Hi! I have what would probably be called a mid-fi system in these parts, although it's made up of components I really love with highish end used/open box parts bought because my tastes are Waygu, while my budget is nice brisket.
I recently acquired a gently-used VPI Titan (the older, belt-driven, model although still sold) with a 12 inch Fat Boy tone arm, in part because the price was fantastic.
After much study, albeit in complete ignorance, I am strongly leaning to the Van den Hul Frog Gold on my own, but a conclusion reinforced because my friend has it on a similarly-designed composite tone arm from Poland and the Frog sounds great. The rest of his system, however, is straight highest-end McIntosh. (He lives far away or I'd ask to borrow his cartridge for an audition.)
In contrast to his stock top-to-bottom, system, my system is a bit of a hodge-podge of things I love, largely designed around streaming/digital, to wit:
Phone preamp (new to me): Parasound JC3+
Preamp: Evo Luna 400
Amps: Classe Delta Monoblocks
Speakers: B&W 800 D3
Subs: SVS PB-16 ultras (2) (I have a dual hi-pass, low pass, up at pre-amp to divide between amps and amplified subs before amplification.)
(I do love base and low-end.)
Commercial 20 amp Furman power conditioner
Digital source: Lumin U1, Esoteric K-03XD SACD/CD player with excellent DACs)
This is a $3600 cartridge, which chokes me, but I could pay more or less, for the right thing.
Listen to everything, but mainly listen to classical while streaming (due to excellent choices) and rock/blues/jazz/something that pairs with Scotch while listening to analog.
