Turntable or vinylology 101 for newbies.

It's 430 lbs! ..... as though that makes a difference, well actually it did.
What I am hearing with the grado is incredible, I am just wondering was the blackbird a mismatch for my graham 2.2?
And for newbies is it wise to invest heavily first in the table and arm then with the cartridge?

There are those on these posts that say the table, the arm and then the cartridge. It always seemed to me that I got the biggest bang from a better cartridge. That seems logical to me since the hardest work is from the transducers...the cartridge and the speakers. By the way...when I changed my Grado to my Benz, I heard a huge improvement. The Grados have lots of good stuff, but they are certainly far from the last word in cartridges.

I can't wait to move up from the grado. I agree!

The transducer can only do its' work if it does so unrestrained and unincumbered.

So one more time, and for those who just don't get it, an average cartridge in an excellent tonearm will outperform an excellent cartridge in an average tonearm every time.

I've demonstrated this to customers and friends for over 40+ years and yet some self appointed "experts", many of whom post in these threads, simply don't understand or want to believe the facts. Not understanding is ok, not wanting to believe is simply stubborn and ignorant.

For those who truly want to get the most from an analog front end, spend the preponderance of your money on the table and tonearm. The cartridge and phono stage are your last concern and can always be upgraded.

Bank on this information my dear readers.

In addition to A'feil's above comment, it is an opportunity to budget yourself efficiently since you can get a $40 cartridge for the short run and not feel like your loosing money when you go to upgrade it as budget allows. When you do get a better cart, you'll hear more of what it has to offer.