Тонармы — Reed REED 3P 10.5"

The Reed 3P 10.5-inch is the middle length of the 3P, a tonearm from Reed of Lithuania built from wood, stainless steel and aluminium and offered with 9.5, 10.5 and 12 inch effective lengths. Prices start at USD 7,545. Every arm is assembled by hand once ordered, which takes four to six weeks, and a two-year warranty applies.

Key specs that matter

Pivot to spindle distance is 251.6 mm, while the mounting distance used to position the arm base is 236.1 mm. Overhang is 15.4 mm and the offset angle is 20.7 degrees. Effective mass depends on the wood chosen for the armwand - 10 g in light or dark teak, 12 g in wenge and 14 g in Makassar ebony or cocobolo. Other woods on the order list include dark Makassar, ebony and Panzerholz. The headshell is replaceable, and signal wiring can be ordered from van den Hul or Zavfino, in standard or silver form, with Cardas, KLEI or WBT plugs.

Engineering and use context

Instead of resting on a single point like a unipivot, the bearing uses three pivots, with magnetic stabilisers acting on both the vertical and the horizontal axis. Reed describes the result as a mix of gimbal and unipivot principles - as rigid as a gimbal yet with the low friction coefficient of a unipivot. VTA, azimuth and anti-skating can all be changed while a record is playing, and VTA has a fine adjuster. The azimuth mechanism is arranged so that the cartridge swings around the stylus tip, leaving the other geometry settings untouched, and anti-skating is applied magnetically rather than with a weight on a thread. Metal parts come in seashell white, black, palladium, satin gold and matte or glossy gold, and for the headshell there is also a choice of glossy ruthenium. The cheaper 1H series from the same maker uses a magnetic anti-skating system similar to the one fitted here.

Pairing

Because effective mass shifts by 4 g with the wood, the wand can be picked to match the compliance of the intended cartridge, with teak at the light end and ebony or cocobolo at the heavy end. The turntable armboard has to be drilled for the 10.5 inch geometry, and the on-the-fly VTA adjuster lets the owner correct arm height for records of different thickness without lifting the stylus. The choice of cable brand and plug type at the time of ordering should follow the input connectors on the phono stage.

Alternatives

The Reed 3P 9.5-inch uses the same bearing and adjusters in a shorter form, with 223 mm from pivot to spindle.