ViV Laboratory
Rigid Float RF7-CB
Introduced 2020$5,500 MSRP
Designed by researcher/owner Koichiro Akimoto, the Rigid Float is a freestanding, zero-offset tonearm from tiny Kamakura, Japan-based ViV Laboratory that floats on a magnetic-oil bearing rather than a conventional pivot, requiring no armboard or mounting hole — a genuinely unconventional small-batch design covered in depth by The Audio Beat and sold via a narrow specialist-dealer network.
MSRP
$5,500
Used market · Excellent
$5,700
+4% vs MSRP
as of Sep 1, 2026MSRP to used market
From $5,500 at launch to $5,700 today.
Specifications
- Mass
- Approx. 2 kg total arm/base assembly
- Price
- $5,500 / £4,100
- Mounting
- Freestanding — placed directly on the plinth, no drilling required
- Warranty
- 2 years, parts and labor
- Headshell
- Detachable ViV Laboratory "Nelson Hold" tension-braced headshell
- Bearing type
- Magnetic, oil-damped ("Rigid Float") bearing — no mechanical pivot link
- Manufacturer
- ViV Laboratory Co., Ltd., Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
- Internal wiring
- 4N pure silver wire with silk jacket
- Arm tube material
- Carbon fiber (RF7-CB variant; earlier versions used anodized aluminum)
- Tracking geometry
- Zero headshell offset; describes a 7-inch radius tracing arc with a single null point
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