Tri-Planar officially came into being
when the Wheaton Decoupled Arm, now referred to as the Tri-Planar Mk.
II, was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1981. But, the
design of that first arm was the result of years of research and
development by Tri-Planar founder, Herb Papier.
As a young
man, Herb Papier played trumpet in amateur Big Bands and, later in
life, owned a music store. In World War II, he received official
recognition from the U.S. Navy for his expertise in chronometer
calibration, a skill he continued to hone throughout his civilian
career as a watchmaker. Eventually, Herb settled in Wheaton, Maryland,
where he combined his talent for fine mechanisms with his love of music
by creating one of the best tonearms the world has ever known.
Between
1967 and 1980, Herb experimented with tackling the three major problems
of tonearm design - adjustable azimuth, adjustable vertical tracking
angle (VTA), and bearing at record height. The arms he produced for he
and his friends are generally referred to as
Mk. I. By 1981, Herb
found a design he liked and premiered the Mk. II at the Consumer
Electronics Show. He later renamed the arm Tri-Planar, a name that
reflects the three planes of tonearm geometry.
Still, Herb
found room for improvement and continued perfecting his design. In
1983, the Tri-Planar Mk. III was given International Audio Review's
prestigious Engineering Achievement Award, the first of many such
accolades.
In 1999, during the Mk. VI years, Tri-Planar was
purchased by Herb's handpicked successor, Tri Mai, of Minneapolis,
Minnesota. Herb passed away in 2003 at the age of 83, just as Tri was
introducing the current incarnation of Tri-Planar, the Mk. VII, which
fittingly includes many of Herb's final thoughts on the design.
The
meticulously handcrafted Tri-Planar Ultimate continues to be rated
among the world's best. It is an ultra-precision tonearm offering
maximum adjustability and watch-like precision. And, just as Herb
Papier had envisioned, the arm's unique dual-pivot design provides
unrivaled tracking, transparency, and resolution.