Тонармы — Luphonic Tonearm K2

The K2 is a pivoted tonearm from Luphonic Labs, the German turntable maker based in Linden, and it was designed entirely in-house for the company's own turntables. It is fitted as standard to the Luphonic H1 and H2, offered on the R3 and also sold separately. Two lengths are made, a 9.5 inch version at about EUR 990 and a 12 inch version at about EUR 1,290. The R3 turntable costs EUR 4,290 without an arm, EUR 4,990 with the shorter K2 and EUR 5,290 with the longer one.

Key specs that matter

The arm tube is carbon fibre, and the bearing is a gimbal with precision miniature ball bearings for both the horizontal and vertical axes. Other parts are made from aluminium, stainless steel and POM. The headshell is moulded from polyamide filled with fine glass beads. The 12 inch version has an effective length of 304.8 mm, an overhang of 12.8 mm and a mounting distance of 292.0 mm. The 9.5 inch version has an effective length of 239.3 mm, an overhang of 17.3 mm and a mounting distance of 222.0 mm. Cartridges from 5 to 14 g can be fitted. Vertical tracking angle, tracking force, azimuth and anti-skating are all adjustable.

Engineering and use context

In a gimbal bearing the arm pivots in two axes on separate pairs of ball bearings, which holds it without play while keeping friction low, so the stylus follows the groove with little resistance from the arm. Carbon fibre combines high stiffness with low mass, and the glass-bead filling raises the stiffness of the polyamide headshell without adding much weight, so the arm resists flexing where it holds the cartridge. VTA is set by loosening the retaining bolts and sliding the arm up or down in its mount, and the headshell angle can be set parallel to the record surface so that azimuth is set from a square starting point. A longer arm reduces the tracking angle error between the stylus and the groove across the side of a record, which is why the 12 inch version needs less overhang than the shorter one. The longer arm also needs a larger armboard, and its mounting distance is 70 mm greater. Luphonic does not publish the effective mass, the offset angle or the cable type.

Pairing

The majority of MC and MM cartridges fall inside the arm's weight window. On a turntable from another maker, the armboard must be drilled to the mounting distance of the chosen length, and the 12 inch version needs a plinth with room for the longer tube.

Alternatives

Luphonic makes no tonearm other than the K2, which is offered only in its two lengths.