2. analog
  3. 168554-22568

Up grade to a new turntable

Hello FriendsI wish to upgrade my turntable!!My music taste, is 70.s rock, blues, jazz rock, new wave, male vocals etc!!Here in Australia, there only a few turntables available!!, at my price, as I'm on a pension!!, I have mad a list!!1. Well Tempered Labs, reference, with a reference, arm, this is used in mint condition, that has been set up by the importer!! , but at a price $4,000!!, but with a Dynavector 20 xx high output, I'm using  low output, at the moment, on my "Once Analog" turntable!!, so I don't now how it would sound, would the higher output, sound harsh, on my phono stage, in MC, or should I switch to MM??
2.VPI prime scout, at around $5,000!!3. Kuzma Stabi, with basic arm, or if I have the money, a upgrade arm??4. Scu audio, premier, with same arm??Hoping someone can help me, with advice??Many ThanksDavid SpryAustralia
daveyonthecoast
hshifi
572 posts
 
Hello,
Mijo.,
I recently helped a friend setup a VPI Prime with the unipivot. Pain in the @$$! But once I finished setting it up; it was the VTA was the real factor that made it sound incredible. Another friend who has the same table had it setup by a guy who does this for a living using state of the art gear said I nailed it. It was as good as he has heard. But, you are correct about the Ortifon LVB. I would have to go with a different phono stage for that. Maybe the 20/20 or the Duo. I will call Ron Sutherland about the Dynavector 10X5 Mk2. When I was demoing to the TZ Vibe for him he did not mention it would not work. At the time I was listening to a Rega P8 with the Ania pro cart. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I am not being sarcastic. I really do appreciate it. I was given a Linn Axis TT so I didn’t want to go crazy with the cart on this table. I think my endgame table is the VPI prime with or prime 21. I think I like the unipivot more than the Gimbal arm. 
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
He didn't just say it is overrated, he said it is detrimental. 
VTA on the fly is highly over rated and can be detrimental to the performance of the tonearm.

Fremer never said any such thing. There are various methods of implementing (designing, building) VTA on the fly. Some of them undoubtedly not so good as others. Poorly implemented anything is never good. But VTA in and of itself? Essential.

As hshifi just said:
it was the VTA was the real factor that made it sound incredible.

Indeed. 
middlemass
936 posts
 
Roy Gandy on VTA:



https://mackiefamily.unospace.net/documents/regaonvta.html
cleeds
6,065 posts
 
mijostyn
VTA on the fly is highly over rated and can be detrimental to the performance of the tonearm. On this subject I think Michael Fremer is correct.
C'mon, where did Fremer ever say that???@mijostyn, it increasingly looks like you just like to make stuff up.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Technics tonearm has VTA on the fly, Lustre tonearm has VTA on the fly, Ikeda tonearms with B60 has VTA on the fly, Reed 3p tonearm has VTA and azimuth on the fly. Those are my favorite tonearms. VTA on the fly is great feature when you swap cartridges. If you use one cartridge matched to specific tonearm then you don’t need VTA on the fly, but there must be VTA adjustment anyway, tonearms without any VTA adjustment like Rega are junk.
More to discover