Tonearm Reviews

Last year in Spin Doctor 26, I auditioned a tonearm called the TA-1, from Japanese manufacturer Sorane, and concluded that it was an excellent replacement for arms no longer available from manufacturers like Jelco and SME. Then a few months ago, one of my setup clients asked me to install a Sorane ZA-12 on their Garrard 301 with a Miyajima cartridge. That setup sounded great, so I figured I needed to explore the ZA-12’s qualities in greater depth. Why would someone choose it over the TA-1 I had just reviewed?

After I studied Sorane’s tonearm offerings (Footnote 1), the logic of their lineup made more sense. Their three basic models, the TA-1, SA-1.2, and ZA-12, are all close in price; they shouldn’t be thought of as representing good, better, and best. Rather, they are designed to cater to different systems, turntables, and cartridges.

The 9in TA-1 and 12in TA-1L are modern takes on the legendary SME 3009 and 3012, while the 9in-only SA-1.2, with its unusual sliding armtube weight, provides a more flexible platform, with adjustable effective mass.

The 12in-only ZA-12 ($2,640 in silver, $2,840 in black) is the most focused of the three, trading the SME-style detachable headshell of its siblings for added stiffness and resonance control. With its straight-edged rectangular armtube and an effective length of almost 13in, the ZA-12 looks massive. But its simplicity of line and lack of fuss reminds me of the classic Gray broadcast tonearms from the 1950s and ’60s.

Sorane does not specify the effective mass of the ZA-12, but it seems like a real heavyweight. They may be worried about scaring off potential customers by publishing the numbers — and they might be right — but the old school thinking about cartridge and tonearm matching is being reevaluated: Consider the 60g effective mass of the Kuzma Safir 9 and study the compliance calculator on Alex Korf’s website (Footnote 2), which incorporates this new thinking.

I auditioned the ZA-12 with the Zu-Denon DL-103 cartridge, which is known to excel with a high-mass arm, and the Ortofon MC 90X, which I used successfully with the Kuzma Safir 9. I didn't encounter any resonance problems with either.

In person, that big rectangular armtube looks even longer than a typical 12in arm, partly because it is a little bit longer but mostly because instead of ending with a separate headshell for mounting the cartridge, the wide, flat armtube simply has cartridge mounting screw slots cut into its end at the required offset angle. It’s hard to beat this configuration — mounting the cartridge directly onto the armtube — for rigidity. The tradeoff is that the ZA-12 offers no way to tweak the cartridge’s azimuth.

At the other end of the arm, a two-part counterweight screws onto a threaded rod that is rigidly coupled to the bearing housing. Sorane describes the ZA-12’s vertical bearing as having a double-pivot suspension to minimize friction. That description leaves me scratching my head, but I can report that the bearings did demonstrate exceptionally low stiction plus superb freedom of movement with zero perceptible play.

Setting up the ZA-12 is straightforward and intuitive, but Sorane does expect you to bring your own tools, including a cartridge protractor and a way to measure the tracking force. A template to position the arm-mounting collar is provided. With its 311mm pivot-to-spindle distance, your turntable will need plenty of real estate to fit a ZA-12.

Adjustments are easy, and there’s a calibrated screw-in knob to regulate the magnetic antiskating. You can adjust the height of the arm to change the stylus rake angle up to a point, but with shorter cartridges like the Zu/Denon I used, the bottom surface of the arm starts to get dangerously close to the record surface at anything below level. A standard DIN plug at the end of the arm post connects to the supplied tonearm cable.

I auditioned the ZA-12 with my Brinkmann LaGrange turntable, using an external tonearm base provided by Sorane importer Sierra Sound to position the arm at the required distance. This was the best-handling 12in arm I have ever used, with none of the tail-wagging-dog effect I often get with long tonearms, which can be awkward to cue and handle.

Just as it did with the heavyweight Kuzma Safir 9, the music seemed to leap from the groove with the ZA-12. The Zu/Denon thrived with the big arm, with a forward-driving sound that had me tapping my toes. A 1986 British 12in dance single of “Infected” by The The (Epic TRUTH T3) demonstrated this quality perfectly, with the heavily gated snare drum driving the tempo along while little percussion elements popped up deep in the soundstage. This cacophony is underpinned by a deep synth-bass line. The ZA-12 didn’t hold back, enabling the Zu/Denon to extract maximum excitement.

Moving on to subtler things, I switched to the MC X90 cartridge and played “Handy Man” from James Taylor’s 1977 album JT (Columbia JC 34811). What struck me first was how natural everything sounded. This is a very intimate recording, and it feels like you’re sitting right between Taylor and Danny Kortchmar’s guitars, in front of Russ Kunkel’s drum kit. Taylor’s voice was warm and natural, without a hint of brightness or sibilance. Kunkel’s kickdrum made a dry thud as he kept time with those metronomic rimshots on his snare drum.

The Sorane ZA-12 is a bold, powerful-sounding tonearm, reminiscent of the broadcast tonearms of the past but taking the quality level up a few notches. It is, obviously, best suited to lower compliance cartridges.

I would expect it to make an excellent synergistic match with big idler drive turntables like the Garrard 301, 401, and Lenco L75. Just make sure there’s enough room on the plinth to handle its prodigious size (Footnote 3). At $2,640, it’s about one-ninth the cost of the Kuzma Safir 9, and it shares many of the Safir’s qualities. As such, it’s a relative bargain.

Footnote 1: Sorane, Youtek Ltd. IT Industry Co., Ltd. 4387, Yaho, Kunitachi-city, Tokyo 186-0011, Japan. Web: Youtek.jp. US distributor: Sierra Sound, PO Box 510, Wilton, CA 95693. Email: info@sierrasound.net. Web: sierrasound.net.

Footnote 2: See korfaudio.com/calculator.

Footnote 3: My client’s system demonstrated that the ZA-12 works great with a Garrard 301.

Footnote 1: Sumiko Audio, 11763 95th Ave. N., Maple Grove, MN 55311. Tel: (510) 843-4500. Web: sumikophonocartridges.com