the perfect tonearm

I recently bought a Clearaudio Innovation Compact with a Clarify tonearm. The Clarify (with its magnetically floating pivot) did not track well: it jumped from the empty grooves at the beginning of records into those with music and at the end of records jumped around too. In any case, I returned the Clarify tonearm and am now in the same position as was Mikeyc8 at the beginning of this thread.

What do you think of the Clearaudio Satisfy Carbon Fiber tonearm and of Clearaudio tonearms in general? I can get the Satisfy CF from the dealer for a reduced price. But there is a MA 505s available on Ebay for $1080, and the Jelco 750LB 12” there goes for $670? How do you think the Satisfy CF compares with these?

I will probably be using MM cartridges since my system does not seem to have enough power to play MC cartridges without enormous hum. I tried it with a Shelter 501 II. I have an old NAD 3155 amp with a new PS Audio GCPH preamp. I get the hum with all settings of the GCPH. I think the NAD amp is the problem.

For this amount of money you can get second hand an 0L conqueror mkII.Read the reviews (10 audio, stereo times).It's a fantastic arm,since i have it ,around 8 months i listen vinyl intensively.

Check out the Terminator T-3 from Trans-Fi. Fits most turntable without worrying about P to S distance. Easy as pie to set-up. VTA on the fly, azimuth is adjustable, no anti-skate to worry about. Many, many cartridges are compatible. Around $1000 US dollars NEW! Great technical support. Downside, not classic S-shaped. I'm digging' mine!

In the under $2000 class, there is only one non linear tonearm that equals the higher priced models and that is the Audiomods IV. It has all the features you are looking for and is built to a very exacting level. I have directly compared it to an SME 309 and 345, Linn Ittok II and Roksan Tabriz and it is superior on every level. I have not compared to a phantom or Triplanar.

Dear Franz, Unless the bearing of the Clarify CF is radically different from that of the Clarify, I don't know why you would even consider it, given your experience with the latter (and assuming you correctly assessed the cause of the problem). The M-S 505 is an excellent tonearm but overpriced at $1080, IMO. With patience I think you can find one for less. In the under $1000 vintage Japanese tonearm category, consider also the Lustre and Victor tonearms. Sometimes you can find an SAEC 308N for that kind of money as well. The GCPH should have enough gain for a mid-output MC, I think. And can you say why you think the NAD amp is causing hum in that system? Phono hum is caused by a long list of grounding issues that usually occur upstream from the input of a linestage.