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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
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

The market is what it is; if you want a trip to musical paradise, you got to pay the price.


A studious audiophile has paid part of the price with the knowledge he's obtained over the years that enables him to get the most for his money, but at the end of the day, high end sound ain't cheap.
boxer12
8,656 posts
 
cdavids449, " I can hear an improvement with a better arm but you have to be listening fot it" 

Not IME. I used a rega rb300 for about 12 years & replaced that with a vintage Victor ua7045. Paid less for the Victor (12 years later) than the rega & it absolutely wiped the floor with it regardless of the cartridge that was mounted on it. I still have that arm & consider it on-par with the other arm I have set up, a Polestar. The Polestar is a little sweeter and extracts some more detail. The Victor sets a very nice stage. 

cdavids449
17 posts
 
Boxer12...I agree! I meant to imply if you put on an album and use it as background music while you're doing chores, cooking, etc. I was skeptical about spending money on an arm because the rega has decent reviews. I have swapped amps, preamps, cables, etc..and have noticed slight improvements or maybe just a lateral move that sounds different. But moving from the rega to the helius it was a large difference with everything being better in every category! 
boxer12
8,656 posts
 
+1 cdavids449
lewm
13,174 posts
 
Boys, I travel to Tokyo frequently and when there I haunt audio salons in my spare time. You will never see a Lyra cartridge overtly for sale in Tokyo. Likewise for Koetsu, maybe excepting their lowest cost models. If you ask a salesperson about Koetsu or Lyra, they don’t know what you’re talking about. Likewise also for Clearaudio and several others aimed at the foreign market, i.e., outside japan. Other good  brands can be found but there’s little price advantage especially considering the lack of a US warranty, like Audio Technica. That still leaves a few relative bargains, e.g., Shelter and Ikeda and a few brands we don’t see here in the US.
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