Analog Instruments' "Siggwan" 12" arm from New Zealand

A new cat is in town, folks...

From deeeep Downunder - actually windy, beautiful New Zealand - James Grant (and his one-man-company Analog Instruments) is brewing a very intriguing organic 12 inches tonearm.

After "Apparition" 12 inches arm, he now further improved and refined the previous design, always an unipivot design, now named "Siggwan" (an ancient Gothic-era verb for singing, song).

This apparently exotic name is - I believe - not a casuality: using a 12" Cocobolo arm-wand and brass, it reminds more a musical instrument than a mechanical piece of gear.

Like a luthier in his workshop, James, carefully machines the arm parts and then assembles into a beauty, carefully, slowly... a so human, artisanal kind of job vs. the machine-made stuff.

Strange enough, it happened several times in the last five years: I almost exclusively buy audio stuff I personally know who made it!

My fault, maybe... yet, I consider this bespoke making and the relationship an added value to good sound and musical path.

I fell in love, folks... and I ordered one, shame on me;-)... before scheduled delivery-time will increase exponentially;-))) - BTW, the Siggwan arm is being shown at the Capital Audiofest in Washington, DC in a few days and displayed by Ijaz Khan so, as James points it out "it's quite exciting times at the moment";-).

I wish to James the VERY best with his nice, NICE creations.

A sonic appreciation will follow, when time (and schedule;-)) will come.