Silvernote 500 C Tonearm Review.

Provided by Mark, Owner & Manager Of Silvernote.

The packaging the tone arm comes in is robust and well packed.
It arrived safely and unscathed.

Tested on the following system:-

Turntable -Technics SL1210 MIIID
Arm – Silvernote 500 C
Cart – Nagaoka MP10
Isolation – isoACOUSTICS Orea Isolation Pucks.

Phonostage – Keces Audio Ephono.

DIY Breakout Box with built in ground point.
Linear Power Supply – Keces Audio Ephono Power
Pre Amp/Headphone Amp – Schiit Jotunheim
Headphones – Sony MDR SA-5000

Balanced from the phonostage onwards.

Listened to during review –

Black Lion at Montreux.

Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon ( 180gram )

Jean-Michel Jarre – The Concerts In China ( 180gram )

Mahler – 5^th Symphony

The first thing I notice out of the box is the sexy sexy Carbon Fibre! Anyone who knows me knows that I love carbon fibre.
The mix of red glossy carbon and the polished steel and brass is a phenomenal look and it works really really well.
So this arm gets 10/10 and/or 5 stars straight out of the box on the asthetics front.

Set up was a breeze. I had to grind the Origin Live adaptor plate out first but that’s down to them making the

hole the wrong diameter as Mark’s arm’s base shaft is the same diameter as a Rega arm. My Rega RB300 wouldn’t fit either.
Once this was sorted the arm slid in with no issues and bolted into place using the mounting ring.
VTA is adjustable via two small hex screws inside the mounting ring which can be a bit fiddly but nothing too difficult.
Azimuth is adjusted at the top of the “T-Bar” section of the tone arm that sits in the gimbal. Again by a small hex screw.

Weight/Tracking force is dialled in and the weight can then be tightened into place with another small hex screw.
And finally Tracking angle is adjusted at the headshell and then tightened.

Mark provides two hex tools which cover all of the adjustments on the arm.

The bias weight is also secured in place by hex screw.

It looks a lot but it’s very straightforward as along as you have the correct tools at hand, Which I am sure when buying this

grade of tone arm is a given.

The one thing I missed when using this arm was an arm lift, However, It’s more a case of me being a perfectionist, And Mark has
said he is looking at incorporating an arm lift in future designs.

Fitting the Nagaoka cart was easy and straight forward.

The cable Mark uses is Van Damme and is fitted well and a decent length.

The interconnects Mark uses are of a good quality and feel very robust.
They fit the RCA connectors like a glove.

So lets get on to listening shall we?

The Concerts In China is one of my top 5. It is a superb album and it’s also a live recording.

I always enjoy listening to this but most of the time found myself turning to my digital copy instead.
I don’t think this will happen so easily now.

Every little instrumental strike, hit, stroke… They’re all there either in the foreground or the background,

Crystal clear to my ears.

This system took me on a journey with this album and has opened my ears/eyes to what is possible,

And what I have been missing for all this time!

Bass levels are punchy yet clean. Just tight clean bass that drops when it needs to and handles it when it does.
Highs are accurate, detailed, & crisp, Just the way I like it.
Midrange is well presented yet not too overwhelming.
Vocals come through with a lovely smooth airy vibe, Every breath, Every note natural and easy on the ears.
But also powerful and forward when the vocals take that path in a song.

I wait in anticipation to see what else Mark has up his sleeve as the years unfold.