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Merry Christmas to Me.....New tonearm on the way

I got back into vinyl in the very early 2000's. Great time for buying records after buying into the perfect sound forever in the 80's. Sometime later I bought my Teres 340, which was a far reach in my pocket. Since i spent all the $$$ on a good TT, I had to buy a temporary  tonearm. Enter the Origin Live Illustrious 3. However that was 12-14 yrs ago . The TT sounds so good that I just upgraded other parts of the system without thought to the tonearm.

I have been on the hunt for a tonearm for about 6 months now. I finally pulled the trigger on a TriPlanar Mk Vii which  was just updated to the latest specs. it should be here tomorrow. Hopefully this will be the final piece of a puzzle which has taken a long time.

That said, many tweaks have been done previously to the system and more to go. My system has never sounded better. But I suspect the TriPlanar will take it up even further. But I still great respect for the OL arms

 

128x128artemus_5
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5 OP
1,942 posts
 

@millercarbon 

I hear you. I agree, the OL is a fantastic arm, especially for its price point. I kick myself for passing up an Enterprise last year. But...oh well.I will let you know my assessment of the TriPlanar

@axpert 

Please don't  take for granted that everyone is a newbie. I bought my 1st record when I was 8-10 yrs old. I'm now 70. That doesn't mean I cant still learn something. But I have set up a few arms and have all the tools to do so. 

As to cleaning, I have a vacuum for about 20 yrs and also a ultrasonic RC. So I have those bases covered also. I'm not sure if I have those listed in my system, so you may not have access to that info

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rauliruegas
13,077 posts
 

Dear @artemus_5 : You already know that when we change the cartridge or the tonearm several " things " will be different, I can’t say better in your system because I never listened it and because I don’t know if the new tonearm just mates better to your ZYX and because I don’t know which are your MUSIC/sound priorities other that you like tubes.

 

When we buy a new audio item our expectations are high and I hope that after one or two months your room/system fulfill your today expectations .

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

 

 

 

artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5 OP
1,942 posts
 

The arm just arrived. Wife did too. She doesn't know .....yet. Not sure I'll get it setup today. We'll see.

FWIW I have not gotten myself all giddy with high expectations. I learned years ago that usually leads to a letdown. But I will hang on to the OL til I'm sure just how good the TP is.

millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 

Smart move. In case it doesn't work out, you might not know this but Mark Baker gives full original purchase price of your old arm when buying a new one. At least he did for me. So I got to use my Conqueror almost 15 years and then bam, full money back towards the Enterprise. So you got that for a pretty nice fallback just in case. But I still have my fingers crossed for you and the TP!

artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5 OP
1,942 posts
 

@millercarbon 

I had meant to call or email you about that. But life happened and then this arm came up for sale and I grabbed it. But that is good to know. I may have bought the Conqueror if I had known it. But it's still all good. I've never had a tonearm with this many easy adjustments. I realize that is a 2 edge sword. Back ion the 80's I put a graphic equalizer in my system. After a month of constant ocd tone adjustments, I removed it and sold it. The only thing I didn't like about the OL was it's clunky adjustments.

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