First Wand Dark-Light tonearm review is up on Witchdoctro NZ September 11 2025

The first Wand Dark-Light tonearm review is up on Witchdoctor NZ and it is a good one, with reviewer, Andy Baker saying;

Listening

My overarching impression of the Dark-Light is that music has a freer, unconstrained nature, a greater ease with which details and dynamic contrasts are expressed. And it has a solid rhythmic sure-footedness that helps keep the fun of music at the fore, even after considering the arm’s more technical proficiencies.

Bill Callahan’s thick baritone on his marvellous Gold Record somehow had an extra layer of presence, thanks in no small part, undoubtedly, to that dark silent background on offer. The strummed chords and picked notes of guitars and the timbres of other instruments were presented with a loving delicacy and from within a truly tangible space; all the little intricacies were at once soothing and brain-tickling. This is a wonderfully recorded album which sounds great on any turntable, but I clearly sensed the Dark-Light was that extra little bit more revealing in terms of its timbral rendition and the way it conveyed a sense of space and nowness, as well as the subtlest of dynamics and details it managed to tease out.

The Dark-Light steps up the clarity levels and increases the natural, organic quality in its reproduction of all aspects of music (the different instruments, vocals, electronic blips and beeps) with the ability to tease out a bit more micro- and macro-dynamic detail, contrast and impact. Edges of notes and images are that extra little bit more refined and illuminated. 

Conclusion

In the vast world of high-end tonearms (of which I have, of course, heard but a fraction) the Dark-Light surely represents good value for money. Everything that has gone into its development has resulted in an arm that will ultimately bring new levels of enjoyment to your music for many years to come.

The full review is here