Kuzma Announces Safir 9 Sapphire Tonearm

Franc Kuzma has announced the new Safir 9, a tonearm whose conical tube is fabricated from sapphire - the first time the precious stone has been used this way, according to the designer. It also has an effective length of nine inches (229mm), giving the second half of its name meaning.

We are told that the sapphire's overall rigidity and resistance to unwanted resonances were the fundamental natural properties of the material that attracted Kuzma to use it for the armtube. Furthermore, according to Kuzma, the arm "is stiffer and offers a higher resonant frequency than any arm tube ever previously used". The brand says its first break-up mode occurs at over 5KHz, providing the cartridge motor with a true mechanical ground.

The Safir 9 has "a considerably high effective mass (60 grams) due to the material's natural density." The bearing system is similar to the unique one used on the 4Point arms, notably four sharp spikes resting in ruby cups, though Kuzma claims the ones here are a "further improvement" over the existing ones used by the 4Point.

The arm tube fits into a massive solid aluminium structure with brass blocks that are said to provide a highly inert and mechanically quiet support for the sapphire tube and the bearing spikes resulting in exceptional vibration dissipation. The overall weight of the Kuzma Safir 9 is listed as 1,250 grams.

Other features include a locking twin section brass counterweight and accurate azimuth adjustment in small, precise and easily repeated increments with zero play. The tonearm fits easily into the "vast majority" of today's best turntables as it retains the "well-established" Kuzma arm base layout. We are informed that the Safir 9 has a P2S distance of 212mm and a 23 degree offset angle.

Internal wiring is apparently a special Kondo silver alloy as a single, uninterrupted 1.5m long cable from headshell pins to high-quality RCA plugs.

Kuzma will launch the Safir 9 at the High End 2022 exhibition in Munich on May 19-22. Expect to pay around €20,000 for the new tonearm.

Visit Kuzma for more information