After hearing at a dealers a Kuzma Safir tonearm and having heard this system many times before but with a 4point I can say the tonearm transformed the sound more than any other piece of gear. Yes it's an expensive arm but I'd say buy it rather than a multi thousand dollar table and be very happy. BTW the table was a Kuzma Stabi R and had MSL cartridge (don't recall model).
Do I buy an upscale TT?
I recently heard a $50K TT at a friend’s and was floored by the performance.
It was a sound from a system I have never heard.
I have a very nice Woodsong Garrard 301, Tri-Planar arm and Grado Epoch 3 cartridge. Going into an Atma-Sphere MP-1 pre wt phono.
Discovered an affordable TT based on the Legendary Commonwealth idler drive TT (said to be among the best). One is $8500 and the other more elaborate one is $15K.
And there is another highly modified brass Garrard 401 for $10K. (said to be as good as the Commonwealth)
The big question is whether or not I am going to be pleased with the improvement in sound? There will certainly be a lot of hassle to change TTs!
- ...
- 63 posts total
I've said the same here in this forum for years. A great tonearm paired with a competent drive will blow anyone away when set up properly with no more than a modest cartridge. But most audiophiles buy with their eyes. Like loudspeakers, they fixate on the turntable only to their detriment. |
@pennfootball71 - sounds like you met Bill Parish. :) |
@fsonicsmith A great tonearm with a great cartridge on a competent drive will do the trick. You have to consider the cartridge and tonearm as one unit. The variation in the quality of cartridges is quite substantial. The more expensive cartridges are more carefully constructed with better components especially diamonds. Some cartridge companies like Lyra, MSL and Ortofon maintain their quality as you go down line, others most definitely do not like Audio Technica. I mention these companies because I have the most experience with them. |
- 63 posts total