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Best Tonearm and Cartridge for 4K or under for restored Garrard 301

I have a good set up for digital audio and would like to venture into analog audio. My digital set up is
Cary DMS600 -> Cary SLP05 -> Cary CAD211FE -> KEF Blade. I love the sound!

My first and only TT is a Thorens TD126 with TP16 tonearm and TMC60 MC -> PPA990 and phono stage is Cary PH302.

I bough an old Garrard 301. Planning to get it restored by Jim Campbell. Have a slate plinth. Now I am looking for a tonearm and cartridge that will justify my set up. I am thinking 4K. I could go lower or higher depending on the feedback, cost/value. I am looking for a good bargain. If I don't like it, I can easily sell it without much loss. I listen to classical, jazz, rock, indian music. 

I have never setup a tonearm before. But I looked extensively on the internet and Michael Fremer's how to set up videos. I understand all the different angles, VTA, SRA, Azimuth, Zenith. 

Looks like Michael likes Kuzma 4PT, I liked his review of the tonearm.
I am also looking at linear trackers like Transfi Terminator.
Woody, Triplaner Mk VII, SME 3012R, SME 312, Ortofon RS 309D, Dynavector DV 505/ 507, Reed 3P, Stogi reference, FR 64S, FR 64 FX, Sumiko 800.

kanchi647
pindac's avatar
pindac
2,864 posts
 
The purpose of the Post was to inform the OP the Idler TT, can be experienced in a variety of Sound Qualities.
It is a design that is for the end user, tweakable in many ways, and does not require the intrusion into the mechanics of the Deck itself. 
I'm sure with the directions available in this thread, the OP will find a place of great satisfaction in their front end source.  
lewm
13,056 posts
 
Chakster, on the issue of graphite vs slate, I do owe you an apology if you were talking about mats in the first place and not plinths.  The OP was asking about plinths, and I assumed you were referring to plinths made by OMA, which are, or were last time I looked, of slate, not graphite.  On the other hand, if you were discussing platter mats in the first place, mea culpa.
I'm also sorry, but your argument about the effect of a high mass counterweight is specific to FR and Ikeda, and I am talking in general about the calculation of tonearm effective mass.  A heavy CW, which because of its weight can be placed close to the pivot, can have the effect of reducing effective mass, because the factor of distance between the center of mass and the pivot is squared, whereas CW mass is to the first power.  Those are facts. Ikeda didn't abrogate physical laws.  If you want to minimize effective mass, you are best off with a heavy CW that can be placed as close as possible to the pivot vs a lighter CW that has to be further from the pivot to achieve balance or the desired VTF.  That's all I was saying.
fsonicsmith's avatar
fsonicsmith
958 posts
 
I'm also sorry, but your argument about the effect of a high mass counterweight is specific to FR and Ikeda, and I am talking in general about the calculation of tonearm effective mass. A heavy CW, which because of its weight can be placed close to the pivot, can have the effect of reducing effective mass, because the factor of distance between the center of mass and the pivot is squared, whereas CW mass is to the first power. Those are facts. Ikeda didn't abrogate physical laws. If you want to minimize effective mass, you are best off with a heavy CW that can be placed as close as possible to the pivot vs a lighter CW that has to be further from the pivot to achieve balance or the desired VTF. That's all I was saying.
I believe the point you are making is analogous to the point Mike Fremer and others make about the inherent superiority of 9" arms over longer arms to minimize latent reaction to groove modulation and warps in the vertical plane. That on paper may well be true, but in actual practice there are advantages to 10.5 and 12" arms and as has been a common theme in my posts on this thread, you have to pick your priorities. Are Koetsu cartridges with heavy stone cartridge bodies inherently inferior to lighter cartridge bodies since they require larger CW's to balance out? Common sense tells us the answer is no. 
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cleeds
5,950 posts
 
fsonicsmith
... the inherent superiority of 9" arms over longer arms to minimize latent reaction to groove modulation...
Will you please explain what "latent reaction to groove modulation" is?
lewm
13,056 posts
 
Just for the record, what I wrote and what I had in mind have nothing to do with tonearm length.  The same rules apply no matter what the length, and I was not meaning to advocate for 9-inch tonearms.
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