Kumza Stabi S or Rega P10 ??

@karl_desch 

How is your friend liking the P10? 

One point I agree with @mijostyn in that I wouldn’t even think of using a Rega with a high end MC without the wally analysis and resulting shim set.

Anyone who has setup a cart and dialed in by ear knows that the extremely rough ’ shim under arm base ’ Rega method is not going to get you there. t least not in every instance..,

What is a Wally Analysis? 

J.R Boisclair at Wally Tools offers it. You send in your cart and they determine deviations for sra/zenith/azimuth for your cart and make a shim with corrective angles that mounts between cart and arm. 

For many full adjustable arms this might be accomplished in other ways but not with the Rega.

I looked at Kuzma Stabi, Rega PS-10 and Feickert Woodpecker with a Thomas Schick 10.5 inch tonearm. Did not audition. Knew I would have to invest in a stable plinth for the Kuzma Stabi like HRS $$, did not care for the look of the PS-10 with white platter. Read that Herb Reickert has a Feickert Blackbird with Schick 10.5 inch tonearm, and my tastes tend to align with his, so I went with the Feickert Woodpecker. I like the setup a lot, the ability to swap out headshells and cartridges with ease. I did buy the graphite headshell. Sometimes I wonder if the low compliance cartridge needed with the Schick tonearm may accelerate the wear on the vinyl. If you can afford it, the dual motor Blackbird or triple motor Trio will reportedly lower the noise.