Most suitable tone arm for linn sondek LP12

Have heard a couple friends systems many times that have fully tricked out LP12 w/ Naim ARO. No question that arm sounds great. Very transparent and detailed. My LP12 is modified with Origin Live DC motor (good upgrade from Valhalla) and has RB 300 arm recently modified with Mitchell counterweight, Incognito wire and Wriggle VTA adjustor. These arm mods made a very big and IMO well worthwhile improvement, though probably not all the way to the transparency of an ARO.

I had an Ittok, then Origin Liver Silver taper on my LP12, both were excellent, the OL possibly a tad better. There is a lot of mystery and folk lore about the LP12. Tradition was that the only arm not really suited, was the basic versions of the Rega RB300. Upgraded versions, that include origin live and and the RB 1000, are'nt a problem.

I would have thought your OL would be a good choice and anything else would be mainly a sideways move. The 2 classic top flight arms are the Ekos and Aro and I am sure they are excellent too. The best value choice, might be a second hand Ittok. They do come up now and then, particularly over here in the UK.

No Syntax; there is no such thing as "knowledge" about which gear you prefer. Some like electrostatics, some horns, some cones: which are "wrong"? Some like tubes, some solid state; what "knowledge" should we use to determine who is "right"? Turntables do not all sound the same; of course some are not very good but among the good ones there is considerable variation in sound. Actually you are correct in one respect , the "best" sound FOR YOU is the sound you like the best. I get a laugh out of the constant "what is the best ---- on the market" questions on here. The secret in audio is TO KNOW YOUR OWN TASTE ; we all want accurate sound reproduction but we also all have different ears. When I am acting as a dealer I always thought my job was to help a client discover the kind of sound he wanted; not simply tell them what they ought to like. Just because I like one component better than another does not mean that everyone does or should; right now I have 2 of the "best" phono stages on the market; they do not sound alike though both are very good and I could live with either. Which is the "better" one; I will bet that the vote would be about 50-50.

My teachers mentioned but never actually explained the
inspiration 'source' for the poets called 'muse'. My own
imagination was : the most beautiful but inaccessible girl at
(high)school. Never thought that an TT and certainly not the
LP-12 could be such a 'source'.
Stanwal your prose reads as a poem writen by a lawyer.

Regards,

For me the aro wins. What it loses out to the various ekos arms in terms of frequency extension, bass and resolution it more than makes up for in terms of unipivot flow, tunefullness and out and out lyricism and musicality.

At a lower budget however, look for an Ittok LVIII (not to be confused with the commonplace LVII). This last gen ittok also majors on flowing musicality and some folk say its the best arm of the lot. The other interesting one is the Zeta. Made by a small but now defunct british company it has the drive and propulsion and extension of an ekos but with a lot of the aro's more organic and melodious character.