Тонармы — Clearaudio UNIVERSAL 9"

The Universal in its 9-inch form is the shorter of two lengths of the Universal radial tonearm made by Clearaudio in Erlangen, the other being a 12-inch version. It was developed for the Innovation series and the Ovation turntables, where it matches the finish of the decks. It comes with a carbon tube in black or silver and aluminium parts in the same colour, and an optional VTA-Lifter can be ordered.

Key specs that matter

Effective length is 239 mm, overall length 345 mm, and the arm sits 222 mm from the spindle at its pivot, or 217 mm when measured from the headshell centre. Overhang is 17 mm and the offset angle 24.89 degrees, with null points at 66.04 mm and 120.9 mm. Effective mass is given as 9.5 g, and the arm balances cartridges from 2.9 g up to 24.8 g. Including its counterweight, the arm weighs 745 g. It uses the Linn and Clearaudio mounting pattern. Signal leaves through a 1.1 m Super Sixtream lead finished with RCA plugs, and the anti-skating factor is stated as 0.49. Clearaudio covers the arm with a five-year warranty when the card is returned within 14 days of purchase.

Engineering and use context

Selected ball bearings in the vertical and horizontal axes carry the arm with very low friction. The tube is a three-piece telescoping carbon construction whose sections change in diameter, a layout meant to break up resonances while keeping the light material stiff. At the front, a one-piece aluminium headshell provides the mounting platform and allows azimuth to be set. Several interchangeable counterweights let the owner place the mass close to the pivot, and the counterweight hangs low to put the centre of gravity in a favourable position, with an engraved scale for setting downforce. Anti-skating works magnetically, is mechanically decoupled from the arm and is locked with a thumb screw. Internal wiring is the same Sixtream copper cable used in the Statement TT-1 tangential arm, and it runs in one piece from the cartridge clips to the RCA plugs. With the optional VTA-Lifter fitted, the vertical tracking angle can be altered during playback.

Pairing

The very wide weight window accepts almost any common cartridge, from light MM designs to heavy MC bodies approaching 25 g. The continuous signal path suits low-output moving coil cartridges in particular. Decks that do not follow the Linn cutout need a matching armboard drilled for the correct pivot distance.

Alternatives

The Clearaudio Clarify is a fully magnetically suspended arm weighing 410 g that takes cartridges between 2.5 and 17 g.