Тонармы — European Audio Team (EAT) C-NOTE 12"

The C-NOTE 12-inch comes from the Czech turntable maker European Audio Team (EAT) and represents the longest of three C-Note lengths, sold next to 10-inch and 9-inch versions. EAT describes the arm as a new concept that merges a unipivot with a cardan bearing. The 12-inch arm is the one EAT specifies with its Fortissimo S turntable, and it carries a UK list price of GBP 1,449.

Key specs that matter

Effective length is 304.8 mm with a pivot-to-spindle mounting distance of 291.6 mm, giving an overhang of 13.2 mm and an offset angle of 18 degrees. Effective mass is 19.2 g. The alignment geometry places its null points at 125 mm and 251.7 mm from the spindle. Tracking force can be set anywhere from 0 to 3 g. Slots in the headshell follow the standard half-inch pitch of 12.7 mm, so cartridges with ordinary mounting holes fit directly. The supplied counterweight weighs 125 g and balances cartridges of 5 to 9 g, and with its extra insert fitted it reaches 142 g and handles cartridges from 8.5 to 13 g.

Engineering and use context

A central uni-pivot point takes load off the main cardan bearing, which provides stability and easy handling with very low friction. Both bearings sit in a special silicone-based grease that EAT says damps arm and cartridge resonances by more than half. The tube is rigid carbon, while the aluminium headshell adds better internal damping than carbon alone and gives a secure seat for heavier moving-coil cartridges. The pillar height, and with it the vertical tracking angle, is changed by loosening two hex screws in the base and sliding the arm until the tube runs parallel to the record. Azimuth is set at the factory, but it can be altered by lifting the pivot cover and easing a small set screw with the supplied 1.5 mm key. Anti-skating uses a thread and a sliding weight with three grooves, matched to downforce below 1.3 g, 1.3 to 1.8 g, or 1.8 to 2.5 g. The signal leaves through a 5-pin connector with a matching cable in the accessory kit.

Pairing

Only a deck or armboard prepared for the 12-inch mounting distance will take this arm, and plinths built for 9-inch arms usually cannot take it. With its medium-high effective mass the arm leans toward low- and medium-compliance cartridges, which covers much of the moving-coil market, and a two-point alignment protractor comes with the accessories.

Alternatives

The EAT C-Note 10-inch uses the same bearing and damping design at 254 mm effective length, with 16.5 g effective mass and a 21.4 degree offset.