Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Basis Audio Vector Tone Arms by lplvr Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

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Model:	Vector
Category:	Tone Arms
Suggested Retail Price:	$2500
Description:	UniPivot
Manufacturer URL:	Basis Audio
Model Picture:	View

Review by lplvr ( A ) on January 10, 2005 at 19:34:24 IP Address: 209.158.250.197

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First, let me begin by stating that this is my first review here. I just want to explain my impressions of this arm and how it works for me in my system. With that said, I’m in no way an expert on how to evaluate equipment; I just want to share my experiences with everyone here.

My previous tone-arm had been an Origin Live fully modified Rega RB250. The Rega arm was purchased along with my Basis 1400. Both items were purchased from Galen Carol audio in Texas. The Rega arm was pretty nice, was easy to set-up and worked well for my system. At first I had a Shure V15V installed and as finances allowed switched to the GliderH2. I now have a BenzH2.

The Rega arm never gave me any trouble (other than sticky cueing) and I think it is a pretty good arm for the money. My particular arm, however, had a headshell which wasn’t perfectly level. Still, not too bad.

I kind of put it in the back of my mind to perhaps upgrade the arm – if a manufacturer came along to make something for the Basis that wouldn’t send me to the poor house but would be an improvement over the Rega. When I started investigating possible replacements I considered the Graham Robin and the Clearaudio Unify. I wanted to be able to have a “drop-in” replacement which enabled me to continue to use the Wallytractor. Ordering a new plinth from Basis (for say an SME or another Graham) would have been expensive.

I first started looking into the Vector when I read here in VA that Basis had a new tone-arm available. At the time, I think it was about $2,400 which I couldn’t afford. I remember Galen telling me “it’s definitely worth the price of admission”. Still too much, so I had to put it off.

Well, last year I became single and that kind of changed everything. With all the shit I had to go through I felt that I deserved a product truly worthy of “disposable income”. After my divorce was final, I ordered the arm.

I thought that the arm was still available black with just the headshell being silver (as seen in most pictures); I liked how it looked so this is how I ordered it. Turns out, A.J. no longer makes the V3 arm assembly in black, it’s only available in silver; the arm that is. Not knowing this I ordered black (Galen didn’t know either) and the base came black but everything else was silver. I told Galen about it and I quickly got a silver base.

In order to install the cable box on the back of the plinth (5.5” from right edge) I had to remove the Basis S/N sticker in which A.J. sent me another. Setting up the arm didn’t prove to be all that difficult, just time consuming – for me anyway. I wanted everything to be as exact as possible. Plus, the instructions say about 5 times “don’t bust the cables – they’re not covered under warranty”. I wonder how many people did that.

Anyway, after the cartridge was mounted I used the protractor provided with the arm then compared the results to that of the Wallytrator. Now keep in mind - I’m 41, it’s no secret I don’t have the steadiest of hands, I wear contacts, etc. I think I got everything about as close as I can get – without Michael Fremer standing over my shoulder. I have been using the Wallytractor for some time now so I have a feel for it. The Vector protractor is pretty easy to use, but I think the Wallytractor is too. The Vector protractor and Wallytractor were off VERY SLIGHTLY – to me anyway. I readjusted for the Wallytractor and continued on.

The azimuth was easy to adjust; however, I noticed that if you don’t have the weight in the back perfectly vertical I believe the azimuth will shift over time -slightly. Going back a week later I noticed a slight change and had to readjust azimuth (I just use a small bubble level on the headshell for now). I discovered that the weight in the back wasn’t as vertical as it should have been. It’s tough to get it perfect as you simply just eye it. It's also difficult to move.

With my cartridge at about 2.1g I set the anti-skate and went through the normal motions of early testing by way of HFNRR and CARDAS test records. What I noticed right away was that this arm tracks better than the Rega did with my Shure V15V attached to it.

Now for the good stuff. I’m not sure how long this arm needs to break-in (if at all) but it has been installed for about a month now. It is absolutely wonderful. I don’t know all the good descriptive words to explain what I’m hearing but I really like it. This arm has so much more bass than the Rega. I had to double check my connections as I thought I had something wrong. Instruments sound so much more alive, and the separation is; well it’s just unbelievable. Just unbelievable. Everything almost has a 3D type of quality to it. It’s hard to explain. The first LP I put on was “Instant Brubeck” and it was if someone came up from behind me whacked me over the head with a mallet and said “hey, pay attention here”. The kind of results that leave you speechless.

With this arm I'm pretty sure you’ll get 100% of any cartridge you attach to it. Also being able to adjust everything, I know I'm getting the most out of my vinyl collection. It's pretty much the stuff vinyl people like us shoot for.

At $2,750 it’s the single most expensive item in my entire system. It’s not cheap. It is, however, impeccably well machined, unbelievably smooth to operate, and a pleasure to own – like a fine automobile. I listen to music every night now and vinyl being about 99.9% of the medium I choose. So to me, it was worth the price of admission.

Michael A. Sorbo, PE
Hummelstown, PA

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Product Weakness:	I think the anti-skate attachment should have been a small hook system instead of VERY small rubber rings. Lifting arm from front feels odd.
Product Strengths:	Build quality, smoothness of operation. Ability to extract information from the grooves.

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Marantz SM8 (Esotec series)
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Conrad Johnson PV10a (built-in phono)
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Onkyo DX-3800/Marantz 115b
Speakers:	B&W Matrix 804
Cables/Interconnects:	Kimber
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Just about everything
Room Size (LxWxH):	16 x 12 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments:	None
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1 month
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	None
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

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