There’s just something about the musical clarity and tonal purity, rhythmic articulation and natural balance these arms bring to the party that sets them apart from any of their (near) price peers that I’ve heard. The Kuzma 4Point14 offers more precise set up and greater musical authority. The Thales Statement offers a more developed stereo stage and a greater musical fluidity. But both of these arms are considerably more expensive than the Alphasons (around three and four times the price) and neither is as versatile when it comes to cartridge matching.
Is Alphason risking confusing its customers by offering three versions of the same arm? The world has changed since the HR-100S first appeared, with a greater range of partnering ‘tables and wider acceptance of longer effective lengths. While I spent least time talking about the 10.5” tonearm, it’s tempting to assume that it’s the ‘Goldilocks choice’, offering the best of both worlds. In practice, it’s not that simple. As Goldilocks discovered, there really WERE three bears – and you just know that each one had a different cartridge and different musical preferences. What Alphason has achieved is to create a quiver of excellent tonearms, versatile, beautifully and thoroughly engineered and delivering superb musical performance for the price. A very welcome return, I suspect the HR-200S is only the start…
Prices:
HR-200S 9” – £3,789.00
HR-200S 10.5” – £3,989.00
HR-200S 12” – £4,089.00
AZ upgrade – £448.00
VTA adjuster – Price TBA
Alphason Audio Ltd
