Turntable/arm/catridge choices have me spinning


I'm looking to upgrade into audiophile territory with my analog setup - currently a Music Hall MMF 5.1 with Pro-ject arm and Ortofon Magic Blue cartridge into a Belles Soloist phono stage; the fun begins thereafter with a Bel Canto Pre-1 (will upgrade to Pre2P when I find a good deal) preamp and a Vac Phi 200 amp powering Magico S1's - digital input is Luxman DA-06 DAC fed by an Auralic Mini streamer with an internal SSD and from Tidal. Back to analog: 
I live in an apartment block so have a high amount of structural vibration and footfall issues due to wooden flooring, etc so I was looking for suspended designs (is that right?). Sound presentation-wise, I prefer performance that has lots of musicality, tonal accuracy, air, soundstage; don’t need the last word in resolution and detail. In terms of looks, I need a modern design/look, not the traditional box/wood plinth look to go with the rest of the living room where this will sit. I would definitely consider a good condition used setup as well.
So now to the question: with a upgrade budget between $5k-$10k , what TT, Arm and Cartridge would you recommend I take a serious look at.
Hoping for some helpful advice.
Thanks in advance.    

comedus76

Showing 2 responses by effischer

+1 for Sota & Graham - they have about the best isolation out there.  At your budget, you could consider the Sapphire (it does have a basic wood plinth, but I think it works well with my Scandinavian modern furniture - very clean design IMO) with the Phantom and a DV XX2 cartridge, all new.  That's the rig I run and I find new stuff in music I know really well every time I run it.

Good luck & happy listening!

If you really want to get the best performance on transients, bass and accuracy simultaneously, the table is somewhat less critical than having the capability for VTA adjustment on-the-fly in the arm and a cartridge that is complimentary to your downstream rig.  Even the most minute changes in angle can drastically improve performance.  That means you might want to consider what sort of arm you like first and then build from there.  Choices include Graham, Tri-Planar and JMW, among select others.  The catch is that depending on how "free" the isolation platform is and how "tight" the VTA adjustment, you may have to develop a steady, gentle touch.  Also means that you can forget "set and forget".  No way to extract maximum performance without tweaking for each side of each LP.  Even on the same side, depending on a whole host of variables.  Totally worth it, too.  You might want to look up some of the archived threads here on VTA/SRA for more background.

FWIW, I had good results with the Rega line in unsuspended platforms and VTA on-the-fly back in the day.  Did not have to isolate for footfalls however, so can't speak to that.