Тонармы — European Audio Team (EAT) F-NOTE

The F-Note is a 12-inch gimbal tonearm from European Audio Team (EAT), the Prague turntable maker founded by Jozefina Lichtenegger, and the arm that the company offers as the higher option on decks such as the F-Dur and Fortissimo. In the US the F-Dur cost USD 5,999 without an arm, USD 8,499 with the C-Note and USD 11,499 with the F-Note. It is listed in VH and VT (variable tube) versions and in black or chrome.

Key specs that matter

Effective length is 304.8 mm, the standard 12-inch figure, with a pivot to spindle distance of 291.6 mm and an overhang of 13.2 mm. The offset angle is 18 degrees and the null points fall at 125 mm and 251.7 mm from the spindle. EAT gives an effective mass of 21.4 g and a range of 5 g to 15 g for cartridge body weight. The arm pillar allows a height range of 40 mm to 65 mm, which covers platters and mats of quite different thickness.

Engineering and use context

Instead of a single pivot, the F-Note uses a cardanic construction in which four ultra low friction pinpoint bearings are arranged in a cross, so the arm moves on two separate axes while staying fixed against wobble. In the top version the bearing points run against a super hard diamond mirror surface. Vertical tracking angle, tracking force and azimuth can all be changed without tools, and a laser diode projects a reference that shows when each setting is correct, which removes much of the guesswork from azimuth in particular. The base is large and massive, intended to isolate the bearing assembly from vibration coming up through the turntable. On the F-Dur the arm shares a plinth with a magnetically assisted inverted bearing and two AC motors, and the combination is designed in Austria and hand built in the Czech Republic.

Pairing

Its effective mass places the F-Note among heavier arms, which points toward low compliance moving coil cartridges rather than very compliant moving magnet designs. The permitted cartridge weight range takes in most current moving coil bodies. Mounting geometry follows the standard 12-inch pivot to spindle distance, so the arm suits EAT decks with a 12-inch arm position and other turntables whose armboard can be cut to that figure. The height range lets VTA be matched to cartridges of different body height without shimming.

Alternatives

The EAT C-Note 12 inch is the lower priced arm offered on the same decks, a carbon-tube hybrid of unipivot and cardan design with an effective mass of 19.2 g.