$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

Twl,

Thanks for the number, I will call you after I have spent my alloted 4 days with the GPA rack this coming weekend to share my impressions and see where I think about going from there. I appreciate this offer.

Frank,
Thanks for weighing in on this one. To be honest I have never installed my own tonearm, I have my audio dealer do it and do cartridge installation as well. This will be my first experience with a tonearm that I plan to be totally responsible for so when I'd read some people's comments that your arms might be more difficult to set up(which I know have to be taken with a grain of salt) it makes me think that perhaps I should get something that might be easier to use. Not so much to install but for all the settings, like a Graham. And of course, I only have what I read to go on, I've never seen or heard one of your tonearms.
On the other hand it sounds like your arms are truly wonderful sounding and are very highly regarded and this appeals to my sense to get a "final" set-up. My current improvements to my system are to make the stretch to get off the audio merry-go round so I can focus my attentions elsewhere. I imagine that your arms are worth every penny but I don't see the $ going up anytime soon so I doubt there will be a price decrease in the works.

Doug - I can be fumblefingers and careless and though I would never "pull a Fremer" and try to install a $4500 cartridge after 3 margaritas(!) I have whacked the cantilever off a Blue Point Special reaching for the tonearm with my right hand while my left was brushing a record at the same time.......

The Schroeder DPS was what I was thinking of and I still am....thanks for the reality check guys, it keeps me thinking.....

As for the squishie bits controversy, we'll see what happens this weekend. Since the sorbothane footers used in GPA racks are designed for specific weights and for compression I'll guess I'll hear it if it's overdamped. But what I'm hearing now with this amp stand is amazing and it was previously sitting on a Michael Green Amp stand with BDR cones and pucks and this Grand Prix Audio stand has blown that combo so far out of the water it ain't funny......

Jim - I saw some days back a review of the Ginko stands. Those are new items AFAIK and not heard them personnaly, but looks like a promising design and sensible priced.

Fernando

Chris, I think that you'll like the GPA rack. It is a very good one. There are really only 2 racks in that upper level category, and those are GPA and Sistrum. Our approach is totally different to the solution of the vibration issue. GPA tries to stop the vibrations from going up from the floor, and Sistrum tries to provide an exit path for the vibrations to transfer to ground. Of course, we feel that our solution is the better one. In either case, you'll have a very good performing rack. It's sort of like deciding between a Walker and a Rockport. You're not going to have anything bad, whichever one you decide upon. Your particular application will determine the outcome.

Fernando- Thanks, but my question is about the apparent paradox of the WT table having soft rubber feet when the conventional wisdom is to have unsuspended tables sitting on a hard surface. Other unsuspended tables typically have hard or even spiked feet.

Regards
Jim

Jim, I haven't owned a WT turntable myself, but typically a manufacturer puts feet on the TT that are "the best that they found under the $2 price point that they are willing to spend on feet". These "footie" feet may very well have been the best sounding ones that WT tried for under a couple of dollars. But, that doesn't necessarily mean that they will outperform all other feet on that table. It only means that they will outperform all other very low cost feet, in the opinion of the manufacturer. It is quite possible, and even probable, that a high quality and probably much more expensive set of properly designed "feet" would significantly kick the butt of those stock feet on the WT. It happens on nearly every other TT made, so I expect it would be the same in your case.

When manufacturers are designing to a price-point, things like feet really take a back seat,and get the lowest amount of consideration and budget.