Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint

During the challenging times of the Covid-19 pandemic, many people had to stay home for long periods of time. In London, Richard Braine decided to use this time to attend to something he had been thinking about but never had the time to do – build a tonearm for his turntable. Richard had a physics degree and lots of experience in problem solving and developing new ideas, especially in the software industry. He felt that the tonearms that he had used over the years had some obvious design flaws and it would be interesting to see if he could make some improvements.

This home hobby project became the birth of Supatrac and turned out to be one of the most important recent events in the world of analog music reproduction. You know that moment when you see something for the first time and are struck by its design elegance and simplicity? You think “Genius! Why didn’t anyone think of that before?”. This is one of those moments, a moment where you know this is going to change the landscape.

All pivoted arms have certain challenges, the main one being that as the record pulls the tonearm forward, the tonearm moves backwards and forwards across the pivot point which affects the accuracy of the sound in the time domain. The Supatrac arm has a patented ‘Sideways Uni-Pivot Arm’ bearing that directly opposes stylus drag at a single point of contact, eliminating microscopic play in the time axis and avoiding the scrubbing and roll movements which can degrade the performance of conventional uni-pivots and actually… all pivoted arms. Richard’s ‘SUPA’ bearing delivers unprecedented performance which gives the music a planted, solid, detailed, consistent sound. Due to its design, when the tonearm encounters a warped record, instead of being knocked out of the groove, the tonearm exerts a downward motion, keeping the stylus tracking perfectly. This tracking ability is part of the sonic magic that the Supatrac Blackbird delivers. It also uses a twin tube carbon fibre armwand design.

When we first heard about this design, we obtained a sample and listened to it. Within a couple of minutes, we felt that this was a major step forward in tonearm performance. Sometimes you don’t realise how a small aspect of the design may be degrading the sound till you hear the absence of that aspect. Then your mind adjusts and you realise that all those years you were hearing the result of those micro-movements in all those uni-pivot tonearms and it dawns on you that it is not a ‘small aspect of the design’… it’s a REALLY big deal!

A few weeks later, we chose to match the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint with a Dohmann Audio Helix One Mk3 turntable at a show and it was a huge success. The great disparity in the pricing of the turntable and the tonearm points to the great value the Supatrac arm represents. A few years later, the Supatrac Blackbird has been labelled a ‘giant killer’ and is one of the best tonearms available.

Despite the annoying hype of the high-end audio press, true revelatory innovations in tonearm design only come along once in a generation. We believe that in the case of the Supatrac Blackbird, the adulation this tonearm is receiving is worth it.

Versions

The Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint is available in 9 inch, 10.5 inch, 12 inch or custom length versions.

Videos

Michael Fremer discovers the Supatrac Blackbird

SUPATRAC Blackbird Tonearm — Review and Explanation

SUPATRAC Blackbird 360 degree view

Features

SUPA Bearing – Sideways Uni-Pivot Design

The Blackbird is a new turntable tone arm with a revolutionary patented ‘Sideways Uni-Pivot Arm’ bearing which outperforms traditional tone arms. The sideways uni-pivot bearing directly opposes stylus drag at a single point of contact, eliminating microscopic play in the time axis and avoiding the scrubbing and roll movements which can degrade the performance of conventional uni-pivots. The Blackbird‘s SUPA bearing delivers unprecedented performance.

Reactive Downforce

Loud passages increase stylus drag, producing oscillating vertical torque on normal tone arms – the stylus can struggle to stay in good contact with the groove. The SUPA bearing pivots just below the record level so that bursts of stylus drag produce a slight downwards torque, just when it’s needed. That’s how the Blackbird hugs the groove with tenacity during punchy dynamics. Torque-Reaction Assisted Contact (TRAC) plays the hottest grooves with less distortion.

Perfect Timing

The Blackbird is designed to resist the pull of the cartridge with unyielding rigidity on the microscopic scale. Only by maintaining a perfect position in the groove’s time axis can a cartridge reproduce the true shape and explosive energy of a recorded signal. By directly opposing the oscillating drag forces from the cartridge, the SUPA bearing avoids scrubbing, chatter and the resulting time errors which can frustrate the retrieval of music.

Universal Application

The Blackbird is designed to be lightweight and stable, fitting almost any turntable including classics like Linn, Technics, Garrard, Rega and many more. It can be matched with high-compliance cartridges due to its low inertia, and it comes with a mass adaptor to keep low-compliance cartridges under control too, making it compatible with the broadest range of cartridges from Shures to Miyajima Monos.

Arm Construction

The Blackbird‘s arm tube is made of two pultruded carbon-fibre tubes bonded together. The headshell area is reinforced with aluminium and the left tube is filled with a damping foam. The arm tube is clamped firmly to the thrust box with six M4 machine screws and captive steel nuts for high rigidity. The arm forms an exceptionally inflexible and dead structure with tennis-racquet-class strength-to-weight ratio.

Length & Geometry

Due to its construction the Blackbird can be made in any length you desire. You may specify Stevenson geometry instead of the default Baerwald. Headshell slots are 7mm long to accommodate a range of cartridges. Prices for arms longer than 12 inches are available on request. A protractor is included, making it easy to ensure accurate spindle-to-pivot distance, pivot-to-stylus distance, and offset.

Inertia

A nine-inch Blackbird has a base effective mass of roughly 10g. A mass adaptor is supplied for compatibility with cartridges which suit heavier arms. The range of compatible cartridges is extended by a ballast block which can be attached to the mass adaptor.

Wires

The Blackbird is designed for maintenance and modification. If you have specific wiring requirements, the internal wiring is easily replaced. By default the internal wiring is 30/0.04mm silk-covered copper litz. If supplied, arm cables come with straight or right-angle DIN connectors as requested.

Finger Lifters

The Blackbird comes with an additional rigid finger lift for those who do not wish to use the string finger lift. However, the elegant simplicity of the tress of soft cord is recommended as it protects the cartridge from accidental downward pressure. With the tress you can ensure that the stylus has engaged with the groove at the beginning of the record before you let go, and you can grip it firmly at the end of a record before lifting the stylus out of the groove. Many skeptics have changed their minds after finding there is less stress with the tress.