Simplicity is the keyword for Bergmann Audio and when Hifi Pig received news of their Magne tonearm we couldn’t help but share it with our readers.

The Magne tonearm is a linear tracking airbearing design and so something a little out of the ordinary where tonearm design is concerned. The moving part of the tonearm simply floats on a thin cushion of air, and is led only by the stylus tip and the record groove. The arm is manufactured with as few parts as possible and from solid materials which Bergmann say avoids unintended resonances and maintains optimum stability

The Magne tonearm (the moving part) is designed and assembled as one, non-adjustable unit, which consists of an aluminium sliding pipe, carbon armtube (double tube with damping) and the head shell. The head shell is fixed completely parallel to the sliding pipe, for a perfect azimuth. If azimuth adjustment is required, it can be done by using a spacer. The counter weight is decoupled from the armtube.

A Linear tracking tonearm tracks the record as it was originally cut/pressed which means there should be no tracking error and the benefit is said to be a distortion free and relaxed reproduction, even at complex passages. Another claimed advantage of the airbearing is the tonearm’s immunity to acoustic feedback, as it has no mechanical contact  to the turntable other than through the stylus tip and the tonearm wire.