Scheu Analog
Germany
Scheu Analog Tonearms |
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Scheu Classic MK2 Tonearms, 12" and 10"Photos courtesy of a customer's system
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"The tonearm is a simple design. Made from one piece of aluminum, it is laser-cut and folded to form a H. It is a uni-pivot design with the contact point being a simple nitrogen -hardened bearing for friction-free operation. The cartridge weight is easily adjustable using a bronze weight. HTA and anti-skating are equally easily adjusted with bronze weights, and the same applies to azimuth adjustment. The copper cables that carry the signal from the cartridge are held inside the H-form tonearm by pieces of styrofoam that also decouple the tonearm for possible micro-vibrations during reading of the record groove. VTA is also easily adjustable. All this shows that we have a very simply-designed and well-thought tonearm that is well-manufactured and provides ease of adjustment." - AV Extreme, Greece
For distance from Pivot to Spindle, the 12" inch is 293-302 mm, depending on the cartridge you use, and the 9"/10" is 226-229 mm. There is no need to have 100% accuracy at a given point . But for academic purposes, more exact would be 293 mm for 12" (although Wally of Wallytractor fame has the opinion that 302 mm is a better solution) and the 9"/10" at 227 mm. As long as you can adjust overhang and azimuth correctly, you should not mind at all about slight variations.
The distance from pivot to spindle can vary to up to +8 mm without encountering problems when adjusting the cartridge, so a slightly larger distance of pivot-spindle is no problem at all. |
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"Cantus! The base of this tonearm is the same as of the Tacco tonearm. We were looking for an approach to nearly match all the qualities of the Tacco and what came out was this not only wonderful to look at tonearm manufactured of acrylic. Its neutral tonality and energy is unmatched in its class and it plays at least two classes above the regular Classic tonearm. The absence of the tubing and the usage of a framework nearly completely eliminates all resonances giving the best conditions of tracking a record at the highest level possible. The sound is unrivalled and only excelled by the Tacco. It’s a real temptation......."
In our experience, Scheu has another winner here. It has all the hallmarks of the regular Classic tonearm that we like - it retains the articulate and authoritative bass prowess of the Classic, and adds a greater degree of refinement, as well as extracting more inner detail and ambient information. Beautiful to behold, and easily detachable when needed.
The Cantus is available in two versions: a 9-inch version with an effective length of 229 mm (pivot-to-spindle separation 210.4 mm) and a 12-inch model with an effective length of 306 mm (pivot-to-spindle separation 292.3 mm).
Cantus unipivot tonearm on a Premier MK2 mounted with a with a Music Maker MK2 Improved cartridge. Superb sonic combination ! Beautiful on the transparent Premier MK2 Clear.
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"We call our new approach to a high-end unipivot tonearm Tacco. You might ask what this means. Well, in German language it is a kind of expression that everything is alright.... When listening to it you’ll find out that this is not overstated. We drew high attention to all design details and to geometry to make sure everything is - Tacco!"
"After considerable development time, study of the geometric necessities, material evaluation, sample structures, etc., we have concluded the test phase of our new arm and began production."
The tonearm is a combination of aluminum, wood (Thuja or Amboina - others on request), carbon fibre, and a rubinium/sapphire bearing. This design resulted in disturbing energy to be drained efficiently and fast. |
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The Scheu Tacco is our top model with the conical wooden tone arm wand made of either thuja cedar or amboina pine (or others on request). Apart from ensuring maintenance of all the familiar geometric parameters, the development of the equipment also concentrated on fastidious choice of materials.
Thus the actual bearing/counterweight unit is made of tungsten, allowing not
only a compact design concentrating all the free-to move mass into a condensed
space but also the effective suppression of resonance inside the bearing unit
thanks to the high density of the metal. The actual wand of the tone arm is
manufactured as a compound unit comprising wood in connection with aluminium and
carbon fibre.
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The Scheu Tacco arm in Amboina wood finish mounted on a Scheu Premier MK3, with a Jan Allaerts cartridge
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Scheu Tacco arm in its packing box
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Scheu Tacco outer box (Singapore only)
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There are two types of wood finish, amboina and thuja. Both are classified under Burl veneers. What is a burl ? A burl is caused by an injury to the tree where the growth of the tree changes causing a random artistic swirling grain pattern as opposed to a normal linear grain pattern.
Notice from the photos below that the shade for both finishes are similar, slightly dark, with the difference more on the patterns. Thuja and Amboina both have swirling grain, but the Thuja has more prominent spots, similar to Bird's Eye finishes. With either finish, the Tacco tonearm will have an effective mass of about 14 grams.
Amboina - golden brown burl, swirling grain. From Amboina Burl, one of the rarest burls.
Thuja - from a unique conifer tree related to cedar. Burled root wood. |
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Amboina Wood Finish
Click to enlarge sample |
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Thuja Wood Finish
Click to enlarge sample |
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<< Back To Main Scheu Analog page |
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Copyright 2002 - 2006 Soundscape HiFi And Music Designed by E-SOUNDSCAPE
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Scheu Analog Tonearms |
Scheu Analog Turntables And Tonearms
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of our UOB Credit Card Zero % Interest Free Installment Plan.
12 to 24 months !
The
tip of the bearing is a ruby sphere at the end of a hard tungsten carbide
rod.
It is not the usual sharp point. The bearing recess is set into
the bearing block and is made of a leuko- (white) sapphire. This arrangement
leads to extremely little internal friction and, in addition, the contact
surface is well-defined, eliminating any shifting of the point of the
bearing. The Tacco is currently available as a 9-inch variant. The effective
length is 238 mm with an effective mass in the range from 14 to 16 grams,
depending on the wood employed. The Tacco is characterised by its very clear and
well-contoured sound reproduction with highly pure bass and an outstandingly
fine reproduction of treble. Voices are reproduced in extremely natural fashion. 
