Supatrac Blackbird
Supatrac’s Blackbird makes vinyl feel startlingly locked-in: rock-solid tracking, deep, controlled bass and a transparent, three-dimensional flow bring dense recordings and delicate vocals into vivid focus. Michael Fremer praised its unforced timing and dynamic authority, while The Ear heard exceptional coherence, realism and emotional connection. Its ingenious sideways-unipivot design is a serious high-end standout.
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Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
96/100
Build Quality
91/100
Features Usability
90/100
Value for Money
96/100
Pros
Exceptionally stable, assured tracking preserves clarity, poise and scale on demanding, high-energy recordings.
Deep, textured bass combines dynamic punch with strong rhythmic control and minimal overhang.
Highly coherent, transparent presentation reveals spatial depth, instrumental relationships and emotional nuance.
Precise VTA and fine azimuth adjustment help optimise performance across compatible cartridges.
Cons
Unconventional setup has a steep learning curve; instructions and adjustment sequence were criticised as insufficiently clear.
Some cartridge mounting screws may not fit the narrow headshell slots, and stiff lead wires can complicate installation.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 96/100
Reviewers describe an unusually transparent, coherent and musically persuasive presentation, marked by exceptional timing, depth and freedom from mechanical character. Its control of demanding grooves and bass transients is a recurring strength.
Overall Sound
96/100
Michael Fremer calls the Blackbird uncoloured, unforced and non-mechanical, praising its clarity, musical flow, transient delicacy and explosive dynamics. The Ear likewise found it superbly focused and transparent, with a lifelike coherence that made ensembles feel present in the room.
Tracking Performance
97/100
Tracking Angle reports that the stylus "stuck the landing," with bottom octaves exceptionally clear, rhythmically secure and free of overhang. The Ear found tracking totally assured even on powerful organ material, delivering clarity and finesse without diminishing scale or impact.
FEATURES USABILITY PERFORMANCE 90/100
The Blackbird offers precise VTA and fine azimuth provision, along with an integrated arm lift, but setup demands patience and experience. Its adjustment facilities and reported partnership with typical moving-coil cartridges make it versatile once correctly installed.
Adjustability
91/100
The Ear praises the accurate screw-adjusted VTA system and the ability to make very fine azimuth corrections by shifting the weights. However, Fremer cautions that the arm has a steep setup learning curve and is not an easy installation, especially for experienced tonearm users expecting conventional procedures.
Cartridge Compatibility
89/100
Fremer reports that the Blackbird worked very well with the Kleos SL and suggests it should suit virtually any typical moving-coil cartridge. The adjustable VTA also helps optimise setup for a chosen cartridge, although the reviews provide limited evidence regarding very high-compliance MM designs or unusually demanding cartridges.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
91/100
The reviews point to a highly purposeful structure: Fremer describes it as exceptionally inflexible and acoustically dead, with an unusually high strength-to-weight ratio. The Ear also notes the stabilising effect of the low-slung heavy weights and the design's avoidance of lift-related resonances, though long-term durability is not discussed in depth.
Value for Money
96/100
At the review-period price of around $3,000 for the 9-inch version, Fremer considered its performance startlingly better than other products for the money. The Ear calls it a genuine bargain; against the current stated $4,400-$6,750 range, those comments indicate unusually strong value praise, though prospective buyers should account for the higher present-day pricing.
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Manufacturer's Description — Supatrac
SUPATRAC Blackbird
The Blackbird is a new turntable tone-arm with a revolutionary patented* 'Sideways Uni-Pivot Arm' (SUPA) bearing which outperforms traditional tone arms. The sideways uni-pivot bearing directly opposes stylus drag at a single point of contact, eliminating microscopic play in the time axis and avoiding the scrubbing and roll movements which can degrade the performance of conventional uni-pivots. The Blackbird's SUPA bearing delivers unprecedented performance.
SUPATRAC Nighthawk
The Nighthawk is a new SUPA which ekes out even higher performance than the Blackbird by relaxing some design constraints on effective mass, arm-board compatibility and cost of manufacture. It is a medium mass arm with a 1" pillar, 8mm pivot bolt and more complex composite assembly which extends arm length by 17mm and increases vertical torque reaction (TRAC). The Nighthawk delivers unprecedented performance.
Reactive Downforce
Loud passages increase stylus drag, producing oscillating vertical torque on normal tone-arms - the stylus can struggle to stay in good contact with the groove. The SUPA bearing pivots just below the record level so that bursts of stylus drag produce a slight downwards torque, just when it's needed.
That's how the Blackbird hugs the groove with tenacity during punchy dynamics. Torque-Reaction Assisted Contact (TRAC) plays the hottest grooves with less distortion.
Perfect Timing
The Blackbird is designed to resist the pull of the cartridge with unyielding rigidity on the microscopic scale. Only by maintaining a perfect position in the groove's time axis can a cartridge reproduce the true shape and explosive energy of a recorded signal. By directly opposing the oscillating drag forces from the cartridge, the SUPA bearing avoids scrubbing, chatter and the resulting time errors which can frustrate the retrieval of music.
Death Star Thrust Box
- Rigid frame
- Minimised inertia
- Low centre of gravity
- Paramagnetic
- Tough coating
Universal SUPA
The Blackbird is designed to be lightweight and stable, fitting almost any turntable including classics like Linn, Technics, Garrard, Rega and many more. It can be matched with high-compliance cartridges due to its low inertia, and it comes with a mass adaptor to keep low-compliance cartridges under control too, making it compatible with the broadest range of cartridges from Shures to Miyajima Monos.
Arm tube
The Blackbird's arm tube is made of two pultruded carbon-fibre tubes bonded together. The headshell area is reinforced with aluminium and the left tube is filled with a damping foam. The arm tube is clamped firmly to the thrust box with six M4 machine screws and captive steel nuts for high rigidity. The arm forms an exceptionally inflexible and dead structure with tennis-racquet-class strength-to-weight ratio.
Length & Geometry
Due to its construction the Blackbird can be made in any length you desire. You may specify Stevenson geometry instead of the default Baerwald. Headshell slots are 7mm long to accommodate a range of cartridges. Prices for arms longer than 12 inches are available on request.
Protractors
A protractor is included, making it easy to ensure accurate spindle-to-pivot distance, pivot-to-stylus distance, and offset.
Blackbird Mounts
The standard Blackbird mount is compatible with Rega, Linn, SME, Kuzma, Pro-Ject, Michell, Brinkmann, TW Acustic and many other decks.
Nighthawk Mounts
The standard Nighthawk mount is compatible with Linn, SME, Kuzma, Pro-Ject, Brinkmann, TW Acustic and many other decks. The Nighthawk mount is not compatible with Rega-type mounts due to the thickness of the pillar. Custom mounts are available to order, price on request.
Inertia
A nine-inch Blackbird has a base effective mass of roughly 10g. A mass adaptor is supplied with all SUPATRAC arms for compatibility with cartridges which suit heavier arms. Multiple mass adaptors can be used with very stiff cartridge suspensions because the SUPA bearing does not bear the arm's weight. It is possible to load SUPATRAC arms with a kilogram or more of mass with outlier cartridges, without compromising arm performance.
Wires
The Blackbird is designed for maintenance and modification. If you have specific wiring requirements, the internal wiring is easily replaced. By default the internal wiring is 30/0.04mm silk-covered copper litz. If supplied, arm cables come with straight or right-angle DIN connectors as requested.
Finger Lifters
The Blackbird comes with an additional rigid finger lift for those who do not wish to use the string finger lift. However, the elegant simplicity of the tress of soft cord is recommended as it protects the cartridge from accidental downward pressure. With the tress you can ensure that the stylus has engaged with the groove at the beginning of the record before you let go, and you can grip it firmly at the end of a record before lifting the stylus out of the groove. Many skeptics have changed their minds after finding there is less stress with the tress.
Any Length or Geometry
- 9 inches for Technics/Linn
- 9.3 inches for Rega
- 10 to 12 inches or longer
- Baerwald or Stevenson
- Custom geometries
- Custom mounts
Verified Dealers
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Authorized dealers for Supatrac Blackbird
- Acoustic Sounds — online and in-store — Salina, Kansas, United States (website)
- Ana Mighty Sound — online and in-store — Paris, Île-de-France, France (website)
- Avantgarde — in-store — Kowloon, Hong Kong (website)
- Basil Audio — online and in-store — Saratoga, California, United States (website)
- Dr Vinyl — in-store — Middle River, Maryland, United States (website)
- Hey Now Hifi — online and in-store — St Kilda, Victoria, Australia (website)
- KJ Westone — online and in-store — England, United Kingdom (website)
- Musical Surroundings — in-store — Oakland, California, United States (website)
- MY SOUND GmbH — in-store — Starnberg, Bayern, Germany (website)
- Nirvana Sound — in-store — Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia (website)
and 6 more verified dealers