[antipop]

I like Avid's argument on the matter and why they use 9" arms.

Quote from their FAQ

Why don't your turntables take 12" pick-up arms?

From inception, our design philosophy stated maximum information retrieval....in the real world.

The pick-up arm is one of three elements that make up the record player. Establishing that rigid 9" arms would offer the best performance, our designs were modelled around this parameter.

Recently 12" arms have come back into fashion, claiming lower tracking distortion. However whilst in theory this is correct in the 'real world' this rarely happens and there are also the downsides to take into account.

Average distortion on 9" arms is 0.85%, whilst 12" arms are 0.67%. Some trying to impress will say this is 20% lower distortion, however this is incorrect as in real terms its only 0.18% lower.

Now add to this the downsides of higher moving mass, lower arm rigidity, higher counterweight inertia and worst of all higher distortion caused by misalignment.

Yes...in the real world rarely are styli correctly fitted within the cartridge body and most fit their cartridge using a standard alignment gauge using the body as a guide. Therefore if your stylus is misaligned within the headshell the distortion will be greater using the 12" arm as the distance from pivot to stylus is greater.

Record damage is greater due to counterweight inertia, warp tracking worse by higher moving mass and sonic degradation caused by unwanted structural resonance’s in longer arms, coupled to having oversized turntables causing more issues.

And you still want to use a 12" arm ?