The Wand Tonearm Owners & Discussion Thread

[artaudio]

59 minutes ago, evil c said:

I bought an LP12 with Ittok arm, and realized within the first week that the arm was the weak point.

 

Clive, the Ittok II arm you bought that I purchased from you with the LP-12 had stuffed bearings (not your fault as i'm sure you didn't know). Linn arm's must be removed from the turntable to install the cartridge to Linn tight spec and if not the bearings can be damaged. I was thinking about getting a Wand but an Ittok MkIII (Japan Made Ekos Mk1) was available for sale from a good owner that only used his Linn dealer to install the cartridges as a replacement. So not much left of the Linn LP-12 I purchased from you, just the springs arm board, motor and power supply  

 

I'm sure that the Wand would be a great arm on a LP-12.

Edited September 1, 2021 by artaudio

[evil c]

42 minutes ago, artaudio said:

 

 

Clive, the Ittok II arm you bought that I purchased from you with the LP-12 had stuffed bearings (not your fault as i'm sure you didn't know). Linn arm's must be removed from the turntable to install the cartridge to Linn tight spec and if not the bearings can be damaged. I was thinking about getting a Wand but an Ittok MkIII (Japan Made Ekos Mk1) was available for sale from a good owner that only used his Linn dealer to install the cartridges as a replacement. So not much left of the Linn LP-12 I purchased from you, just the springs arm board, motor and power supply  

 

I'm sure that the Wand would be a great arm on a LP-12.

So my first impression was correct, LOL !!

However I still am confident that the Wand is superior in some respects - perhaps when matched with a very good Moving Coil cartridge like l have done.

[artaudio]

8 hours ago, evil c said:

So my first impression was correct, LOL !!

However I still am confident that the Wand is superior in some respects - perhaps when matched with a very good Moving Coil cartridge like l have done.

 

Clive, I'm now using a Dynavector DVT XS1t https://www.jdaudioonline.com.au/product/dynavector-dv-drt-xv1t/ cartridge in the Ittok MkIII I think its a very good MC cartridge. 

Edited September 1, 2021 by artaudio

[PKay]

50 minutes ago, artaudio said:

 

 

Clive, the Ittok II arm you bought that I purchased from you with the LP-12 had stuffed bearings (not your fault as i'm sure you didn't know). Linn arm's must be removed from the turntable to install the cartridge to Linn tight spec and if not the bearings can be damaged. I was thinking about getting a Wand but an Ittok MkIII (Japan Made Ekos Mk1) was available for sale from a good owner that only used his Linn dealer to install the cartridges as a replacement. So not much left of the Linn LP-12 I purchased from you, just the springs arm board, motor and power supply  

 

I'm sure that the Wand would be a great arm on a LP-12.

That seems odd that you tighten it off the turntable. Alignment must be a pain. 

[artaudio]

29 minutes ago, PKay said:

That seems odd that you tighten it off the turntable. Alignment must be a pain. 

 

You set the cartridge and align while fitted to the turntable with the cartridge bolts finger tight then remove the arm to complete the toque to Linn Spec.. vert tight. its really simple as the arm is only held by one allen key bolt in the arm collar.   

Edited September 1, 2021 by artaudio

[PKay]

6 minutes ago, artaudio said:

 

You set the cartridge and align while fitted to the turntable with the cartridge bolts finger tight then remove the arm to complete the toque to Linn Spec.. vert tight. its really simple as the arm is only held by one allen key bold in the arm collar.   

You wonder how many people know that and how many damaged bearings are out there. 

[artaudio]

5 minutes ago, PKay said:

You wonder how many people know that and how many damaged bearings are out there. 

 

Most Linn Ittok's purchased used and not setup by Linn dealers, this information is included in the owners manual. In a past life I was a Linn dealer. I guess like me its the buyers problem.  

[PKay]

7 hours ago, artaudio said:

 

Most Linn Ittok's purchased used and not setup by Linn dealers, this information is included in the owners manual. In a past life I was a Linn dealer. I guess like me its the buyers problem.  

Now there’s your problem. It is in the owners manual. How many blokes read the owners manual. We’re smart enough to figure it out for ourselves. 

[artaudio]

Here is the front page of the manual... every bloke normally reads the front page before tossing it back in the box.

 

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by artaudio

[PKay]

1 hour ago, artaudio said:

Here is the front page of the manual... every bloke normally reads the front page before tossing it back in the box.

 

 

 

You may be surprised.  In any case, by the time the arm is sold as used, the manual usually disappears and the damage is done. 

 

Does the arm come with a torque wrench? I wonder how many other arms require such force to couple the cart to the tonearm?

 

Apologies to the OP for going off topic.

Edited September 1, 2021 by PKay

[evil c]

Back on track  -Another reason I'm glad l went to the Wand.

Simple unclip of the tonearm wire and lift off the unipivot shaft for cartridge fitting.

 

To the untrained eye, Wands can look quite bulky and cumbersome- however well setup they "dance with very light feet", and are able to extract more information from the groove than most arms.

 

A well known bespoke  turntable and tonearm designer/ manufacturer in Australia has used the Wand arms very successfully on his top of the range turntable. 

 

Many will have read of my experiences with the Wand arms,

I started with the Plus on a Linn sondek LP12

and currently am running a Wand Master on a Soulines Kubrick DCX TT and Phasemation PP500 cart.

 

Not a single pic on this thread, so thought it was time to rectify!

[SONDEKNZ]

12 hours ago, evil c said:

Back on track  -Another reason I'm glad l went to the Wand.

Simple unclip of the tonearm wire and lift off the unipivot shaft for cartridge fitting.

 

To the untrained eye, Wands can look quite bulky and cumbersome- however well setup they "dance with very light feet", and are able to extract more information from the groove than most arms.

 

A well known bespoke  turntable and tonearm designer/ manufacturer in Australia has used the Wand arms very successfully on his top of the range turntable. 

 

Many will have read of my experiences with the Wand arms,

I started with the Plus on a Linn sondek LP12

and currently am running a Wand Master on a Soulines Kubrick DCX TT and Phasemation PP500 cart.

 

Not a single pic on this thread, so thought it was time to rectify!

 

Many thanks for this input, Clive. And I agree about pics in a thread... Essential!

You are turning me around on The Wand.

One of my objections was the lack of a cuing lift - but I was mistaken,  I see the higher models have this.  Interesting...

A few remaining concerns.

SHELTER 501 MK.II - will The Wand and the Shelter be in compliance?

Cuing.  Is it true that The Wand does not descend to the platter (LP) in a acceptably straight line?  This would drive me nuts as I hate to miss the beginning of an album - and enjoy cuing mid-LP.

Appreciate your first-hand expertise...

Edited September 2, 2021 by SONDEKNZ

[evil c]

53 minutes ago, SONDEKNZ said:

 

Many thanks for this input, Clive. And I agree about pics in a thread... Essential!

You are turning me round on The Wand.

One of my objections was the lack of a cuing lift - but I was mistaken,  I see the higher models have this.  Interesting...

A few remaining concerns.

SHELTER 501 MK.II - will The Wand and the Shelter be in compliance?

Cuing.  Is it true that The Wand does not descend to the platter (LP) in a acceptably straight line?  This would drive me nuts as I hate to miss the beginning of an album - and enjoy cuing mid-LP.

Appreciate your first-hand expertise...

The Wand arm is a tad wobbly from side to side but only in a small deviation, and will tend to stay in the one spot .

Cueing can be affected of course, by how strong the antiskate is set.

A simple weight is slung from a fine line, with loop to hang from a long shaft.

I don't even use one, as seems fine without it, so it usually goes straight down - but typically you could allow for the arm/ cart to slightly move outward.

It takes a bit of getting used to, but not a biggie!

The Wand plus now has a perspex type clip locking plate, over earlier models that just had a rubber band to hook around the arm.

 

(Medium) Effective mass of the 9.5" arm is 13.5g and the Shelter is 8.1g.

Seems to be ok at a resonance of around 11hz.

The Wand arm is fairly versatile,  and I've used a lightweight 5g Zyx to a 11.5g Phasemation cart on it without any issues.

 

You can place a 2g plate on the cart mount and extra plates on the back to get tracking weight correctly. 

Hope that helps you,  you can always ask Simon Brown from design build listen- he is very friendly and helpful! 

[Xecuter]

Help wanted please.

 

I just purchased a Garrard 401 which comes with a 12 inch wand. This is my first serious TT set up.

I need a cart and was looking at the Hana SL (low gain>). My Preamp is the ATC SCA-2

I see that it weighs 5g and probably needs a headshell weight to be optimised?

I can't afford the ML at the moment. I know basically nothing and am dreading installing and aligning this thing as I've heard the wand can be quiet finicky.

 

Should I maybe look at a really cheap cart and learn to cue by finger and mess around before buying a multi thousand dollar cart?

 

 

[evil c]

17 minutes ago, Xecuter said:

Help wanted please.

 

I just purchased a Garrard 401 which comes with a 12 inch wand. This is my first serious TT set up.

I need a cart and was looking at the Hana SL (low gain>). My Preamp is the ATC SCA-2

I see that it weighs 5g and probably needs a headshell weight to be optimised?

I can't afford the ML at the moment. I know basically nothing and am dreading installing and aligning this thing as I've heard the wand can be quiet finicky.

 

Should I maybe look at a really cheap cart and learn to cue by finger and mess around before buying a multi thousand dollar cart?

 

 

Congrats, nice pick up!,

Nah don't put a cheapie on a good arm like that- just be careful and fit a stylus guard on if you have one when fitting.

Shouldn't be too hard, is the deck being supplied with the arm base still fitted?

It would be very easy to just place the Wand arm on top and thread the cable into place if it is!,

With the Hana at 5g, you will need only 1 or 2 plates on the back to get correct for adjustment of tracking weight.

Few videos available now on Wand installation, so don't be intimidated .

Good luck !,

 

[Jakeyb77_Redux]

25 minutes ago, Xecuter said:

Help wanted please.

 

I just purchased a Garrard 401 which comes with a 12 inch wand. This is my first serious TT set up.

I need a cart and was looking at the Hana SL (low gain>). My Preamp is the ATC SCA-2

I see that it weighs 5g and probably needs a headshell weight to be optimised?

I can't afford the ML at the moment. I know basically nothing and am dreading installing and aligning this thing as I've heard the wand can be quiet finicky.

 

Should I maybe look at a really cheap cart and learn to cue by finger and mess around before buying a multi thousand dollar cart?

 

 

 They can take a bit of getting used to. Like Clive I had a wand on my Linn a few years ago. 
Unipivot arms take a bit of getting used to and The Wand I would describe as a bit more “fiddly” than my VPI unipivot. That’s not a negative, it just is as it has plates to align etc.

 

I think getting an old cart that is sacrificial (maybe someone can donate one?) is probably a good idea given your stated apprehension.

I’ll put my hand up and say with my fat fingers I have sent my VPI arm flying across my record. It’s not good 

But, learning is part of the fun. It’s a fantastic arm and will reward you and you gotta get used to it somehow.

 

[Xecuter]

5 minutes ago, evil c said:

Congrats, nice pick up!,

Nah don't put a cheapie on a good arm like that- just be careful and fit a stylus guard on if you have one when fitting.

Shouldn't be too hard, is the deck being supplied with the arm base still fitted?

It would be very easy to just place the Wand arm on top and thread the cable into place if it is!,

With the Hana at 5g, you will need only 1 or 2 plates on the back to get correct for adjustment of tracking weight.

Few videos available now on Wand installation, so don't be intimidated .

Good luck !,

 

I believe the arm base should still be attached. We will see when it arrives this week.

 

I've reached out about some cheaper carts to use as beaters, if I like the Wand I might just the the Hana ML. What plates work with the wand? Sorry I'm very new to this.

 

@Jakeyb77_Redux haha a donor cart would be nice but don't think i'd be that lucky.

 

 

 

[Jakeyb77_Redux]

1 minute ago, Xecuter said:

I believe the arm base should still be attached. We will see when it arrives this week.

 

I've reached out about some cheaper carts to use as beaters, if I like the Wand I might just the the Hana ML. What plates work with the wand? Sorry I'm very new to this.

 

@Jakeyb77_Redux haha a donor cart would be nice but don't think i'd be that lucky.

 

 

 

Wow! Nice table.

I meant a cart with a busted tip might have been good just to attach to get used to the movement etc. of the arm. 
I might still have one. I’ll have a look.

The Wand adds plates on the back for weight. Less plates less weight, more plates more weight kind of thing. Just to get the main balance right.

All will become obvious once you get your hands on it. 
Mine came fully stripped down and had to be put together. It’s not hard really. Just watch the videos as Clive said. 
You’ll be fine. 

[Mendes]

16 minutes ago, Xecuter said:

I believe the arm base should still be attached. We will see when it arrives this week.

 

I've reached out about some cheaper carts to use as beaters, if I like the Wand I might just the the Hana ML. What plates work with the wand? Sorry I'm very new to this.

 

@Jakeyb77_Redux haha a donor cart would be nice but don't think i'd be that lucky.

 

 

 

Great pick up!!! 

[Gryffles]

1 hour ago, Xecuter said:

Help wanted please.

 

I just purchased a Garrard 401 which comes with a 12 inch wand. This is my first serious TT set up.

I need a cart and was looking at the Hana SL (low gain>). My Preamp is the ATC SCA-2

I see that it weighs 5g and probably needs a headshell weight to be optimised?

I can't afford the ML at the moment. I know basically nothing and am dreading installing and aligning this thing as I've heard the wand can be quiet finicky.

 

Should I maybe look at a really cheap cart and learn to cue by finger and mess around before buying a multi thousand dollar cart?

 

 

The Wand arm is a breeze to set up due to its very clever design. Fixed Honestly once you’ve done it a couple of times it’s a 15 min job. Aside from sounding great it’s a real feature of the arm. 
 

I just realised you are on the Sunny Coast. I’m rather familiar with that TT so could help

 

It’s partly about the tools as well. A decent vtf gauge, fozgometer and test record really help

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3 by Gryffles

[Xecuter]

1 minute ago, Gryffles said:

The Wand arm is a breeze to set up due to its very clever design. Fixed Honestly once you’ve done it a couple of times it’s a 15 min job. Aside from sounding great it’s a real feature of the arm. 

 

 

 

 

It's your old deck isn't mate?

You should come up here and show me the ropes.

 

Whisky and rum on me?

 

 

[Gryffles]

1 minute ago, Xecuter said:

It's your old deck isn't mate?

You should come up here and show me the ropes.

 

Whisky and rum on me?

 

 

Was just editing my post 

[Rustee]

@Xecuter Congrats! they are a great arm, I find it easy to set up and use. So much so I bought a second one for another turntable.

 

Looks like you are in good hands with the help from Ben 

 

If you didn't get the Wand set up instructions with the purchase, get onto the Design Build Listen website and download/print the document. It is easy to follow and will be a good reference for you down the track.

 

That combo should sound very nice, well done.

 

Cheers,

Russ

 

[Rustee]

13 hours ago, evil c said:

Few videos available now on Wand installation, so don't be intimidated .

ah cool, didn't know they had videos up, Ill check them out. 

Thanks.

[SONDEKNZ]

A WAND PLUS owner here.

Nice deck! Nice arm! You're in for a treat!

As others have said, the WAND takes a few times to become comfortable with cueing - but it is never difficult. Using the underside of your thumb under the "snout" is the trick! 

If you are new to turntables, I would recommend you buy (brand new!) the DENON 103R. This is because it is a great sounding cart that LOVES the WAND tonearms.

 

Also, the DENON's conical stylus profile makes perfect cart alignment unnecessary. Near enough is good enough with the DENON - important for a newbie!

Lastly, the DENON is a veritable bargain and for hundreds of dollars it will IMHO quite comfortably compete with carts that are 2 or 3 times the price.
(We have a SHELTER 501/2 and my wife prefers the DENON!  )

Once you get this bit right, the rest is down to the condition and cleanliness of your LPs...

 

Enjoy!