Decoupled 12 inchTonearmboard from "Panzerwood"
「パンツァーウッド」アームボード１２インチ

The fruit of over 2 years' intensive research and listening evaluation, this armboard offers a startling musical advance on the already excellent standard 12" board we offer. To achieve this, we set out to resolve the following dilemma:

The TD 124 was originally developed for us with the company's own prototype and then commercially-offered 8" tonearm, in which the arm's counterweight was mechanically decoupled from the cartridge and arm tube at the bearing housing. This arm, as our restoration process has shown, can give outstanding results provided the weight is properly decoupled.

Most modern arms, including the 12" models popularly used with the 124, incorporate no decoupling – they are optimised for mechanical rigidity. Used on the 124 and other tables, these arms do not completely eliminate mechanical vibration and feedback transmitted to the cartridge through the armboard. Eliminating all extraneous vibration, however, is critical for proper musical reproduction. Tracking the tiny vinyl grooves will always be less than optimal when vibration and feedback intrude into the chain.

Our new replacement 12" armboard addresses this issue in two key areas:

MaterialAfter much experimentation, we settled on the use of a patented phenolic wood compound called "Panzerholz". Panzerholz offers a unique combination of rigidity and vibration damping. It is twice the density of the aged beech we use in our standard replacement board – in fact so hard it can only be machined and drilled with special tungsten carbide tools! It is finished with coating by a special resin finish which was also contributes to its damping properties.

Mechanical decoupling
The board is 12 mm in thickness, one mm less than our standard board. The interface between armboard and chassis is achieved through three neoprene dampers used in the countersink to decouple arm from chassis. These dampers were also chosen on their basis of their mechanical and acoustical properties, after experimenting with several types of decoupling washer.

The unique combination of rigidity, density and decoupling allows the arm/cartridge combination to achieve maximum performance. Listening tests show dramatic improvements in dynamic contrasts. Groove noise disappears to the vanishing point with radically improved tracking (which also prolongs cartridge life). Details emerge which were previously obscured due to extraneous noise and mechanical interference. Soundstage depth and height expand and solidify. The difference is not subtle, however fine the results with the standard board.
Once it is mounted on the board, your tonearm will not require adjustment and retightening - Panzerholz does not compress, nor change dimensionally in response to changes in ambient humidity, as do all natural woods, regardless of the finish applied.

The armboard can be ordered in two versions:

Item # 2601 for all SME 3012 models and the Ikeda IT 407
Item # 2602 for Ortofon AS 309 s only

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Item # 2601
For all SME 3012 models and the Ikeda IT 407

Item # 2602
For Ortofon AS 309 s only

The tonearmboard comes with instruction and mounting material..