recommendation for a high end analog system

@mijostyn

bkeske, When I was getting the "Voice" I asked Peter what the difference between the "Voice" and the Sussurro (a low output version of the "Voice") was. His reply was "larger coils in the Voice." Since the coils are fixed and there is no reduction in moving mass with smaller coils my next question was "then why is the Sussurro $2K more expensive?" He said," market economics." I also asked "then why wouldn’t the "Voice" be a better cartridge having a much lower signal to noise ratio." His reply, "It is." He said that he only makes low output cartridges because they are more profitable and people want to use their fancy, expensive high gain phono stages. They are stuck on thinking low output cartridges sound better. Then I got the Strain gage pitch. Which I would like to hear. I thing the Hyperion is too expensive to make to justify a high output version. People who buy high output cartridges will not spend $7K on a cartridge.

Yep, I’ve heard Peter say the same/similar. That’s why I think the Lo MIMC Zephyr is probably a great deal for $2K new. That is the one I keep leaning towards for a Lo cart. I’ve just heard that my Hagerman Trumpet really performs best with Lo carts, albeit it sounds great with my Zephyr. And really, that is my major interest; getting the most out of my Trumpet.

The Strain Gauge is a whole nuther  animal. I would love to hear it as well. Pretty amazing in theory really.

As far as raising a tone arm above the ‘plinth’/cover, I have a Jelco TK-850 MKII, and have thought about adding a VTA on the fly adjustment mechanism. Problem is it would hit against the wood ‘plinth’/cover. But, you can find a Jelco 1/4” spacer and add it to the Jelco mount to raise it up, and I’ve heard that works. I’m sure you could do the same for other arms.

I do not use the/a SOTA dust cover. When I do cover it, I have a custom soft cloth cover I use. To be honest, the cover isn’t on much. I play albums most every day.

@dorkwad  when you say...

“I used to have a Maplenoll Ariadne TT/arm which was excellent sounding. The Illustrious is a very good sounding arm that is a significant upgrade in all ways from what I had before.”

In this regard you put an OL Illustrious on the Maplenol? What to your ears did it improve, and be how much?

@ianderson,

The Maplenoll was very quiet, smooth, excellent bass, and most everything sounded beautiful on it.  After reading my post again, my comments on the OL Illustrious II had to do mostly with arms I've had since the 'Noll.  The OL Illustrious II Is more detailed, dynamic, with  more grunt in the bass.  I never put a different arm on the 'Noll.  The only real issue I had with the 'Noll was the delivery of the air to the arm.  It took very little air to move the turntable but much more to keep the arm working correctly.  Twice I had something between the pump and the TT disconnect because of the high pressure pump.  The TT would keep spinning, but the arm would freeze and thus become very rigid.  The cantilever's on two different cartridges snapped from the pressure of the stylus being stuck in the groove.  Very expensive with good cartridges.  A significant portion of the better sound of the OL over the 'Noll is because of the modded Lenco.  

My original post was to be mostly a praise for the OL Illustrious II arm in my system.  The simplicity of its use is also very appreciated since using the Trans-Fi Terminator arm along with the Pete Riggle Woody--both very fine sounding arms.  The OL Illustrious II is just better at everything sound wise.  It might be a 15-20% improvement overall.  I now have a used Walker Precision Motor Controller, but have yet to install the IEC in the back of my Lenco build to actually use it.  From what I've read from others who have, it should make a noticeable improvement in the sound along with keeping the speed perfect, and having a toggle switch to change the phase available.  

My apologies for all this info on the OP's thread.

Bob

bkeske, the beauty of the Sota dust cover is that it is attached to the plinth cover which is connected to the chassis. The sub chassis which holds the platter and tonearm is hanging from the chassis with 4 springs tuned to 3 Hz. Nothing that happens above 3 Hz gets to the sub chassis and that includes everything that is happening to the cover and dust cover including banging it with a hammer. Try it, really! Using the dust cover during play is like giving your cartridge hearing protection. It also keeps the record's exposure to dust and pollution limited and it is also brilliantly simple to use. I had this discussion with Mark Dohmann and he totally agrees. He is or has designed an isolated dust cover for his Helix tables to use during play. 

So, do yourself a favor and order a dust cover from Sota!