[Review] Kuzma Stogi S

Kuzma Stogi S

I thought it was about time I contributed to the review section. What better place to start I thought than with one of my favorite items of hifi, the Kuzma Stogi S tonearm.



What particularly attracted me to write about this piece of hifi is that its rarely seen unless partnered with its matching Stabi S turntable. I'd love to see this change.

By description, the Stogi S is a damped unipivot - i.e. the arm wand sits in a trough of silicone damping fluid. Ive always been a fan of the unipivot - with an aim of free movement, how sensible it is to reduce the point of contact the arm has with its base to a single point. Using silicone to further damp the arm is icing on the cake, a flake in your mr whippy.

This tonearm has been engineered to a standard that outshines in my view all of its rivals at this price (and considerably more). The design is not only highly engineered, but thoroughly logical at every level. This has to appeal, engineering is nothing when based on flawed design.

The arm wand itself is machined out of a solid block of aluminium, and the base a large wedge of brass. Add this rigidity to the damping nature of the silicone and you have a perfect partner for todays high mass decks.

Looking at the counterweights below, we see further evidence of great design.



You will notice the hole in the side of the larger counterweight. Ingeniously, this hole has a seperate weight inside it. This can be moved side to side with an allen key for micro adjustments of the tonearm side to side angle (azimuth?)

What you cant see from this photo is that the stub containing the weights is not level to the tonearm. Look at the first picture to see what I mean. They have lowered the gravity of the tonearm by making the whole stub physically lower on the arm than the arm wand itself. How much neater and more effective this is than simply making the weight hang lower, as per a modified rega.

The headshell is drilled, and contains no arm-lift, thus reducing weight and improving tracking.

It is a shame I cannot find a picture of the anti-skate mechanism. More genius from Kuzma. The anti-skate uses a pulley system, and the weight is held at a 3 o'clock position from the edge of the record, and raises to about 1 oclock at the end of the playing side. Compare this to the typical string and weight system we typically find which only comes into effect 1/2 way through the playing side!

Finally, I wanted to point out the wiring (yes the did a brilliant job here too). The wire is a single - as in not 2 or 3 pieces soldered together piece of silver wire from RCA plugs to cartridge tags. This is more than cake icing, it really works.

By now you've probably gathered that I like this arm. I like the matching deck almost as much. To cap it all off, its made in Slovenia, and probably due to favourable exchange rates and a low cost of local labour, you can get the arm for under 500 pounds. You can get it with the matching deck for about 1300. To my ears its the only game in town at its price point. It laughs at gyrodecs, and waves its willy at Spacedecks. Ive heard it against both, so this is based on experience not just heresay. Mind you, if you put the Stogi S on a spacedeck, things would be evened up somewhat...

In summary then, perfect for a high mass deck, or in fact anydeck that suits a unipivot. The best arm at the price? If I didnt think so I wouldnt have one

Chris

 

Hey Bottleneck,

Excellent review and writing style. I've always admired the Kuzma range although when I was looking for a TT, there wasn't a dealer here who sold them.

Slovenia and that part of Eastern Europe are now producing some quality audio equipment which are certainly worth investigating. Enjoy the Kuzma and also .................



Enjoy the music,

Lawrie.

 

Yep, a really good arm, never seem to come up secondhand without deck attached, unfortunately. There's a few Stabi S/Stogi S arm and deck combos about secondhand ATM, some have been unsold for months, beats me why.

-- Ian

 

I've been very curious about the Stogi S for ages now – I'd love to bolt one to my LP12 and see what I made of it against the Zeta that currently resides there (the S's new price is roughly the Zeta's second hand value). I've always loved uni-pivoits and this one looks like it could be an Aro on the cheap…

Tony.

 

Tony,

why are you interested in an "Aro on the cheap" when you preferred the Zeta over an Aro?

 

Hey Sideshowbob,

The answer is simple really. Many U.K. buyers don't trust products made outside of the U.K. or even the U.S. or products that don't regularly appear in the British audio press. They would rather buy a more expensive but comparatively inferior sounding product made in the U.K. than to buy say an excellent sounding Kuzma made in Eastern Europe. Sad but true.

You can confirm or deny my comments with just one phone call to either Dr. Audiofreaks or one of the top Kuzma dealers in the U.K. like Audio Consultants.



Enjoy the music,

Lawrie.

 

Because a uni-pivot is so simple it's almost indestructible.

I certainly preferred a brand new Zeta to a brand new Aro (and Ekos) 10 or so years ago when I had a dem. Whist I can certainly hear no indication that my Zeta is performing at anywhere less than it should, it is still as old as all those totally knackered Ittoks that are still knocking about (literally) out there!

Tony.

 

Hi,

Interesting stuff. Nice write up Chris. Uni pivots are something I would like to play around with later on this year. I have a Wilson Benesch arm which does have some potential. In fact, I did hear a later version of the arm on an Avid against an SME V. The Wilson gave open beguiling mid range but the SME had better top to bottom consistency.

Hi Lawrie,

with regards to why they don't sell many, there are many reasons for this. The Kuzma range of items have had a lot of press over the years. The Stabi S / Stogi S has been in Hi-Fi+, Stereophile, What Hi-Fi, Hifi, Hifi News etc, over the last few years. All to very good reviews. In fact, there has been a number of Kuzma items in the press recently. The linear tracking tonearm, the cartridge have feature recently.

One of the problems is in getting to hear products. Finding dealers that have the items in stock. The hassle involved. For example, if I wanted to hear one, I may have to travel half way across the country to find one, then I may not get a home dem. Sometimes you can get to hear a product through your local dealer who could contact the distributor to get a loan item. Other times the distributer would say no go & you need to get it through certain outlets which can be a pain. This does lose sales.

Also dealing with some shops & distributors/ companies can be a lot of hassle. But there is also the fact that shops are very selective in what they sell.

Some people in this country will always try to buy British even if it's not the best. If there is no or little choice they will look elsewhere. Others will try & buy the best of what's available to them.

In the hifi world, companies like Linn, Naim & Musical Fidelity have more dealers so it will be lot more easy to hear their products. They have a big presence by releasing a constant array of goods every so often. This gets them in the hifi public eye & helps to build a good customer base. It also helps them if Hifi mags wax lyrically on every new product that comes their way.

It is hard to sell your hifi wares in this country but I do think the industry needs to improve if it wants bigger diversity, better service & more interest in quality hifi.


SCIDB

 

Ah! So you've had dealings with Audiofools then Dean

 

Its interesting speaking to stockists of the Kuzma StabiStogi S.

Connoiseur audio, Definitive Audio, Audio Consultants.. its hard to find a dealer who doesnt rate the deck as among the very best at its price point.

Sadly, as has been said its a case of people buying what they know. Still! I can change it in my own little way by reviewing the arm here, and guiding people to the Kuzma site..http://www.kuzma.si/kuzma_menu.htm

Mind you, passing by great inventions/products is hardly a new trend... did anyone else just watch clarkson on computers?

Poor old babbage and his difference engine, the inventor of the computer laughed out of town.... I particularly liked the quote by very early IBM head....''The world will eventually need 4, maybe 5 computers'' ha!

I got a bit of a teary eye at the sight of the enigma machine, stuffed as it was with 1,800 valves. makes the heart gladden!

 

Hi SCIDB,

Some good points there dude and so it would appear that Kuzma has had good representation in the U.K. press. So, theoretically, the brand should be well known to U.K. buyers but given the amount of Kuzma sales in the U.K. per year, that does not appear to be the case. Or is it the case that they are aware of the brand and know that it sounds fantastic but just don't trust products made in Eastern Europe or China etc?

As we all know, demand fuels sales and dealers would stock a brand based on sufficient demand. The fact that the dealers are not doing so indicates a lack of demand for the brand and this makes them selective in what brands they stock. Dealers personal taste also have something to with it. I know dealers who have said that if they did not like the sound of a particular product, they would not stock it. As I stated earlier, I have it on authority that many U.K customers are not adventurous enough to try some of the more exotic brands (non U.K. made) preferring instead to stick with what they know or what is the flavour of the month. The dealers are willing to sell but the customers are not willing to buy. This could explain why, according to Sideshowbob, there is a glut of unsold second-hand Kuzma decks at dealers around the place considering how good this deck is. Amazing eh, sometimes I wish that the market out here had as many diverse new and second-hand products as you guys have in the U.K. Maybe, I should move there!



Enjoy the music,

Lawrie.

 

Hi Lawrie,

It's true that Kumza has had some very good press. In fact, they have more or less had very good press since they hit the UK market in the mid 80s. But good reviews don't always give you huge sales. An example of this is the recent Pink Triangle amp which had some quality reviews but didn't sell causing the company to go out of business. The hifi market is getting smaller and more people are having to grab a larger piece of a reduced pie to make their money.

You have got to ask how many dealer do they have? Not many. I agree with a number of points that you make about dealers taste & demand. This can make it hard for a big range of equipment getting into the public domain. Also the relationship between dealer & distributor is very important.

Look at Kuzma, Walrus used to do business with these products & with a range of Conrad Johnson items. They stop dealing with Audiofreaks (the distributors) because they found that dealing with the company was difficult. The two parties fellout. I have heard a number of tales of how Audiofreaks deal with customers & dealers. My hifi dealer found them hard to deal with at times. They used to sell some of his products.

Read this thread for examples of how bad things can get. It does include comments about Audiofreaks & Audio Consultants.

As for foreign items, I don't fully agree. It's not always a case of not trusting but some foreign goods not being as good & some are as good or better.

Take turntables, alot of the best ones are from the UK. There are more than enough to compete with any overseas decks. There are a number of very good foriegn.

On the amp, CD etc front there are many foriegn items sold over here. Marantz, Pioneer, Sony, Audio Research, Krell, Mark Levinson, Spectral, Accuphase, Denon, NAD, Yamaha, Teac, Nakamichi, Bel Canto etc, etc. British companies are starting to have their stuff made in China.

If the price performance is right, people will buy regardless of where it's made. Just look at the boom in cheap China built DVD players in this country.

Again alot of speakers are coming from the far east.

As for 'The dealers are willing to sell but the customers are not willing to buy,' this is not always the case. I know of many cases where people have found it hard to get hold of equipment they are intereted in buying. Dealer, distributers or imports may not have enough stock, don't have demo stock, unwilling to give home dems or lend dealers stock to dem, unwilling to supply certain dealers, etc etc.


I'm not having a go at just at Kuzma or Audiofreaks or Audio Consultants, a lot of these points can apply to many companies, but there any many reasons why good products don't do bettter.


SCIDB