A "house sound" among turntable manufacturers ?

Just to toss this out,The 9" VPI Scout has gotten lot'sof good press.I like VPI because i's so easy to switch from my LO MC to high output mono cart on separate armtube.Some good arms like SME or Graham have removable heads and wands respectively but VPI is fastest.Great if you ahve switch from MM to MC on your phono section.Now that they offer real antiskate option(instead of twisting lead wire the way harry likes it) the Scout is hard to beat.I have owned Thorens 160,NAD/Rega 250,Rega 3,Linn LP12,VPI extended Aries with 12.5 arm.I am giving up this $5K deck and getting smaller Scout but not the one with nice ring clam.Going to add a 22lbs TNT5 platter to a Scout since I think high inertia platter is more important than clamp.Was tough decision.If I had space and more dough I'd get $2K HRX platter and ring clap but that platter and ring clamp ($2500)would be cost of Scoutmaster with siganature arm.Plain Scout is bargain $1600 list anbd can be upgraded with clamp,signature Vahalla wirring,anti skate etc.

Also think about isolating your deck especially if you have wood floors.Either a good $300 wood.Granite wall mount from TT Acoustics (I think that's name) or Gingko clod if you put on top of rack can make a HUGE difference no mater what rig you get.New MMF does look nice but I'd go VPI for flexibility and Linn like upgarde path.
Cheers
Chazz

Johnnyb53: You can always buy the Origin Live armboard and mount up a modified Rega on a Technics 1200, or there are a number of DJ houses that modify 1200's to accept SME arms (V,IV). I am going to buy a modified RB250 or RB300 arm that has been rewired and see how that works out, and maybe a KAB external Powersupply. Even with the Shelter 501 Mk II cart and phono preamp I will be cheaper than the Music Hall table and arm.

Interesting. No one has actually come close to answering the question asked.

The original "ADD" Audiophile Deficit Disorder

Hi all,

It's certainly a simple matter to significantly alter a turntable's sound by either setup variations or tonearm and cartridge swaps.

In the 1990's I owned a Merrill - first trying to run my SME V tonearm on it. The sound was fairly lifeless, no matter what I tried.

At the time, I was in communication with two other Merrill owners who shared that observation of the Merrill/SME combination.

Now, the Merrill is more flexible than most suspended turntables, in that it provides for shifting the turntable's center of mass to compensate for tonearms of differing weight.

In spite of the, the Merrill does appear to be sub-optimal with the SME tonearm, and if you heard this combination, you would not even get a hint of the potential of the Merrill.

I cover this topic a bit on my FAQs page, mentioning that in general, you'll run into fewer outright tonearm incompatibilities with a non-suspended deck.

Of course, there are infinite ways to make good parts combinations sound bad. With a Schroder tonearm for example, a screw that's just a wee bit too loose or too tight will alter the sound dramatically.

If I were a betting man (which I'm not), I'd guess that most turntable designers have a fairly consistent musical aesthetic which they express throughout their line (I certainly do). If you heard components selected by them and set up by them, you'd hear a family sound.

OTOH, if you hear a rig set up by anyone else, it's likely to be a pig in a poke.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier