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Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9"

Tonearm

Relative price

above typical

Among the 26 tonearms in the catalogue, this one is above typical.

A band places a component against its peers and carries no price. It is deliberately the only price indicator on this page: a second one, measured against a different set, would narrow the two together far enough to give the figure away.

What it is

Supatrac (UK) hand-built. Sideways Uni-Pivot (SUPA) bearing: the pivot sits just below record level so stylus-drag bursts apply a slight DOWNWARD torque (reactive downforce), hugging the groove through dynamics with less distortion. Pultruded carbon-fibre arm tube, alloy-reinforced headshell, foam-damped. Fits Rega/Linn/SME/Kuzma/Pro-Ject/Michell/Brinkmann/TW.

The ~10g base is a touch light for very low-compliance MC (e.g. AN IO) without the mass adaptor — add mass to drop the resonance into the 8-12Hz window. Light/ideal for high-compliance carts as-is.

Competition record

Assessed against 15 rivals across the sixty systems: 7 head-to-heads won, 58 lost.

Where it gives ground

The dimension the engine names as the weakest link, counted across every head-to-head it lost.

  • mechanical hush ×47
  • speed stability ×11

Who it comes up against

Vertere Groove Runner X

17 lost · Anchored, Artisan, BBC Sound, Cavity-Native, Characterful, Intimate, PRaT, Reference, Romantic, Silent Path

Against the Anchored brief, the Vertere Groove Runner X keeps the slot decisively.

With the Vertere DG-X Sabre Lite Pack, the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the pairing with the Vertere DG-X Sabre Lite Pack gives up mechanical hush under the Anchored weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

single-contact bearingSupatrac press + owner record (HiFi Critic; owner consensus)

Technics S-shape magnesium tonearm (SL-1200G)

15 lost · Anchored, BBC Sound, Cavity-Native, Intimate, PRaT, Reference, Romantic, Silent Path

Against the Romantic brief, the Technics S-shape magnesium tonearm (SL-1200G) keeps the slot clearly.

With the Technics SL-1200G, the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the pairing with the Technics SL-1200G gives up mechanical hush under the Romantic weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

single-contact bearingSupatrac press + owner record (HiFi Critic; owner consensus)

ProJect Tonearm 8.6 Carbon (Debut PRO)

10 lost · Anchored, Artisan, BBC Sound, Cavity-Native, Characterful, Intimate, PRaT, Reference, Romantic, Twin Arms

Against the Anchored brief, the ProJect Tonearm 8.6 Carbon (Debut PRO) keeps the slot decisively.

With the Pro-Ject Debut Pro (with cart), the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the pairing with the Pro-Ject Debut Pro (with cart) gives up mechanical hush under the Anchored weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

single-contact bearingSupatrac press + owner record (HiFi Critic; owner consensus)

Michell TecnoArm 2

6 lost · Anchored, Artisan, Cavity-Native, PRaT, Reference, Silent Path

Against the Silent Path brief, the Michell TecnoArm 2 keeps the slot by a whisker.

With the Michell Gyro 2025, the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the pairing with the Michell Gyro 2025 gives up mechanical hush under the Silent Path weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

single-contact bearingSupatrac press + owner record (HiFi Critic; owner consensus)

Origin Live Encounter Mk5

4 lost· 2 won · Silent Path, Twin Arms, Vocals-First

Against the Twin Arms brief, the Origin Live Encounter Mk5 keeps the slot by a whisker.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the way it sits with the rest of this system under the Twin Arms weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

single-contact bearingSupatrac press + owner record (HiFi Critic; owner consensus)

Origin Live Silver Mk5

1 lost · Twin Arms

Against the Twin Arms brief, the Origin Live Silver Mk5 keeps the slot by a whisker.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the way it sits with the rest of this system under the Twin Arms weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

Origin Live Illustrious Mk5

1 lost · Twin Arms

Against the Twin Arms brief, the Origin Live Illustrious Mk5 keeps the slot by a whisker.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the way it sits with the rest of this system under the Twin Arms weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

Michell T8

1 lost · PRaT

Against the PRaT brief, the Michell T8 keeps the slot by a whisker.

With the Michell Gyro 2025, the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the pairing with the Michell Gyro 2025 gives up mechanical hush under the PRaT weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

single-contact bearingSupatrac press + owner record (HiFi Critic; owner consensus)

Origin Live Onyx Mk5

1 lost · Twin Arms

Against the Twin Arms brief, the Origin Live Onyx Mk5 keeps the slot by a whisker.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the way it sits with the rest of this system under the Twin Arms weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

Origin Live Alliance Mk5

1 lost · Twin Arms

Against the Twin Arms brief, the Origin Live Alliance Mk5 keeps the slot by a whisker.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the way it sits with the rest of this system under the Twin Arms weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

Technics S-shape aluminium tonearm (SL-1500C/CS)

1 lost · Silent Path

Against the Silent Path brief, the Technics S-shape aluminium tonearm (SL-1500C/CS) keeps the slot clearly.

With the Technics SL-1500CS (with cart), the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the pairing with the Technics SL-1500CS (with cart) gives up mechanical hush under the Silent Path weighting.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

single-contact bearingSupatrac press + owner record (HiFi Critic; owner consensus)

Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm

0 lost· 2 won · Twin Arms, Vocals-First

Against the Twin Arms brief, the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" takes the slot by a whisker.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm for that brief.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

Rega RB330

0 lost· 1 won · Vocals-First

Against the Vocals-First brief, the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" takes the slot by a whisker.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm for that brief.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

ProJect Tonearm 9" Carbon/Alu (X2 B)

0 lost· 1 won · Twin Arms

Against the Twin Arms brief, the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" takes the slot by a whisker.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm for that brief.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

Rega RB880

0 lost· 1 won · Vocals-First

Against the Vocals-First brief, the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" takes the slot by a whisker.

On its own merits the Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint 9" is the stronger tonearm for that brief.

It sits well above the share of the budget this brief aims at the tonearm position.

What the reviewers said

single-contact bearing Supatrac press + owner record (HiFi Critic; owner consensus)· Mechanical noise floor
freedom Supatrac reviews/owner record· Micro-dynamic resolution
transient Supatrac reviews· Transient attack
resolution Supatrac reviews· Spatial resolution
explosive energy... it was like the arm was laughing... makes the impossible look easy Tracking Angle (Fremer) 2024· Timing precision
all the bounce, energy and get up and go Gy8 (Roy Gregory) 2023· Presence & articulation
directly opposes stylus drag at a single point... eliminating microscopic play Tracking Angle (Fremer) / Supatrac design (UK patent 2599073)· Mechanical noise floor
lets the vinyl soar... my record playing world will never be the same The Ear (Chris Beeching) 2023 — 5/5· Spatial naturalness
unquestionably the best tonearm I have ever heard hifiaf.com review· Spatial resolution
an exceptionally inflexible and dead structure Supatrac design — pultruded carbon-fibre, foam-damped, alloy-reinforced headshell· Transient attack

How it scores

Clarity

  • Mechanical noise floor 78 from listening evidence

Voice

  • Spatial naturalness 76 from listening evidence

Rhythm

  • Timing precision 82 from listening evidence

Specifications

effective length mm229.0
pivot to spindle mm211.0
effective mass g10
effective mass max g30.0
bearing typesideways uni-pivot (SUPA)
cartridge mass range g4/30
internal wire30/0.04mm silk copper litz
output connectorDIN
vta adjustTrue
notes