How to choose an upgraded tonearm.

@skyscraper  A proper tonearm has to be neutral balance and have all the necessary adjustments for VTA, VTF, Azimuth, Antiskate and overhang. It has to hold the cartridge tightly and only allow it two degrees of freedom. The Vertical bearing should be at the level of the record and it's bearings should be of the highest quality. The tonearms that meet these requirement are the Reed 2G, the Schroder CB, the Tri Planar, the Kuzma 4 Points and a few of the Origin Live arms. I'm sure I am missing a few but the video above shows you what to look for. Stick with 9 or 10 inch arms. Going longer hampers performance in bad ways. Your Kleos will perform at it's best in any of the above arms. I have the Schroder and love it. The only qualm I have with it is that I wish it were supplied with at least one other counterbalance weight. The one supplied will not cover lighter cartridges like the Soundsmith. Your Kleos will be fine with the one that comes with the arm. I think the 4 point 9 is the best value in a high performance arm out there. The Reed and Tri Planar arms are also top performers but more expensive. 

One thing is for sure. You are going to love your Kleos! - Mike

Dover, thanks for that information on the Classic 2 tonearm’s design as an integrated unit. Sounds problematic to say the least.

I will most likely be installing the VPI dual pivot mod to hold me over until such time as I can afford to get a tonearm. But now I’m hoping that will do the trick by itself. $4500 seems like a lot to spend a tonearm. It comes in at more than the Classic 2 turntable’s cost, and more than the Lyra Kleos cost too. I’m getting sticker shock and this is only the first reply on this thread. Up until a few days ago I hadn’t even been considering a new tonearm.

I looked uo the tonearms you recommended,, They both come in at over $5000. I might just have to do without if that’s all that’s available to fit the Classic 2’s tonearm base.

Mike

Mike, 

Remember that "gut" feeling I talked about. 

Regards,

Tim

Reed tonearms and the Triplanar are all surface mount designs, so it is possible you could mount one of those without having to drill any new holes, except small ones for screw fasteners. You’d have to analyze on a case by case basis.

Mijostyn, I’ll take a look at all the tonearms you mentioned. Will any of them fit the Classic 2 with my having to drill it out do you know?

What difference do you get with sound quailty using various tonearms to include the ones you mention and chose between? I can’t imagine you get the same improvements in sound quality that you might if you invested equal money into a better cartridge or speakers..

After reading an article on this subject, I started thinking the cartridge might have a much larger impact on sound quality than maybe any other component other than the speakers. And that made me think the Ortofon 2M Black was mismatched with the rest of my system. I could be totally wrong, but that thought led me to invest in the Lyra Kleos, a much higher priced and quality cartridge than I might have otherwise considered., Do you think that may be true or is that way off?

The video was interesting and informative, By the way, since my carpentry skills outshine my audio ones, notice the Stanley hammer the video’s host was using to pound on the turntable was definitely low end and not up to his demo. Any decent Estwing hammer would have made the needle fly out of the record’s tracks in a hot flash..

Thanks again for your help. Can’t wait for the Kleos to arrive in about three months or so.

Mike