If you're dead set on upgrading your arm then +1 Origin Live. Wonderful arms.
Me, I'd be looking at a Soundsmith MI cart.
Me, I'd be looking at a Soundsmith MI cart.
Worth the $$ to upgrade my tonearm?
Guys, I like the Jelco arms but they are too heavy for the 2M series of cartridges which are on the higher compliance side of things. A lighter arm also gives you more flexibility in the future as you can always add weight. Harder to take it away. The Origin Live arms would be a better match for his cartridge. If Paul were into Moving Coil cartridges than either arm will do. Don't listen to millercarbon. He thinks all of our styluses are "jittering" around in the groove. I'm all for lower effective mass but this jitter thing is nonsense. I would love to see proof that a Sound Smith cartridge tracks better than say an Ortofon at the same price point. |
I changed from a Rega 300 to a Victor UA-7045 a few years ago & it was a nice upgrade. I have since changed arms a couple times. They do make a difference. You can still find the Victor's relatively cheap. indeed, one of the best tonearms for the money today, so much cheaper than many inferior and more expensive new tonearms, the Victor UA-7045 is fantastic if you can find a perfect sample under $1k, i managed to find NOS in the box which is more expensive, but i like NOS. The used samples are normally under $750. Now using long version of this arm UA-7082 and love it! Just make sure the counterweight is not sag down in this position. |
Regarding the quality you can easily upgrade your cartridge to another MM like Stanton CS-100 WOS, Audio-Technica AT-ML170, Grace LEVEL II ... and the difference can be huge on your Rega arm! But within $2k you can always buy absolutely fantastic vintage tonearms such as Technics EPA-100, Fidelity-Research FR-64fx, on the cheaper side something like Lustre GST-801 ... It is impossible that any of these arms can be beaten by Jelco, Origin Live, Rega and many modern tonearms. If you want something special among the new ones look for a short Reed 3P P.S. I think the weak point is your cartridge, probably it is more important to change it first. |