Thor Tonearm

Simplicity is central to Bergmann Audio.

Our designs use carefully considered construction, with few parts made from solid materials. This helps avoid unwanted resonances and provides stable operation.

Thor

Thor was the most popular of the Gods and was worshipped by most people. He was the God of the people, creating lightning and thunder as he travelled over the clouds in his chariot, drawn by goats and wielding his hammer, Mjølner. Thor represented physical strength.

Among other responsibilities, Thor maintained law and order.

Design, Thor Tonearm

The design and construction of Thor follow our principle of simplicity, using as few parts and assembly stages as possible to help avoid resonances.

The carbon fibre armtube is traditional to Bergmann tonearms. It uses a carefully considered double-tube construction, with damping between the tubes to avoid coloration in the signal path caused by the stylus tip and record groove. Even powerful musical passages are reproduced with ease and very low distortion.

As with other Bergmann tonearms, the tonearm wire runs in 1 piece from the cartridge clips to the DIN connector. The DIN connector allows the user to choose the preferred phono interconnect cable.

The counterweight is decoupled from the arm to help prevent resonances.

Strength in the linear tracking airbearing tonearm

The linear tracking tonearm follows the record groove as it was pressed, with no tracking error.

This supports relaxed reproduction without distortion, including during complex passages.

Another important benefit of the airbearing is the tonearm’s immunity to acoustic feedback. The floating section, comprising the armtube and headshell, has no mechanical contact with the fixed section of the tonearm or the turntable. The only contact is through the stylus tip and tonearm wire.

Timbre, detail and nuance form a natural part of the transparent and vivid acoustic image.

3D spaciousness, layering between instruments and zero tracking error are difficult for traditional tonearms to achieve.

Air supply

The air supply has received particular attention. The aim was to produce a silent unit that could be placed in the listening room and deliver an even, clean and dry airflow.

The pump is an oil-free, long-life unit that requires little maintenance.

Impulses from the pump are absorbed by an encapsulated reservoir, producing an even airflow to the airbearing. The air supply includes a dust filter to prevent particles from entering the system. The filter can be replaced when necessary.

Floating part, perhaps the most important part of an airbearing tonearm

The first part of the tonearm to handle modulation from the record groove and cartridge is the floating section, comprising the armtube and headshell. The headshell, armtube, floating pipe and counterweight must be carefully designed and assembled to prevent resonances from disturbing the delicate signal.

The headshell is machined from 1 solid piece of aluminium and bonded with 2-component epoxy to the seamless carbon fibre armtube. The armtube uses a double carbon fibre construction with damping between the tubes to avoid coloration. It is fixed in a groove on top of the floating pipe, which is machined from 2 pieces of solid aluminium and bonded with 2-component epoxy.

At Bergmann Audio, we do not use a twistable headshell in the armtube, as this solution would not be as strong or stiff as the construction used for the Thor tonearm. Azimuth is adjusted by adding a spacer between the bottom of the headshell and the cartridge body. By tightening and loosening the 2 cartridge screws, the cartridge can be rotated to achieve precise azimuth.

The tonearm wire runs in 1 piece from the cartridge clips to the DIN connector, supporting pure signal transmission.

• Headshell machined from solid aluminium. The design provides high stiffness.
• Armtube uses a double carbon fibre construction with internal damping.
• Floating section moves without friction on the air pipe.
• Tonearm wire runs in 1 piece from the cartridge clips to the DIN connector.
• Counterweight decoupled from the armtube by 3 rubber strings.