Tonearms: Ripoff?


If you search for tonearm recommendations you'll find an overwhelming amount of praise for $1k and less products. Audiomods and Jelco are the two most mentioned.

The Audiomods is just some guy making Rega-based tonearms in a workshop. Just some guy is putting out tonearms that compete with tonearms that cost many times the price -- from the likes of SME, Clearaudio, VPI, Graham, etc.

So the question is -- are tonearms just a scam? How is it that everyone loves Audiomods and Jelco to death and never talks about / dismisses high end tonearms? Is it because there's no real difference between one of these low-cost tonearms and the high end ones? Is an Audiomods Series V ** really ** the equivalent of a SME V? Some guy in a workshop equals the famed precision of SME? Is that once you have the math and materials worked out all tonearms are essentially the same? Or is it that most owners of record players online are dumpster-diving for vintage gear and simply can't afford to listen to better?

So, what's going on?
madavid0
madavid0
"Now let's take two tonearms, the Audiomods V and the Durand Kairos. The price difference is very large, easily around 500-600%. Now, from an audio perofmance perspective is there a meaningful difference? How much better does the Kairos sound -- 100%, 50%, 10%, 2% ? Assuming both arms are well-matched to the cartridge in question, IS THE KAIROS A RIPOFF?"

I guess the discussion here is price verse value 
or in the audiophile world price verse improvement .
The cost of equipment verse the improvement can be viewed as a 
mathematical curve called a parabola where the cost factor 
is  the x and the improvement is the y ,
as the x increases the y increases at a much great rate not a 1 to 1
ratio .
Each of us has to decide how much we can spend to get that 
next bit of improvement RIP OFF  no,  just more and more expensive
to get the last little bit of improvement .

One solution for all of us is to Buy Used from the " Haves ",
they are NOT ruining it for all of us , they are making it available for all of us either directly with used equipment or indirectly by buying top of the line equipment that gives manufactures the resources for trickle down technology .


NKONOR ?
So other than your 2 cents attack on me ,
Do you think  that the money you have spent on your system
is a RIP OFF ? because that is the question !

My 2 cents 






I found this forum interesting because the Audiomods V reviewed here http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/audiomods/4.html is compared to an SME (I didn't catch which one, or not specified).   It was very clear as to the differences and most audiophiles would prefer the SME.  However, it was also noted that improving the internal wiring and the counterweight brought superior results to a stock unit and cartridge matching also provided further enjoyment.  So, the Audiomods V is a very fine and potentially, high end tonearm.  

I was fortunate to purchase an SME IV in 1989 for $1100.  The bearings are not ABEC 3 or 5 supposedly.  It sounds great with a Lyra or Benz cartridge on a VPI TNT VI mod.  The current price is about $4300.  I am not willing to spend a lot more unless I receive a lot more enjoyment from a newer, better arm.  It is also a reliable arm with over 13,000 hours on it.  Well worth the money over time.  I considered an SME V and a Triplanar.  I have an Ultracraft 400c on my VPI 19 for 78 rpm use.  I'm not as fond of the unipivot with variable damping although it appears to work great with a Grado 78 cartridge and minimal damping.
In my opinion vintage Technics EPA 500 with optimized arm tubes and the magnetic damper are unbeatable if in good condition. Getting hard to find!
A good condition Zeta arm can be had for under a grand. Send it to Johnnie Nilsen at Audio Origami in Glasgow (a Zeta expert) for a rewiring (copper or silver) and checkout (bearings, etc.). A classic!
I think this kind of rip-off ideas are very strange. If it was easy to create a cheap copy of any equipment there would be lots of cheap versions. Manufacturers also has to cover costs for Wales, marketing, support and R&D.

Not all small firms make cheap things. SAT is probably a small firm but makes very expensive tonearms. According to this article many of their customers are still happy.

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/listen-sats-original-pickup-arm-and-compare-it-new-lm-09-and-cf...