Nottingham Spacedeck vs Rega Planar 8 vs Technics SL1200G

thanks @jdodmead for the reference to the old thread.

Looks like I will stick with the ace space arm then.

Apparently the best cart to start with then is the Nagaoka. Too bad a starter Koetsu wouldn't fit this arm, it might be the sound I am looking for.

I used a Koetsu black and it sounded great!

There is no such thing as "the best arm" for certain turntable, unless the pivot to spindle distance and the armboard allow us to mount the arm we have many to choose (depends on the cartridge).

Reed 3p tonearm does not require even a hole in the armboard (just 3 screws), the arm available in many versions such as ’9 inch, ’10.5 inch and ’12 inch which i am using. Reed is great because we can choose the right armwand for certain cartridge, each armwand has different mass.

Azimuth on the fly is absolutely unique feture of the Reed, watch how it works. Any other tonearm has this feature ? I guess none of them.

P.S. Koetsu Black is the worst model in Koetsu line, it’s the cheapest one and many people claimed it does not have a magic of Koetsu upper models. This information available online, so anyone can ferify.

There is one low compliance cartridge that easily compete with the best Koetsu like Coralstone, but for much better price. This cartridge is Fidelity-Research FR-7fz and you can read about it here. This is absolutely amazing cartridge for FR high mass tonearms.

In general i think the best and useful advice coming from folks who actually change the arms and turntables, not from the people who never changed anything in 15 years and never compare one thing to another. At least wheni’ve been looking for the decks and arms or cartridges i was more influenced by people who experiment with high-end gear. Only in comparison we can actually find out what is the best.

P.S. Stanton/Pickering with Stereohedron styli are killing the Nagaoka, read why.

would a Reed 9.5 fit on a technics 1200?

@tzh21y

Look for mounting distance on Reed website

Pivot to spindle distance is 223 mm for ’9.5 inch Reed 3P tonearm
Yes, you can mount it on Technics SL1200G if you will make a custom armboard, the distance is fine and the tonearm cable will be on top of the armboard (not under the armboard). You need a solid steel machined armboard with just 3 treated holes for 3 screws to mount the Reed 3P on it. This is the most beautiful high-end tonearm imo.