Analog Gear News

We’re all about unity — and so is Clearaudio, who have just announced that their new flagship Unity pivotal tonearm will be demo’ed at the upcoming Florida International Audio Expo (a.k.a. FLAX) in Tampa, Florida, from February 21-23, 2025. (More on those FLAX demo details in just a bit.)

First, let’s delve into the Unity itself. This new tonearm was developed for the company’s Master Jubilee turntable in conjunction with the celebration of its 45th anniversary. The Unity arm is now available in either black or silver finish (the latter option of which is seen below), and it can be added to “all Clearaudio turntables or other brands.” We’ve also been told that owners of Clearaudio Universal tonearms will receive 100% trade-up allowance when upgrading to the Unity.

The Unity arm combines classic Clearaudio features such as interchangeable counterweights and magnetic anti-skate. Clearaudio points out that the magnetically stabilized single-point tonearm bearing was originally designed and implemented in the Naim Aro Mk II tonearm, which the company had developed for the Naim Solstice turntable. The Unity arm furthers the design with “a more sophisticated bearing housing, further reducing unwanted resonance.”

The 10in carbon-fiber Unity arm is said to strike more of a balance between effective mass and lower tracing error than either a 9in or 12in design. Interchangeable counterweights, magnetically attached to the counterweight sled, are said to allow optimal positioning for best tracking.

The Unity arm has fine, on-the-fly calibrated VTA adjustment, and is locked for added rigidity. Azimuth is adjusted where the arm wand meets the bearing housing, and it features a locking mechanism. Dynamic anti-skating is accomplished without mechanical linkages, utilizing a series of magnets in the bearing housing and adjustable thumb screw.

The Unity arm also features silver internal wire for lowest resistance and superior signal flow. It terminates in a 5-pin DIN allowing use of Clearaudio or other brand tonearm cables, terminated in RCA or balanced XLR connection per the owner’s own specific phono preamp requirements.

Finally, the SRP for the Clearaudio Unity tonearm is $20,000.

As for the FLAX demo that was mentioned at the outset of this story, the Clearaudio Unity arm will indeed be an integral part of a high-end system that will be presented by Upstream Audio at the Florida International Audio Expo in Room 261 at the Sheraton Tampa Brandon in Tampa, Florida. The FLAX show takes place February 21-23, 2025.

That high-end system demo comprises a Clearaudio Reference Jubilee turntable ($45,000) fitted with the $20K Unity Black tonearm, along with a Hana Umami Red MC cartridge ($3,950) and Musical Surroundings Reference tonearm cable ($1,500). Other gear in the Upstream Audio demo system includes Magnepan MG 2.7x speakers ($10,000), Aesthetix Pallene preamp ($6,500), Aesthetix Dione amp ($7,500), Aesthetix Rhea Signature phono preamp ($10,000), Aesthetix Romulus Signature DAC/CD player ($12,000), Sonore Signature Rendu SE Deluxe network streamer ($5,350), Sonore SGC Sonic Transporter i9Audio music server ($4,499), and Isotek V5 Aquarius power conditioner ($2,995).

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