GrooveMaster 4 Tonearm

Description

Ammonite Audio is very pleased to be offering the latest GrooveMaster 4 tonearm, which is a substantially re-engineered version of the GrooveMaster 3, which remains in production and can be seen in our shop here.  The new GrooveMaster 4 is now available and we have the 9″ (229mm P2S) S-Shape variant on dem here.

Audio Creative, who design and make the GrooveMaster tonearms in the Netherlands, have been extremely good in constantly developing and improving their products, and the GrooveMaster 3 stands out as an exceptional performer, at a sensible price.  But, good as it is, the GrooveMaster 3 does not threaten our favourite ‘battleship’ arms from Glanz which have a wonderful sense of dynamic control, combined with musical poise and the most delightfully intense tonal palette. The new GrooveMaster 4 promises to take vinyl performance up to very nearly Glanz territory, at a price point that looks astonishing value for a tonearm in that league.

Reviews

Latest review in The Ear online audio magazine – see https://the-ear.net/review-hardware/groovemaster-4-top-banana/ .  The review confirms everything that we have already noted in our own listening tests.  The Ear awarded the GrooveMaster 4 Editor’s Choice

How Does it Sound?

We mounted our demonstration 9” (229mm pivot-spindle) S-Shape GM4 on a modified Technics SL-1200GR turntable, using our own Ammonite Audio SME armboard and Audio Creative’s stainless steel sliding mount.  Setting the mounting distance to 229mm was easy using an Acoustical Systems SMARTractor.

Maybe controversially, we chose an entry-level Ortofon SPU#1S cartridge, an inexpensive and (by modern MC cartridge standards) a somewhat crude thing sporting a very unfashionable bonded spherical tip.  But, there’s reason in our apparent madness – SPUs are old-fashioned, very low compliance designs that throw a great deal of vibration energy back into the tonearm, so fit one to a lightweight arm that cannot deal with that energy and the SPU will sound brash, harsh, mechanical and just horrid.  But, in an arm that can accept and deal with the energy, like a Glanz MH-900S, the rough and ready SPU#1S suddenly becomes more cultured sounding, more colourful, expressive, and not least quieter in the groove.  The SPU#1S is one of the purest SPUs and is a really tough partner for a tonearm, so how did it fare with the GM4?

The SPU#1S is not known for being particularly quiet in the groove but as soon as the tip hit the first LP, there was very low surface noise, immediately noticeable and a bit of a surprise.  Next, we found that we felt comfortable to increase the amplifier volume level compared to the same setup but with a GM3;  oddly that did not mean subjectively louder listening levels but rather much, much stronger dynamic contrasts in recordings.

The first LP that we tried was Diamond Mine by King Creosote, which starts off with an ambient recording of voices in a Scottish café, with gently building background instruments.  Frankly, this track is just lovely with any turntable, tonearm, cartridge but here with the GM4 the recorded acoustic is quite literally ‘reach out tangible’, shockingly real.  The second track builds slowly with a gentle bass line that develops in intensity and texture, and here we were astonished, not just by the GM4’s portrayal of those bass textures, but the subterranean depth of that bass – that was new.  The GM4 really digs deep with bass,  always in a controlled manner.  And this is with an entry-level Ortofon SPU#1S!

So, on to something much more musically challenging, in the form of Beethoven Late String Quartets, played by the Vegh Quartet in around 1973 (my LPs are Telefunken, but the original release was on Valois, I believe).  These recordings are delightful in terms of skilful playing and musical expression as well as the placement of violins, viola and cello.  Some of the quartets are definitely musically ‘difficult’ but nevertheless electrifying, and the GM4/SPU#1S combination literally places you on a front row seat facing the players – each instrument clearly defined in a natural, wide soundstage along with the spaces between them, filled with energy, and joy.  Ortofon SPUs are naturally musically ebullient and do thrive on this sort of thing, but not usually with such refinement and fine detail, yet that is exactly what the GM4 got from the SPU and these venerable record grooves.  Truly wonderful stuff, usually only delivered by much more expensive tonearms and cartridges.

Finally, we were curious to see how well the SPU#1S performed in terms of tracking ability, when fitted to the GM4.  Now, Ortofon’s own specifications state the lateral tracking ability to be a modest 60 µm, and that reflects our previous experience with SPUs, but in the GM4, the SPU#1S sailed through the 80 µm test on the Ortofon Test LP, complained at the 90 µm test, and only gave up with the 100 µm test.  We’ve never had an SPU do that before, including this one, and this is testament to the GM4’s extremely stable platform, close tolerance bearings and good resonance control, also highlighted by the unusually low surface noise, even with a cartridge like the SPU not exactly noted for quiet running.

As you can no doubt tell, we are utterly blown away by the new GrooveMaster 4 tonearm.  It is beautifully made, beautifully finished, easy to set up and adjust, but ultimately one of the best tonearms we’ve used or heard, at any price.  Anyone seeking a high quality, high-ish mass removable headshell tonearm should take a look at the GrooveMaster 4.

GrooveMaster 4: Manufacturer’s Introduction

In our research to develop the GrooveMaster tonearm, we kept a few things in mind: How were classic tonearms designed? How did they determine what improvements were needed? Were those improvements successful? What measurements did the engineers make? Did they limit themselves due to materials? Did they limit themselves based on manufacturing technologies available in the ’50s? All analogue equipment is built on the backs of giants. Most lessons have already been learned by the great engineers of the past, though many of those lessons are forgotten with time and “new technology”. In the 21st century, some things can be done faster, much more accurately, using better machine tools, on higher grade materials. With this in mind, and many hours of building, tweaking, listening, redesign, and more listening, the Audio Creative GrooveMaster tonearm was born.

GrooveMaster 4: the Ultimate Reference Tonearm

The GrooveMaster 4 is a further development and optimization of the GrooveMaster 3 tonearm. With the GrooveMaster 4, we checked all points and improved them where possible. This resulted in a tone arm made entirely of stainless steel, gun metal brass and titanium. All materials have the property that they minimise their own resonances resulting in an ultra quiet tonearm with very low resonance. 

GrooveMaster 4: Design

The genesis of the GrooveMaster tonearm lies in the 1950’s. In those days, high quality playback equipment was needed for mastering engineers, recording studios, music executives, broadcast networks, and wealthy connoisseurs.

This equipment was meant to last a lifetime, and and was built with little regard for expense. The GrooveMaster 4 is developed according to the same standards as these classics.

GrooveMaster 4: Choice of Material

The use of a combination of different high-quality materials, such as stainless and brass, reduces micro resonances, resulting in a cleaner sound reproduction. The high mass of the GrooveMaster 4 contributes to a very stable musical foundation. The GrooveMaster 4 weighs a remarkable 948 grams! Despite its high weight, the GrooveMaster 4 can make cartridges sing with relatively high compliancy up to 25 µm/mN.

With its combination of innovative engineering, superior materials, and user-friendly design, the grooveMaster 4 tonearm sets itself apart as a truly remarkable and high-performing audio tonearm.

GrooveMaster 4: Bearings

The choice of horizontal and vertical bearings is essential. We use half ceramic bearings with a very close tolerance of ABEC7 for this purpose. The bearings are oil-free and therefore require no maintenance and provide a lifetime of operation. Because of the high quality bearings with a very low friction, the effective mass of the tonearm is less important. The GrooveMaster 4 can easily accept higher compliance cartridges up to 25 µm/mN.

One delightful new feature in the GrooveMaster 4 is matched horizontal bearing angle to the headshell offset angle.  Some well-known tonearm makers claim that matching offset and bearing angle is not important, but we suspect that they have not found a way to do it – for Audio Creative to achieve this, they have to engineer different bearing housings for each length variant.  Why is this feature so important?  In short, with matched bearing and offset angles, it means that headshell azimuth remains constant irrespective of tonearm height, so that parameter can be set even when the arm is sitting securely in its rest clip, saving much time.  Believe us – you will absolutely love this new feature.

GrooveMaster 4: Wiring and Connectors

Ultra-thin (38 AWG) pure (99.999%) silver was chosen for wiring the GrooveMaster tone arm to achieve a low as possible friction on the bearings. All connectors are custom made and the signal carrying parts (headshell connector and tonearm connectors) are made of pure copper with a high conductivity (> 95 % IACS). Unique to the GrooveMaster is that all signal carrying parts are cryogenic treated.

GrooveMaster 4: Counterweight

The use of high-quality materials reduces resonance, resulting in a cleaner sound reproduction. With its combination of innovative engineering, Superior materials, and user-friendly design, the grooveMaster 4 tonearm sets itself apart as a truly remarkable and high-performing audio tonearm. The counterweight is very precise and VTF can be set at 0.01 grams

GrooveMaster 4: Magnetic Anti-Skating

Contactless magnetic anti-skating has always been a feature of GrooveMaster arms, and is highly effective.  In GrooveMaster 3 arms, the anti-skate control’s markings do not reflect actual VTF, so the user must refer to a guidance table in the instruction manual to determine an approriate setting.  With the GrooveMaster 4, this control has been re-engineered amd it now gives a direct reading that corresponds to VTF, so the anti skating can be precisely adjusted in relation to the VTF.  Anti-skating still needs to be tweaked by ear, but getting a good starting point is now much easier.

GrooveMaster 4: Wiring and Connectors

Ultra-thin pure (99.999%) silver was chosen for wiring the GrooveMaster tone arm. We chose the tonearm wiring of the GrooveMaster II after much testing and listening. This cable is ultra thin (0.1 mm./ 38 AWG) and extremely flexible so it does not put any stress or force on the very precise bearings of the GrooveMaster. The connectors are custom made and the signal carrying parts (headshell connector and tonearm connector) are made of pure copper. Unique to the GrooveMaster is that all signal carrying parts are cryogenic treated.

Banana shape or S-Shape?

Like previous GrooveMaster arms, the GrooveMaster 4 can be ordered with either ‘Banana Shape’ or ‘S-Shape’ tonearm tubes.  The choice is aesthetic, and has no impact on sound quality.

Mounting Options

Three mounting options are offered for the GrooveMaster 4:

Mounting Collar.  The mounting collar is a high mass, stainless steel base for the GrooveMaster, and Ammonite Audio supplies the GM4 with this collar, usually a cost option worth £95. The collar is designed to mount a GrooveMaster at a fixed pivot to spindle distance. The mounting holes correspond to a Jelco mounting. It is therefore not necessary to drill extra holes.

Sliding Base. The stainless steel sliding base for the GrooveMaster III is a high quality CNC machined sliding base. The brass sleeve connecting the GrooveMaster is nickel plated. Both materials together with the high mass minimise micro resonances. The unique wedge-shaped construction ensures a quick and play-free adjustment. The GrooveMaster sliding base fits the cutouts of an SME sliding base.

Rotary VTA Lift. The RotaryLift is a high-quality VTA lift developed especially for the GrooveMaster tonearm. This lift has a number of special and unique features, such as a collet attachment for the GrooveMaster and the possibility of adjusting the VTA while playing. The materials are stainless steel and gun metal brass. Two materials that neutralise each other’s resonance. The RotaryLift is mounted under the turntable by means of a heavy nut or through threaded bolt holes in the underside of the top flange, which are exactly made to Jelco measurements.

GrooveMaster 4 Specifications