Basis Vector vs...

What is it you dislike about your Vector I? I thought it was a pretty good arm when I heard it, and a very good arm for the money.

- No easy VTA adjustment, but Chris's VTA adaptor would solve that for just a few hundred dollars.

- No fine VTF adjustment, but slipping a few O-rings on/off the end stub solves that for free. That's how I tune VTF on my TriPlanar VII and it works flawlessly.

The strongest competitor I can think of for under $4K (new) is a Schroeder Model Two, which is a stupendous arm for around $2500. Of course there's a long lead time. The Model Two might give you a lower noise floor, but I'd wager the Vector is more dynamic and punchy. It might be a lateral move with a different flavor more than an upgrade.

A TriPlanar VII or Schroeder Ref would probably better it, as they should for the money, but you do have a great value arm.

Perhaps the best course of action would be to contact A.J. Conti @ Basis, and see if he would offer you some sort of trade-in value, so you can upgrade to the latest model Vector.

A.J. is a pretty nice guy, and he might do it.

My two cents worth.

I also own a Vector rev I tonearm; an excellent tonearm with superior tracking, etc. The current version of the Vector is an upgrade sonically relative to our rev 1's. I don't know all of the differences between the 2 arms, though I know the current arm uses the new Basis interconnect cable (yep, Basis is now in the cable business) which in itself would make a large & beneficial sonic difference. If there is a way to demo the current rev, it might float your boat & be an easy upgrade if you decided to acquire it.