ViV laboratory Rigid Float, the revolution of analogue playing. 

ViV laboratory produces the unique "Rigid Float" tonearm that is a product of the original thinking of Mr. Koichiro Akimoto. It is quite a revolution in tonearm design.

The Viv Lab Rigid Float is a distinctive and technically unreleased, wonderfully crafted and beautifully sounding turntable tonearm, that is also the simplest to install and almost universal.

(1) Floating pivot with magnetic oil
Absolutely no mechanical contact at arm pivot bearing mechanism, resulting in highest sensitivity and maximum amount of howling margin (Which promises to reproduce rich but much tight base sound with no distortion, no muddiness, the most clear sound and wider dynamic range).

There are similar type of bearing pivot, dipped in oil bath (Oil damp Type), available in the market, but still they require some string or another apparatus to fix fulcrum for arm rotary motion but RF, thanks to automatic positioning mechanism, requires absolutely nothing to interfere with the force, for cartridge stylus to follow the inward path of record groove.

There might arise some lateral mechanical instability of arm with this type of bearing, but RF, equipped with the most appropriate balancing mechanism, assures the stability of the focus. This is the reason to be put the name of ""Rigid Float"".

(2) Pure Straight Structure (i.e. no offset angle)
Pure Straight Structure (i.e. no offset angle) minimizes side force resulting the best channel separation, sound stage and sound atmosphere with highest transient rise time and no distortion even when tracing on the most internal part of vinyl record disc.(Detai follows below.)

(3) External resonance damping
Beautifully anodized aluminum pipe is outfitted with the “resonance ring”, 3 pieces of synthetic ring rubber for damping. You may enjoy different sound in position of these rings in your choice.

(4) A User-friendly tonearm that can be instlaled everywhere
User friendly universal type head shell connector and for tone arm installation onto plinth, no drilling hole is required but just put it onto the plinth board.


(5) World uniquely shaped standard head shell “Nelson Hold”
World uniquely shaped standard head shell “Nelson Hold” tightly supports the cartridge magnetic circuit, which is the most important part of a cartridge and at the center of which, stylus is located, on the other hand the conventional head shells hold the outsides of a cartridge body with 2 screws. “Rigid Float” with “Nelson Hold” removes haze and distortion from the sound completely. The center thumb screw presses and supports the cartridge’ s magnetic circuit tightly, Light weight and less resonance design. Any cartridge will be improved totally.
Headhell connectors are rhodium plated, with double fix pin, length：97mm and weight 12.50. Lead wire is 4Nsilver / rhodium plated connector.

(5/b)Discover why this special headshell design has been called "Nelson Hold".
For those non-wrestling fans, we have included a picture of the Double or Full Nelson which will give you a very clear idea of how the cartridge works. Note: guy in pain and long tights = cartridge.

(6) Inner wiring. Remarkable pure silver wire(4N) with silk jacket.

(7) Connectors. Qualified RCA connectors with isolated ""earth"" terminal with possibility for balanced transmission line."

Further design and technical details: the Viv Lab Rigid Float approach for the resolution of the lateral force problem in tonearms; the concept of the lateral force ( skating) and its variations: please see further technical details here.

Awards
Recommended Component Award 2014 by Stereophile magazine (USA) October 2014
Product of the Year 2013 Award by image hifi magazine (Germany) December 2013
Most Wanted Component 2013 Award by The StereoTimes (USA) December 2013

  Review extracts

  Eric Charlot, Digit-Hall France (Apr 2015) wrote:
“Last test on the Blackbird Feickert turntable was with a 9″ Viv Lab Rigid Float tonearm where we find the same sound aesthetic as the Ortofon RS-212D tonearm. But the result is now a vibrant mix of incisors and transients, coupled with a power of analysis that one would not have guessed using the other two tonearms – Ortofon RS-212D and a 10″ Reed 2A. With the Viv Lab, all records are perfectly integrated, the bass is released and found a joint and a power of analysis that we did not suspect. The harmonics in the highs add new information and cymbals on “Saturday Night At The Montmartre”, astonishing in their power.”

  “Beside the quality of reproduction it offers, the most significant advantage of Rigid Float is ultimately the incredible comfort it provides and the opportunities it opens by allowing us to forget the eternal tonearm compatibility issues with cartridges. “You already have the cartridge of your dreams? Introduce him the Viv Lab, he will extract the best. Cannot decide on the choice of the cartridge, or you have more than one? No need to have thirty six tonearms; the Viv Lab tonearm will do ” (it would be also well able to resolve recurrent problems faced by lovers of atypical cartridges such as Decca London, I would have liked to test with). Sure it sounds like a bad slogan for toothpaste promising you a bright smile. One could also add “try it and adopt” . I tried it and I immediately adopted.

  In short, to put it bluntly: ! THIS UNIT IS A KILLER. Run, listen, and be prepared to revise your trigonometry!”

    Roy Gregory, The Audio Beat (Feb. 2015) wrote:
“…hearing a record with the Rigid Float has a gloriously unimpeded sense of energy and momentum. Dynamics are quick and crisp, and forward motion has the sort of speed, freedom and grace that I normally associate with sliding on ice. If a really good conventional tonearm is able to corner better, like a sports car on low-profile tires, the Rigid Float makes it seem like there are no corners at all. Musically speaking, this thing just glides through the track…”

    Michael Fremer, Stereophile (Aug. 2014) wrote:
“…the midrange was gloriously smooth and images were rock-solidly three-dimensional. Bass was meaty and full bodied, yet well controlled…”

  “…my take is that the Rigid Float – either because of its underhung geometry, or its non-grounded bearing system, or both – has a singularly smooth, lush sound that some listeners will instantly crave…”

  Clement Perry, StereoTimes Publisher’s note (Jan. 2014):
“…I too must concur with Stephen’s assessment of this unique and innovative arm. Mine is the 9″ variation and it provides a remarkable sense of neutrality coupled with scale and textures never realized from my analogue rig…”

  Thomas Schmidt, LP Magazine Germany (Nov. 2013) wrote:
“…I cannot say exactly which of the innovations makes the difference, but the Rigid Float tone arm is without a doubt an absolutely, uniquely exceptional phenomenon in analog sound reproduction…”

“…the Rigid Float tone arm improves even the best systems to a quality that hasn’t been heard before – and that by high (such as Van den Hul The Condor) or by extremely low (Miyajima Shilabe) compliance…”

  Stephen Yan, The StereoTimes (Oct. 2013) wrote:
“…the RF tonearm can be very strongly and enthusiastically recommended!”

  “…because it is so transparent and neutral, it will brutally and honestly tell you what you may not know about your system, …it’s like an implacable polygraph device…”

  “You will, definitely and most assuredly, thank the RF for giving the truth to you, at a price which, while not cheap, actually costs less than many high end pick-ups on the market nowadays. From this perspective, and considering the amount of technology and innovation packed into this device, I believe my use of the word ’bargain’ is not misplaced…”

  “…so in case you were interested, yes, I bought the review sample…”

    Mal Kenney, Part-Time Audiophile – THE Show Newport Beach (June 2013):
“…there’s no fixed pivot, no offset, no anti-skate, and a combination of power and subtlety that you’d guess would require a lot more engineering than letting a tonearm float in magnetic oil. Whether the arm’s ability to track without the familiar microdistortion is based on its strange pivot or whether it’s down to the damping… this arm is clearly a performer!”

  Uwe Kirbach, Image HiFi Germany (Jan. 2013) wrote:
“…this arm is nothing short of an audiophile sensation! …the recordings sound strikingly direct and immediate, with intense dynamics. Drums and percussions come without restraintment, lively, with great three-dimensionality, depth and micro details…”

  “…even when not perfectly setup the Rigid Float always played clean and clear, powerful with authority – it was always immediatley obvious that we have something special here…”

  “…I know of no other similar superior, compatible tone arm. I can’t say what percentage of this is due to the genius bearings and what percent is because of the the skating-free straight arm… The resulting impression of ordinary tone arms is comparable to perfectionizing the chassis of a car on a gravel road, while the Japanese arm glides on asphalt, or better said, on oil.”


  In demo at PlayStereo Studio and other authorized dealers.