Tonearm recomendations

Hello, I am going through the same thing, I bought a Rek O kut B-12GH and will build a plinth. Ideally, I would like to find an arm that would be a drop in replacement, I need to go to vinyl.engine before I start enlarging the existing hole. I have read conflicting reports as to what is best when it comes to mounting the arm, top plate mounting vs plinth mounting. It has been suggested that the table can be mounted in the plinth by turning the table so the top of the top plate is now located on the side where the arm is usually located and the arm is then easily mounted in the plinth, hope that makes sense. My table came with a ROK arm but it had some problems and the bearings are really sloppy. I may go for a Rega and enlarge the existing hole to get the correct spindle to bearing dimensions, plus the arm is cheap and can be upgraded. One of the important things when building one of these tables is to get the Idler wheel rebuilt by Ed Crocket at Vintage Electonics, total cost is approx. $30.00. I want to build up the table first and listen to it then have the Idler wheel rebuilt to see what the improvement is. What materials are you going to use for the plinth? Another site with good info is Roktips. Good luck.

Phill

Phill,
Great to hear form you!
I know about turning the deck 90 deg. but I am really seeking a look and feel that prevents this. There are some arms the can be mounted to the orininal location with some minor work. I am also considering more drastic mods to that corner area, or applying some yankee engineering to make it look more like it integrates into the deck and plinth if using a longer arm. I really like the look of the deck and want to compliment this.
I am using birch ply and mdf (free scrap from a cabinet shop next door to our shop), very econmical. I would like to end up around 50 to 60 lbs or even greater. I am also going to do a 3 layer platform under the the plinth, ply,mdf,ply.

Keep me informed of your journey also.
Thanks
Ed

Honestly Ed I think if an arm is within a few mm when mounted in the existing arm hole it will be OK as long as the cartridge can still be adjusted. I used to have a Scheu Premier MK II table and It was said that it was OK to set the arm up within a 5 mm range. What arms do you know of that would be a direct drop in replacement? I can't wait to complete this project to see for myself what an Idler Drive can do, I've never heard one play before, it should be interesting.

Regards,

Phill

Phill
I think the oe hole in the b12 I have is @ 8.25" or just over 209 mm. I think any arm under 225 could be made to fit and look quite good. The rega arms would most likely be ok but at the long end of the range. I am still collecting my data on some other arms before I make a decision. I may look for some used under rated tables,(good oe arms poor decks) to pull arms from and experiment, or I may decide to go for the gold, and find a really nice older arm like SME, Sumiko, Grace etc.