During a press conference, Touraj Moghaddam, the founder and chief designer of Vertere, unveiled and demonstrated his latest tonearm design, the SG-II PTA.
Vertere’s brand-new top-of-the-line tonearm is named the SG-II PTA, as it bears a resemblance to the SG-1 PTA tonearms at first glance. However, appearances can be deceiving, as the SG-II only shares three components with its younger counterparts: the fine tracking force weight, the lift lower mechanism, and the silicon nitride triple bearing assembly. The SG-II-PTA HB will be priced at £13500, €16998, and $16995, and it will hit the market in July.
Vertere customers from all around the world have expressed their desire for a tonearm that better complements the SG-1 and RG-1 record players. While the statement made during the launch of the SG-1 PTA tonearms three years ago still holds true to some extent, “The Vertere Super Groove Precision Tonearms utilize a combination of quality materials, including roll-wrapped carbon-fiber, stainless steel, aluminum alloys, brass, and silicon nitride. Its unique bearing design and versatile anti-skate adjustment make it an ideal partner for the highest quality cartridges and turntables.” Touraj, never one to shy away from pressure, set himself the goal of creating a new tonearm that would deliver performance close to that of the Reference tonearm but at a more affordable price point. He introduced Tungsten Carbide and eliminated brass from the bill of materials, resulting in almost a complete overhaul. The SG-II must be experienced firsthand. It surpasses its older siblings by a significant margin.
Super Groove II PTA high-end Tonearm
The overall objective was to optimise the effective mass as seen at the stylus tip. The more optimised, the more the stylus tip moves and the less the tonearm moves, which improves efficiency, dynamics, and information retrieval.
Key Improvements
- New super-polished, aero-space-precision Silicon Carbide/Tungsten Carbide Tri-pivot bearing with ultra-low friction, stiction and noise
- New Titanium Headshell with improved dynamic mass distribution
- Heavier decoupled dual-axis stainless steel counterweight with adjustable outriders for easy azimuth adjustment
- Austenitic stainless steel central pillar and bearing holder
- Austenitic stainless steel pillar holder and clamp
- VTA adjustment collar for easy adjustment and repeatability
- New Bearing Yoke with bearing more in line with stylus tip
- Improved and stiffer rolled carbon fibre tube to the headshell and bearing yoke joints
- Improved dynamic centre of mass /centre of inertia
- Improved armrest with arm lock for transit
- The ‘Penguin’ transit spacer/lock
Existing innovations
- Non-resonant, high-rigidity roll-wrapped carbon fibre arm tube.
- Sliding effective mass /arm cartridge resonance/tracking weight fine-tuning adjuster
- Bias-curve adjustable anti-skate mechanism.
- Vertere HB internal wiring
- Machined from solid PTFE Arm DIN connector with precision machined Vertere connectors
- All connections are custom-manufactured and triple gold-plated.
Technical Specifications
- Type: Tri-pivot articulated
- Effective Length: 240mm
- Overhang: 17.5mm
- Offset Angle: 22.9°
- Head-Shell: Titanium
- Arm Tube: Wrapped Carbon Fibre
- Bearing Yoke Structure: Aluminium Body
- Bearing Type: Captive Silicon Nitride Balls (x3) Tungsten Carbide point
- Counter Weight: High Polished Stainless Steel
- Stainless Steel T/W Adj. Sleeve
- Internal Wiring: Pulse Hand-built
- Connector: Proprietary Cartridge Tags & 5-Pin
- Triple Thickness Gold Plated Contacts
- Tonearm Cable: veRum
- Weight: 495g
