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How important is the tonearm?

I am presently shopping for a new tonearm for my new turntable. I looked at basic arm like the Jelco (500$) but also at arms like Reed, Graham, Tri-Planar all costing over 4000$.

The turntable is a TTWeights Gem Ultra and the cartridge I have on hand is a brand new Benz Ruby 3.

Here is a couple of questions for the analogue experts.

1. Is the quality of the tonearm important?

2. Is it easy to hear the difference between expensive tonearm (Ex: Graham Phantom) vs a cheaper Jelco (Approx. 500$)?

3. What makes a good arm?

Any comments from analogues expert?
acadie
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
I've been down this road before with you, paperw8. Tap,tap! That would be the sound my head would make as it hit that same brick wall as the last time. No thanks, I really don't care what you think you know.
mj908
4 posts
 
it's all gimmick. For below $500 each, you can find a table, a tonearm and a cart and enjoy music, spending more than that is just for your ego
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
And many will tell you the same about buying anything analog. Your value judgment is your own.
acadie OP
54 posts
 
I started this tread and I finally bought a new Tri-Planar VII. I considered some more exotic arms like Telea or Reed but decided to go with Tri-Planar, a well respected product made in the USA.

Maybe with more experience in analogue,I will give a try/experience one of those exotic arms in the future.

By the way, I like the sound with this combo: TTWeights Gem Ultra V2/Tri-Planar/Benz Ruby 3. I am sure there is better but for me, this is a bit better than the VPI Scoutmaster I had previously.
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Very nice! You'll have a very hard time taking many of those well known 'table makers seriously from here on out.
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