Viv Labs Rigid Float 7inch Tonearm Sold

alans1957

Wammer
Wammer
Jun 9, 2012
642
15
48
Cambridgeshire
AKA
Alan
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I am changing my Viv Labs Rigid Float 7" Tonearm (Black Version). I have all the original packing box etc etc. Would consider £1700 or best offer. Due to the oil float it would be a collection only or a sensible meet halfway.

As a previous owner of an SME20/3 with a SME V (Kondo Wired), we all know the SME V, particularly when Kondo Wired, is a great tonearm. However when I heard the Rigid Float it blew me away, it was far more vibrant (not bright), dynamic and engaging so the purchase was a no brainer. I am considering changing for a Kuzma 4point 14" Tonearm, as I already have an Kuzma XL4 motor soon to be DC turntable.

e451feb01960750ce712701ccd9a70f4.jpg


Awards
Recommended Component Award 2014 by Stereophile magazine (USA) October 2014
Product of the Year 2013 Award by image hifi magazine (Germany) December 2013
Most Wanted Component 2013 Award by The StereoTimes (USA) December 2013

Review extracts

Eric Charlot, Digit-Hall France (Apr 2015) wrote:
“Last test on the Blackbird Feickert turntable was with a Viv Lab Rigid Float tonearm where we find the same sound aesthetic as the Ortofon RS-212D tonearm. But the result is now a vibrant mix of incisors and transients, coupled with a power of analysis that one would not have guessed using the other two tonearms – Ortofon RS-212D and a 10″ Reed 2A. With the Viv Lab, all records are perfectly integrated, the bass is released and found a joint and a power of analysis that we did not suspect. The harmonics in the highs add new information and cymbals on “Saturday Night At The Montmartre”, astonishing in their power.”


Beside the quality of reproduction it offers, the most significant advantage of Rigid Float is ultimately the incredible comfort it provides and the opportunities it opens by allowing us to forget the eternal tonearm compatibility issues with cartridges. “You already have the cartridge of your dreams? Introduce him the Viv Lab, he will extract the best. Cannot decide on the choice of the cartridge, or you have more than one? No need to have thirty six tonearms; the Viv Lab tonearm will do ” (it would be also well able to resolve recurrent problems faced by lovers of atypical cartridges such as Decca London, I would have liked to test with). Sure it sounds like a bad slogan for toothpaste promising you a bright smile. One could also add “try it and adopt” . I tried it and I immediately adopted.

In short, to put it bluntly: ! THIS UNIT IS A KILLER. Run, listen, and be prepared to revise your trigonometry!”

Roy Gregory, The Audio Beat (Feb. 2015) wrote:
“…hearing a record with the Rigid Float has a gloriously unimpeded sense of energy and momentum. Dynamics are quick and crisp, and forward motion has the sort of speed, freedom and grace that I normally associate with sliding on ice. If a really good conventional tonearm is able to corner better, like a sports car on low-profile tires, the Rigid Float makes it seem like there are no corners at all. Musically speaking, this thing just glides through the track…”

Michael Fremer, Stereophile (Aug. 2014) wrote:
“…the midrange was gloriously smooth and images were rock-solidly three-dimensional. Bass was meaty and full bodied, yet well controlled…”

“…my take is that the Rigid Float – either because of its underhung geometry, or its non-grounded bearing system, or both – has a singularly smooth, lush sound that some listeners will instantly crave…”

Clement Perry, StereoTimes Publisher’s note (Jan. 2014): 
“…I too must concur with Stephen’s assessment of this unique and innovative arm. Mine is the 9″ variation and it provides a remarkable sense of neutrality coupled with scale and textures never realized from my analogue rig…”

Thomas Schmidt, LP Magazine Germany (Nov. 2013) wrote:
“…I cannot say exactly which of the innovations makes the difference, but the Rigid Float tone arm is without a doubt an absolutely, uniquely exceptional phenomenon in analog sound reproduction…”

“…the Rigid Float tone arm improves even the best systems to a quality that hasn’t been heard before – and that by high (such as Van den Hul The Condor) or by extremely low (Miyajima Shilabe) compliance…”

Stephen Yan, The StereoTimes (Oct. 2013) wrote:
“…the RF tonearm can be very strongly and enthusiastically recommended!”

“…because it is so transparent and neutral, it will brutally and honestly tell you what you may not know about your system, …it’s like an implacable polygraph device…”

“You will, definitely and most assuredly, thank the RF for giving the truth to you, at a price which, while not cheap, actually costs less than many high end pick-ups on the market nowadays. From this perspective, and considering the amount of technology and innovation packed into this device, I believe my use of the word ’bargain’ is not misplaced…”

“…so in case you were interested, yes, I bought the review sample…” 

Mal Kenney, Part-Time Audiophile – THE Show Newport Beach (June 2013):
“…there’s no fixed pivot, no offset, no anti-skate, and a combination of power and subtlety that you’d guess would require a lot more engineering than letting a tonearm float in magnetic oil. Whether the arm’s ability to track without the familiar microdistortion is based on its strange pivot or whether it’s down to the damping… this arm is clearly a performer!”

Uwe Kirbach, Image HiFi Germany (Jan. 2013) wrote:
“…this arm is nothing short of an audiophile sensation! …the recordings sound strikingly direct and immediate, with intense dynamics. Drums and percussions come without restraintment, lively, with great three-dimensionality, depth and micro details…”

“…even when not perfectly setup the Rigid Float always played clean and clear, powerful with authority – it was always immediatley obvious that we have something special here…”

“…I know of no other similar superior, compatible tone arm. I can’t say what percentage of this is due to the genius bearings and what percent is because of the the skating-free straight arm… The resulting impression of ordinary tone arms is comparable to perfectionizing the chassis of a car on a gravel road, while the Japanese arm glides on asphalt, or better said, on oil.”


 
Last edited by a moderator:

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
113,444
Messages
2,451,263
Members
70,783
Latest member
reg66

Latest Articles