by a screw accessible only when the arm is detached from its turntable. The counterweight can be moved back-and-forth within a couple of millimeters, but not when mounted. Meanwhile, vertical tracking force (VTF) is via a spring attached to the cartridge carrier, its tension adjustable by a thumbscrew under the arm.