Тонармы — Clearaudio TT5

The TT5 is a straight-line tracking tonearm from the Erlangen company Clearaudio, which says it created this arm to bring tangential playback to a wider audience while keeping the key features of its larger tangential models. It is the more affordable way into the brand's tangential arms, reached by leaving out some features of the TT2 and TT3. The European price is EUR 2,000, and in the UK it is GBP 2,550.

Key specs that matter

The arm weighs about 520 g without its clamping ring, and the ring itself weighs 65 g. The size is roughly 200 mm wide, 140 mm deep and 140 mm tall. It takes cartridges from 5.5 to 15.0 g. The construction combines aluminium in a black or silver finish with stainless steel and a glass guide. The fixed signal lead is 1.1 m of Super Sixstream wire with RCA plugs, and XLR termination has also been offered. The 5 year warranty depends on registration within 14 days of purchase.

Engineering and use context

The carriage has no motor, servo or air supply behind it. It is pulled inward only by the spiral of the record groove, so the stylus alone steers it and no tracking angle error builds up across the side. Clearaudio uses high-precision V4 steel ball bearings that run without lubricant on a polished glass tube, the carriage riding in a cylindrical glass collar on two small metal rollers. The chassis is shaped to limit resonance. Vertical tracking angle, azimuth and tracking force can all be adjusted. Levelling is done with two screws at the foot of the bridge, which carries a built-in bubble level, and setup refers to a 64 mm distance between the stylus and the front edge of the carriage. In standard form the arm is fully rigid. An optional TT5 swing base lets the whole assembly be turned away from the platter to change records without removing it. The carriage should be kept free of dust so the balls roll smoothly.

Pairing

Clearaudio states that the TT5 fits most turntables and matches its own decks best. The RCA lead connects straight to any separate phono stage, and the XLR option suits balanced phono inputs.

Alternatives

The Clearaudio TT2 is a heavier tangential arm from the same maker, weighing close to 2 kg and hand-assembled in Germany.