Glanz tonearms: now in the UK

Brought into the country by that very nice man, Timestep’s Dave Cawley, Japan’s Glanz tonearms arrive in three flavours

Trading under the Glanz name since 2008, the range offers the high-end S Series, an affordable B Series and the flagship SD. All are crafted by audio engineer Masataka Hamada.

The tonearms are constructed from a “extra hard” stainless steel, joined using an interference fit (also known as a press fit or friction fit), in which the joint is achieved by friction after the parts are pushed together rather than by fixings or adhesives.

The headshell is machined from a single billet of stainless steel while the arm pivot features four large bearings, each machined to provide optimal ‘tight/loose’ contact and each is hand-inserted using a jeweller’s hammer. The lower bearing in the vertical axis uses a thrust bearing.

‘Parallel damping’ is utilised. Hence, a thin rubber insert is inlaid into the headshell, various strategically-positioned damping structures within the arm tube and a counterweight assembly incorporating a triple damping system in which layers of carbon fibre, ABS resin and rubber are held in tension by a central screw.

The SD tonearm takes the S Series’ 12” model and adds a number of processes and features including a diamond-hard carbon layer coating on all metal parts, pure silver signal leads wrapped in silk and encased in poly-fibre, a fourth level of counterweight damping featuring heavy tungsten elements embedded within the stainless steel and carbon fibre rather than rubber damping in the headshell.

The B Series features a three-part damping system in the counterweight, while the anti-skating mechanism and cueing lever are manufactured from ABS plastic.

To learn more, click glanztonearms.co.uk or call 01803 833 366