Durand Tosca LE Tonearm
The flagship version of our models, the Tosca™ LE (Limited Edition) was introduced at T.H.E. Show 2023. This Limited Edition comes with a completely new bearing assembly. The counterweights have been upgraded: they are now composed of an inner ring in sapphire, and an outer ring of the same—very rare—metal as the bearing assembly. As usual, the utmost attention has been devoted not only to the design of each single part, but to the materials used as well. Metals were chosen for their specific tonal and mechanical qualities; the armwand is made of a complex construction of damped carbon fiber; part of the bearing assembly and armwand neck are in a composite material also based on carbon fiber, and the headshell is in nickel-plated magnesium.
Like all our models, the Tosca™ LE offers all the adjustments needed to explore its full potential: VTA is adjusted with a mechanism placed under the bearing assembly that doesn't require a hole to be bored in the armboard/plinth. Azimuth can be very easily adjusted directly at the headshell, which means that any rotation of the system is done in same the plane as the stylus. Anti-skating is of course available and can be defeated with a simple operation.
The Tosca™ has a DIN connector built inside the back of the tonearm base—a system that greatly minimizes the transmission of vibrations to the cable. This allows you to choose between several of the phono cables that we offer separately (DIN-RCA or DIN-XLR), and that were developed specially for the Tosca™.
The flagship version of our models, the Tosca™ LE (Limited Edition) was introduced at T.H.E. Show 2023. This Limited Edition comes with a completely new bearing assembly. The counterweights have been upgraded: they are now composed of an inner ring in sapphire, and an outer ring of the same—very rare—metal as the bearing assembly. As usual, the utmost attention has been devoted not only to the design of each single part, but to the materials used as well. Metals were chosen for their specific tonal and mechanical qualities; the armwand is made of a complex construction of damped carbon fiber; part of the bearing assembly and armwand neck are in a composite material also based on carbon fiber, and the headshell is in nickel-plated magnesium.
Like all our models, the Tosca™ LE offers all the adjustments needed to explore its full potential: VTA is adjusted with a mechanism placed under the bearing assembly that doesn't require a hole to be bored in the armboard/plinth. Azimuth can be very easily adjusted directly at the headshell, which means that any rotation of the system is done in same the plane as the stylus. Anti-skating is of course available and can be defeated with a simple operation.
The Tosca™ has a DIN connector built inside the back of the tonearm base—a system that greatly minimizes the transmission of vibrations to the cable. This allows you to choose between several of the phono cables that we offer separately (DIN-RCA or DIN-XLR), and that were developed specially for the Tosca™.
The flagship version of our models, the Tosca™ LE (Limited Edition) was introduced at T.H.E. Show 2023. This Limited Edition comes with a completely new bearing assembly. The counterweights have been upgraded: they are now composed of an inner ring in sapphire, and an outer ring of the same—very rare—metal as the bearing assembly. As usual, the utmost attention has been devoted not only to the design of each single part, but to the materials used as well. Metals were chosen for their specific tonal and mechanical qualities; the armwand is made of a complex construction of damped carbon fiber; part of the bearing assembly and armwand neck are in a composite material also based on carbon fiber, and the headshell is in nickel-plated magnesium.
Like all our models, the Tosca™ LE offers all the adjustments needed to explore its full potential: VTA is adjusted with a mechanism placed under the bearing assembly that doesn't require a hole to be bored in the armboard/plinth. Azimuth can be very easily adjusted directly at the headshell, which means that any rotation of the system is done in same the plane as the stylus. Anti-skating is of course available and can be defeated with a simple operation.
The Tosca™ has a DIN connector built inside the back of the tonearm base—a system that greatly minimizes the transmission of vibrations to the cable. This allows you to choose between several of the phono cables that we offer separately (DIN-RCA or DIN-XLR), and that were developed specially for the Tosca™.
Effective length: 258.5 mm (10.18”)
Pivot-spindle distance: 242.4 mm (Loefgren A geometry).
Overhang: 15.92 mm (Please see our page on cartridge alignment here)
Offset angle: 21.2 degrees.
Cartridge mount: 1/2” (12.7mm)
Mounting on the plinth/armboard is done with 2 x 10-24 (or M4) screws (for metal armboards) or 2x #8 wood screws (for wood armboards).
Weight of the whole assembly: 1.7 lbs (.770 kg)
If you want to make sure that the Tosca™ will fit on your turntable, you can download a mounting template here (scroll to “Tosca™ Mounting Templates”)
Bearing: Fixed Bearing
VTA/SRA: fine adjustment with screw activating a mechanism located under the bearing assembly (no need for a hole in the armboard). Range: ca. 18 mm. We provide a cartridge plate (spacer) if the armwand needs to be elevated beyond the range of the VTA mechanism.
Azimuth: adjustable at the headshell. We discuss the question of azimuth setting here
Anti-skating mechanism can be disabled if desired
VTF with coupled counterweights: 96 gr, 2 x 64 gr. Counterweights are inner ring Sapphire and the outer ring is made of the same material as the bearing assembly.
The Tosca™ is a medium mass tonearm, and the combination of counterweights provided with it allows use of most cartridges currently available.
DIN connector inside the arm base.
Jig to set the pivot-to-spindle distance provided; no need for a ruler, the jig places the tonearm exactly in the right position.
Like our other tonearms, the Tosca™ is a medium-mass tonearm that can be used with most modern cartridges on the market.
