Clearaudio Maestro or Shelter 501

What table and arm combo are we talking about?

Clearaudio Emotion CMB with Satisfy Carbon Tonearm

So, you already have the Maestro?? and what about your phono stage?? Will that drive the Shelter if you go that way?

I've owned both carts and feel they both offer a lot of performance at their prices. Your table/arm would be good for either.

Taking into account you matching to a good MM or MC phono section:

the Shelter is fast and clean , but with a nice warmth in the mids. A bit light in the bass compared to the better and more costly coils and also compared to the Maestro, which has a fuller or robust overall sound.

The Maestro sounds more MC than MM to my ears and has resolving power typically reserved for higher class MC carts.. Not as quiet a background as the Shelter.

So, it comes down to preference and what music you like as well.

I feel the Shelter shines with Jazz, acoustic and vocals. Piano is not it's forte nor is classical.

The Maestro is solid with classical and orchestra and does a good job with the rest..just not like a really good MC does there. But, I feel it closer to a very good MC than most MM's get. I own the Maestro, mainly because I have a vintage Thorens 126 and feel the MM is better matched, as well as my preference for Classical on LP.

If I had your table..I might consider the 501 and be very happy with that. I heard the 501 on my buddy's Nottingham Space Deck/Ace arm and was extremely impressed.

Ken

Kehut: Well done.

Thanks so much for the response!!

Drummer13:

How do you like your clearaudioi emotion? What other TTs have you had and how did you like them?

I had a buddy who had Clearaudio champion with shelter 501 and aurum beta S cart (clearaudio).
I felt that the clearaudio cart matched the clearaudio table better. The 501 sounded a bit too lightweight in that clearaudio table.
Few years later, another buddy had a vpi scout or scoutmaster with the 501 mk2. I felt it sounded way better on that table.
Again, ymmv....