Тонармы — European Audio Team (EAT) C-Note 9"

The C-Note 9-inch is the shortest member of the C-Note tonearm family from European Audio Team (EAT), a Czech company focused on turntables and analogue electronics. Alongside it EAT builds 10-inch and 12-inch lengths of the same arm, which pairs a unipivot bearing with a cardan bearing in one assembly. The 9-inch geometry matches the mounting distance used by most standard turntable plinths and armboards.

Key specs that matter

Distance from the pivot to the spindle is 212 mm, while effective length reaches 230 mm, so overhang works out at 18 mm. The offset angle is 24 degrees. Effective mass is quoted at 14.8 g, the lowest of the three C-Note lengths. Null points for alignment fall at 130.6 mm and 243.7 mm. Downforce is adjustable over a range of 0 to 3 g, and headshell slots are spaced at 12.7 mm, the usual half-inch standard. Azimuth and vertical tracking angle can both be changed by the owner.

Engineering and use context

EAT combines two bearing types here. The cardan bearing supplies stability and low friction during handling, and a central uni-pivot shares the load so the cardan races carry less weight. Both run immersed in a silicone-based grease, which according to EAT damps resonances between arm and cartridge by over 50 percent. Rigid carbon forms the arm tube, and an aluminium headshell sits at the front, adding inner damping that carbon on its own lacks and holding high-end moving-coil cartridges firmly. A two-part counterweight comes with the arm - on its own it weighs 125 g and suits cartridges of 5 to 9 g, and adding the insert takes it to 142 g for cartridges of 8.5 to 13 g. A thread with a small weight provides the anti-skating force, and the weight is moved between three grooves on its rod depending on the chosen downforce. To raise or lower the pillar, two hex screws in the base are loosened. The arm output uses a 5-pin socket and a supplied lead.

Pairing

The C-Note 9-inch can go onto many turntables prepared for conventional 9-inch arms, subject to the pillar hole and armboard fitting. Its moderate effective mass allows cartridges of medium compliance, and the aluminium headshell was designed with moving-coil models in mind. An alignment protractor for two-point setup is included in the box.

Alternatives

The EAT C-NOTE 12-inch is the longer version of this arm, with 304.8 mm effective length, 19.2 g effective mass and an 18 degree offset.