Is a Koetsu Rosewood Sig Overkill for my JMW 9Sig?

Semi,
I owned a JMW-9 for 2 years so I speak from experience. I used it with 4 different cartridges, Dynavector 20XH, Music Maker 2, Zyx Airy 2, and Zyx Airy 3.

The 9 will track all of these cartridges but only the Dynavector will be optimized. The Music Maker, Zyx, and the Shelter 901 will not show their best in that arm. If you have a problem with that fine, but that's the truth whether you like it or not.

For the record, I think VPI builds fine tables. They compete with many of the top manufacturers. However, the JMW-9 arm, with or without the window dressing upgrades, is not a particularly good tonearm IMO.

Thanks for listening.

Bill,

Could you please explain what you mean by 'optimized'?
I ask because this might be a taste issue.

I owned a JMW 10.5 for several years with several cartridges (Benz Glider, Lyra Helikon, Benz Ruby 2H, Koetsu Rosewood Signature, ZYX UNIverse S-SB). I never had any tracking issues, and I never had any sonic complaints while I enjoyed this combination. I should also say that I had many audiophiles visit over the years, and they all were very impressed. Let's just say that I've converted my share of digitalphiles to vinylophiles.

Now, all of that being said, I've recently changed to a Basis 'table w/ a Vector 3 arm. The difference was bigger than I thought it would be, mostly in the favor of Basis.
The first thing I noticed was how much quieter the Basis gear was. I never thought of my VPI as 'noisy', but the Basis has a 'mute silence'. By this I mean, sometimes when I drop the stylus into the lead track I think I forgot to unmute the preamp, even though I hadn't forgotten, as it was so quiet I thought the preamp was muted. I walk up to the preamp to turn the mute off, and the music begins before I hit the switch. Yes, that kind of quite.

After the black background, the differences are basically that the Basic is quicker, more lively, transparent, with better attack and decay on musical notes. The VPI presented a bigger, warmer sound, with powerful bass, though the bass is better defined with the Basis.

So does the Basis Vector 3 arm allow you to hear more into the music? Yes, but that doesn't mean that you cannot appreciate a high quality cartridge on a VPI arm.

With that said, if you are looking for a more balanced sound, you may be best to match a quicker, livelier cartridge to the VPI. That's probably why so many VPI owners enjoy the Lyra's. A warmer cartridge like the Koetsu may sound best on a more transparent table like the Basis. Of course if your system is on the bright side, a warm cartridge on the VPI could sound just right.

It's all about balance. Does any of this make any sense, or am I just up too late?

John :)

Audiofeil is making the assumption JMW-9 is the same as JMW-9 Signature just because they share the same name. Manufacture can change their model name to give people the impression it's new and improved instead of just an upgrade. So Graham 1.5, 1.5TC, 2.0, and 2.2 are all similar and should all sound the same?

Not trying to defend for VPI and I do agree VPI builds better table than arm, but don't make assumption on things you have little or no experience of.

Optomized, to me, is the cartridge or any component reaching its' full potential. In the case of the JMW-9 cartridges such as the Dynavector 20XH, Benz Glider, and Lyra Helikon sound very nice. IMO a better tonearm are will not extract much more from them than the 9.

However, with serious audiophile cartridges such as the UNIverse, Ruby 2H, Dynavector XV-1, etc. the 9 isn't a good match. However, the 9 is not alone in that regard. I would add the Rega 250, 300, and some of the Origin Live arms into that group among others.

Yes the Vector 3 is a superlative piece. Dead quiet as you say. It is built better than the Tri-Planar and IMO a better tonearm overall.

Private email me for more.

Thanks for your explaination Bill.
FWIW, I would say that overall I agree with you.

However, I do not regret the year I spent with a ZYX UNIverse on a JMW 10.5 arm. I would say that the it was immediately obvious how good the ZYX was upon installation on the 10.5.
I will also say that I am hearing even more now with it mounted on my Vector 3 arm.
So IMHO, the VPI arms are good enough to hear the differences between top shelf cartridges, and I would not be ashamed to put any cartridge on one.
However, there are other arms out there that are capable of better showcasing what a top shelf cartridge is truely capable of.

John