Has anybody tried the Reed 3P?

Is Vidmantas the designer? If so, it's perfectly ok to get his impressions/comments about his arm. We're all asking on this thread and it shouldn't be interpreted as a manufacturer trying to "sell" us...Thanks, Nandric, let us know when you can...

Dear Jfrech, Yes Vidmantas is the designer. He is a scientist involved in S.Union military complex and a real 'rocket scientist'. But since the fall apart of the Sovjet Union he started his own company in which he can combine his hobby and his work. We all dream about such an possibility, I assume.
I know Vidmantas longer than 5 years but I would never and deed never promote his products in the sense of 'trying to sell them'. I am as interested in tonearms in general as
anybody else and always curious about the new kinds. So my intention is to keep any information within strict technical bondaries. BTW I can only say something about
2A version which I own.

Regards,

I see that he abandoned the provision of alignment by the headshell (the only right way) and adopted the Triplanar's method of align the azimuth by twisting the arm tube (very convenient but wrong). By doing this, he has also fixed firmly the headshell on the armtube. I'm asuming that he probably discovered some diminishing returns and so he put the sliding metals at the end. Sometimes I'm puzzled by the genius and somehow I feel the alchemist soul of the designer. I'm convinced he has a creative and inventive mind but if I could ever have a chance to advise, I would point him the nessesity for robustness wherever it is possible to achieved and incorporated in every parameter of the construction. Even if this means a major change in materials, fixing methods or design approaches. The forces dictate this, as they can discard the use of a faint point of contact no matter how precisely has been builded. His choise of wood armtubes related with the desparate need for damping the resonanses to provide an easy field to work his wonders on alignment. Problem is that this dark and slow recovering field characterises the result. The remaining question about (the impossible?) to align the azimuth by rotation of the wrong axis, must investigated. Please do not misread my post. Ι'm watching with great interest his creations and I really admire his efforts. He is very active in pushing the art of this fetish (tonearm) thing and his move to loan his preproduction beauties to customers for evaluation, is a honest habit that is highly regarded by me (I've done this for a 2 twisted conductor interconnect prototype of VDH 3T series). I'm only wishing for his mature period to come ASAP.

I agree with Geoch on the issue of azimuth adjustment. I really like the Reed tonearms that rotate the headshell but not the arm tube. Geoch (and Nikola), are you saying that the 3P now adjusts azimuth by rotation of the arm tube? Does Vidimantas reveal why he made this change, if this is so? I think Geoch made a good guess as to his reasoning, but it would be interesting to hear it from "the horse's mouth".

DearLew&Geoch, I wrote to Vidmantas about the azimuth adjustment and Geoch question which I formulated as a possible 'mechanical problem'. I have no idea about mechanics but I think that Vidmantas is also mechanical engeneer. As soon as I get his answer I will report.
So Lew if there is such an animal as an 'intermediary horse' you will probable hear the answer from me.

Regards,