What Tonearm is This?

Mark E Smith's Dentist · Post by **Mark E Smith's Dentist** » 09 Feb 2006 17:31

Hi list, I was round the house of a guy I'm buying a 301 from and he showed me an arm he has a couple of. It's made by a company called Macinnes Laboratories of Saxmunden in Suffolk. I took a pic with my mobile phone:

It's nicely made and the bearings are good but it doesn't seem to have any anti-skate facility.

Anyone?

Jon

Gatto Murr · Post by **Gatto Murr** » 09 Feb 2006 19:43

looks like a Sparta (Syntec)....

regards, Piero

JaS · Post by **JaS** » 10 Feb 2006 07:43

I agree with Piero, it looks like a variation on the Syntec / Japan Piezo broadcast arms.

https://www.vinylengine.com/library/syntec.shtml

https://www.vinylengine.com/library/japan-piezo.shtml

https://www.vinylengine.com/library/sparta.shtml

Regards,
JaS

nat · Post by **nat** » 10 Feb 2006 12:31

It also bears a strong resemblance to some of the Sanyo arms, especailly the housing bearing and the black plastic outrigger attachment, which, incidentally is incorrectly aligned on that one.
I am very dubious that the MacInnes name is anything other than an importer.

jimrick1 · Post by **jimrick1** » 10 Feb 2006 19:44

Yes, it appears to be a Syntec/Sparta arm with different counterweights. I used a Syntec for a while. Not a bad arm, but not particularly good either. It was designed for broadcast use, generally with cartridges that need about 3 grams VTF, and the designer/manufacturer felt that anti-skating was not needed for such cartridges. No cueing, either.

IMHO, this arm will not get the best from your Garrard 301. If you have little or no money for an arm and can buy this one for $50 or less, it will work until you afford something better. I replaced mine with the arm from a Sony PS X50 (similar to arm on the PS X9), which has anti-skating, cueing, and VTA-on-the-fly adjustment. The Sony is a much better arm and cost me only $2.

Mark E Smith's Dentist · Post by **Mark E Smith's Dentist** » 10 Feb 2006 21:47

Thanks for the help. I asked him about it today and he said it came from some small radio station so I'm sure you're right. He wants GBP30 for it so I think I'll leave it. The 301 already has a Linn Basik LV-V on it which although not great is likely better than the Macinnes/Syntec.
Cheers, Jon

ALMOSTFAMOUS · Post by **ALMOSTFAMOUS** » 17 Jan 2010 06:16

Thanks!

0116tonearm.jpg: (20.65 KiB) Downloaded 2044 times

JaS · Post by **JaS** » 17 Jan 2010 11:10

Hi,
It looks like the broadcast arm that was sold under the Japan-Piezo and Syntec brand names :)

Regards,
JaS

ALMOSTFAMOUS · Post by **ALMOSTFAMOUS** » 17 Jan 2010 16:09

Thanks!

I did pull it from a radio station along with a couple SP10-D turntables.

-Tim
aka
Almost Famous

talentscoutus · Post by **talentscoutus** » 28 Aug 2013 19:00

IMG_4080.jpeg: (128.48 KiB) Downloaded 2594 times

I bought this tonearm with a technics Sp 15. Anybody know who made it?

Alec124c41 · Post by **Alec124c41** » 28 Aug 2013 19:10

Seeing the rest of it would help.
It looks like one that bore several names, that was used professionally. SEAS, Sparta, etc.

Cheers,
Alec

JaS · Post by **JaS** » 28 Aug 2013 22:27

As Alec says, from what can be seen it looks like one of the Syntec S-220 / Sparta ST-220 / Japan Piezo PU-402 etc clones often found on professional turntables

https://www.vinylengine.com/images/mode ... _pu402.jpg

https://www.vinylengine.com/library/syntec/s-220.shtml
https://www.vinylengine.com/library/sparta/st-220.shtml
https://www.vinylengine.com/library/jap ... -402.shtml

Regards,
JaS

Alec124c41 · Post by **Alec124c41** » 29 Aug 2013 03:35

JaS is da man!

Cheers,
Alec

KentT · Post by **KentT** » 29 Aug 2013 15:31

Yes, a Sparta or Syntec tonearm. Simple and usually decent quality. Not quite up to the Audio-Technica ATP line or the Jelcos but still good.

ve7kilohertz · Post by **ve7kilohertz** » 26 Oct 2013 21:02

Hi Guys,

I am going thru my inventory of turntables, tonearms and cartridges and I have 2 of these, wondering if anyone can identify it for me? No markings on it at all. This one is pretty dusty, the other one looks better and is mounted on an SP-10MKII. These came out of commercial service at a radio station I worked at years ago.

Cheers

Paul

What Tonearm is This?

Anyone ever heard of Macinnes tonearms?

Can anyone tell me what type of tonearm this is?

Can you tell me what kind of tonearm this is?

Re: Can you tell me what kind of tonearm this is?

Re: Can you tell me what kind of tonearm this is?

Re: Can you tell me what kind of tonearm this is?

Re: Can you tell me what kind of tonearm this is?

help ID this tonearm please and thanks