From the Kuzma press release:
Franc Kuzma does neither design nor releases new products for the sake of historical symmetry of any kind. Ever. But, when he does, it shifts the limitations of the hitherto possible into another dimension. Welcome the new SAFIR 9 tonearm!
It took more than 5 years of laborious R & D to bring a pivotal manner of analogue LP playback to this level. Higher than in any previous Kuzma tonearm and, possibly, higher than any tonearm before.
The essence, heart and soul of the SAFIR 9 tonearm is an extremely rigid, conical arm tube made out of sapphire – the first of the kind and the first implementation of the precious stone for this purpose. The overall rigidity and resilience to all unwanted resonances are key natural properties of sapphire. As such, it outperforms any arm tube used in any tonearm, remaining resonant free up to a very high 5kHz frequency. This gives the phono cartridge generator a true “ground”. Owing to the natural density of sapphire, SAFIR 9 tonearm has to have a considerably high effective mass.
SAFIR 9 bearings are, as with all Kuzma multi-point designs, a proprietary in-house design consisting of 4 sharp spikes resting against ruby cups. They are a further improvement over a solution already found in all Kuzma 4Point tonearms with great success.
The sapphire arm tube is fitted into a massive ensemble of solid aluminium and brass blocks, providing extremely inert and mechanically quiet support to the arm tube itself as well as the Point bearing spikes. This dissipates vibrations which occur inevitably as the phono cartridge stylus tip rides the grooves of an LP to a substantial extent.
A twin section brass counterweight with a lock mechanism accurately balances the tonearm. Azimuth can be adjusted in small, accurate and easy to repeat increments with zero play (using an Allen key).
The new Kuzma SAFIR 9 tonearm fits conveniently a vast majority of today’s best turntables, retaining the well-established Kuzma arm base layout. The VTA of the cartridge is adjusted with a very fine threaded screw within the arm base. Again, accuracy and ease of repeated adjustments are possible in a simple and effective manner.
The new Kuzma SAFIR 9 has a special silver alloy internal wiring as standard specification. A single, uninterrupted (1.5m long) cable connects the phono cartridge between the headshell pins and high-quality RCA connectors at the opposite end.
The new Kuzma SAFIR 9 will reveal the ultimate potential of any high-quality phono cartridge and bring more music out of the LP grooves than we have heard ever before. In short – a new record collection altogether!
Kuzma SAFIR 9 tonearm will be launched at the High End 2022 exhibition in Munich (19-22 May 2022). Please contact your national distribution outlet for further details and arrangements for reviews and other media coverage.
KUZMA SAFIR Technical Data:
- Effective Length: 229mm (9 inch)
- Mounting Distance From Spindle: 212mm
- Offset Angle: 23 degrees
- Effective Mass: 60g*
- VTA Adjustment: Yes
- Azimuth Adjustment: Yes
- Bias Compensation/Adjustment: Yes
- Internal Wiring: Silver Alloy (Kondo)
- Overall Mass (Weight): 1,250g
- Projected List Price: €20,000
* compatible with phono cartridges of CU (compliance) 25 or lower
Tags: KUZMA SAFIR 9 TONEARM
By Hi-Fi+ Staff
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