Dear Raul,
Anyone who has the tools/capability to set up a 9" arm perfectly will be able to set up a 12"er just as well.
But on a 12"er, any deviation from perfect will result in the nullpoints being farther off the ideal(be it Baerwald or Loefgren) than for the same error "applied" to the set up of a shorter arm. All I was saying is that 12" arms are less "forgiving" of misalignment than their shorter siblings.
Not a myth, just plain geometry ;-)
Following manufacturers recommendations, particularly for many vintage japanese arms(no matter which length) is generally not a good idea as almost all of them feature a less than ideal geometry.
How I wish that setting up a turntable perfectly was as easy as you say. The audiophile community would have plenty of dealers to choose from, all(not just a few) of them capable(and hopefully willing) to provide customer support that justifies the markup on our favorite toys. In Germany(considered an analog heaven), that number may not even match the age of my son(now in 5th grade...). And even though there are many consumers now who don't require any assistence/help from a dealer, lots of them still do and many future newbies will.
Lastly, setting up the original Goldmund T3(not even a long arm...) certainly was a pain, but it was nevertheless quite successful. For many, the tweaking/tinkering is half the fun of this hobby(nothing wrong with that).
@ Dmgrant1: By all means, get a 12" arm :-) Check out:
http://www.thomas-schick.com/arm01.htm
Affordable, easy to set up, a good match with low compliance MCs. No business affiliation....
Good night,
Frank
