Clearaudio Statement TT1

The Statement TT1 is Clearaudio’s tangential-tracking tonearm and, in the words of the company itself, “the pinnacle of tangential tonearm technology.” It was developed specifically for the Statement V2 turntable and remains the reference against which every other Clearaudio tangential design is measured. A second variant — the Statement TT1-MI — fits the Master Innovation, Innovation, and older Master Reference turntables and elevates their sonic performance to Statement class.

Its lineage runs back to two events. In the 1970s, Peter Suchy developed his moving-coil patent believing that linear-tracking tonearms would best realise the fully symmetrical MC generator design he had invented. In the 1980s, Clearaudio purchased the Boston-based Souther Engineering, maker of the Tri-Quartz tangential tonearm, and spent the next fifteen years refining the mechanical linear-tracking design that culminated in the Statement TT1 (patent PA1020060529138). The mechanism is deliberately, purely mechanical and passive — selected high-precision ball bearings running in a calibrated polished glass tube, with a two-wheel carriage mounted to a very rigid superstructure on a magnetically locking track. No air pumps, no gears, no optical sensors, no servo motors. The design deliberately eschews everything a servo-driven tangential tonearm would add.

The result is a stylus that follows the record groove along the same straight-line tangent the cutting head traced when the record was mastered. Replay tracking angles are identical to cutting angles, and horizontal skating force — the mis-tracking distortion that every pivoted tonearm has to correct for — is virtually eliminated. Wiring is 2 m of Clearaudio’s Sixstream Super Wire terminated in RCA. Total weight 8.6 kg including armwand; dimensions 521 × 199 × 230 mm; materials are aluminium (black or silver), stainless steel, and Panzerholz (Clearaudio’s “bullet-proof wood”, natural or black finish).

The Statement TT1 is a special-order item, factory-configured for the mounting platform of a specific Clearaudio turntable and hand-delivered. Available on special order at LMC Scottsdale — walk in during business hours or book ahead if the audition needs a linear-vs-pivoted comparison with your specific system.