Since I intended to hold back my comments for the time being, I switched to the Three Blind Mice reissue of You Are my Sunshine: Occasionally, there are slight distortions to be heard, and I do not know whether that is because the TBM records are often cut at high levels or the Tamino isn't exactly one of those wonder trackers. In my opinion, this wouldn't be a problem, as with many of the ultimate state-of-the-art cartridges, the sonic performance - and price - bear a reciprocal relationship to the tracking capability. But since this LP has sunk into absolute oblivion within my collection - I didn't even know that I owned it anymore - I can't tell how critically this randomly selected gem from my record rack has really been cut. For this reason I don't want to leave it with speculations about the abilities of the Tamino in the above mentioned discipline, but I would like to know what role the TRA 9 plays within the distortion issue that occurred.

Anyway, I can't avoid an early comparison with Einstein's The Tonearm 12", so I'm preparing to switch the Tamino over into the Einstein arm as soon as possible. The tracking force and height are still correctly adjusted, so it should be enough to install the cartridge, adjust the overhang and replug the tonearm cable. However, this is going to fail because the angled plug of the TRA 9 doesn’t fit into The Tonearm. This forces me to let Einstein's arm stay with its ForceLine phono cable. But no matter which arm and which cable is used: With "Willow Weep For Me" in the interpretation of the George Otsuka Trio, slight distortions remain to be heard.

Of course, before I reconfigured the TRA 9, I had listened to one of my test tune classics, Bang Baa-room And Harp. So I play it again, after having installed the Tamino to the twelve inch arm. It now enables the Transrotor pickup to shine in terms of spatial depth as well. It also helps the cartridge to attain a touch more openness than the Transrotor combo had previously offered. Nevertheless, the change of cartridge has hitherto merely confirmed that the Three Blind Mice are cut with more level than is good for the Tamino. Sonically, the Einstein arm equipped with the ForceLine cable offers slightly greater freedom and expanded spatiality than the TRA 9 with the included cable. Until now, however, this could merely collect a maximum of 20 operating hours.