Arm Tube Material
Arm tube material identifies what the structural tube carrying the cartridge is made from, such as aluminium or carbon fibre.
A carbon/aluminium tube combines materials. Anodised aluminium describes aluminium with a surface treatment. Straight or S-shaped describes the tube’s shape, while internal-wire material describes a separate component. These labels are not interchangeable.
Arm Tube Material — Tonearm
Material and construction contribute to the tube’s stiffness, weight and vibration behaviour. How the tube is shaped and built also matters: a material name alone cannot tell you which complete tonearm sounds better.
Effective mass describes the arm’s resistance to acceleration at the stylus, expressed as an equivalent mass in grams, not simply tube weight. Do not infer it or cartridge compatibility from the material. Check the arm’s published effective mass alongside cartridge weight and compliance—the flexibility of its suspension. Follow the manufacturer’s matching guidance.
Sources
- RB330: tube design and effective mass — Rega
- EVO tonearms: carbon and hybrid construction — Pro-Ject
- What is anodizing? — Aluminum Anodizers Council
- Tonearm mass and cartridge compliance — Ortofon
- FAQ: tonearm / cartridge combination — Ortofon
- Analog Academy: effective mass, pages 18–19 — Kuzma