Durand Tonearms was founded in 2009 by French composer Joël-François Durand, and is devoted to the manufacture of high end tonearms. We currently offer a unipivot model, the Kairos™, and a gimbal bearing model, the Tosca™.
Our first product, the Talea™ was first introduced at the 2010 Axpona audio show in Jacksonville (Florida) and quickly established itself as one of the best tonearms on the market. A few months later, the Talea™ II was premiered at the 2010 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver (Colorado). It included a few changes that some of our customers had requested, such as an arm rest, as well a host of new solutions, in order to improve sound and ergonomics. These modifications resulted in a wider dynamic range and a more solid, realistic image, while maintaining the hallmarks of the first generation Talea™: excellence in tonal rendition, speed, and transparency.
Our second model, the Telos™, introduced for the first time in public at the 2011 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest is the result of extensive research in the domain of materials research and shape optimization. A true reference tonearm, it is used throughout the world in the most demanding systems.
Our third tonearm, the Kairos™ was introduced to the public at the 2014 High End Show in Munich (Germany), and has gathered a remarkable follow-up. It brings together the vast amount of information we have gathered over the years of making unipivot tonearms into an apparently simple, but highly sophisticated construction. Appearances can be deceiving…
And our latest effort, the Tosca™ was first presented at the Axpona in Chicago in April 2019. This is our first gimbal-bearing tonearm and the first responses to it have been extremely enthusiastic! A upgrade to this model is now available, the Tosca™ LE.
We also sell our own phono cables (DIN-RCA, DIN-XLR) for the Kairos and Tosca. Besides the presentation of these products, you will find on this web site comprehensive information on all things related to tonearm (alignment, azimuth, cartridge loading, etc..., even lists of interesting records). See our Resources section for ideas, tips and other links.
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For questions about purchasing and auditioning tonearms, please refer to our dealers page. For all other inquiries: see here.