best value current production tonearm

I agree with Pbnaudio. The Jelco SA-750 arms (you pick the length) are hands down best buys, best bang for the buck.

Or the Rega if you are ok with a fixed headshell

I might beg to differ with your opinion Pani. Doesn't make us enemies, just different opinions (and probably different experiences).

IMO, Rega isn't anywhere near the same league as a Jelco SA-750. The best Rega, even modified, isn't there.

IMO, the Rega is a cult arm for tweakers that are promised great performance that is never attained. Just one upgrade after another. But you can't make a silk purse....

I have used a Jelco SA-750D on a modified VPI TNT and it is very good.

There is a machinist/engineer in England whose tonearm business is named Audiomods. He buys the excellent arm tube from Rega and substantially improves it by installing three internal braces (to stiffen it and rid the arm of it's low-frequency resonance) and drilling holes in it (sounds weird, but read about it on the website). He wires the arm with either Cardas copper or silver litz (depending on model), running the wire all the way from the cartridge tags to male RCA plugs on the ends of the external cable, with no breaks or solder joints in between, THE way to do it. Other than the Rega arm tube, all the parts (bearing housing, main pillar, counterweight, anti-skate, etc.) are hand machined by Jeff himself. The mass of the counterweight is adjustable (provided thin discs of lead and brass can be added or removed from it, like the counterweight of the classic Zeta arm, though the discs in the Zeta were steel, I believe. Lead---mass and damping. What a great idea!) to give the arm the appropriate effective mass for your cartridges compliance characteristics. Jeff will even add mass inside the front of the arm tube if your cartridge is lightweight but has low compliance! He has a lot of very satisfied customers, some with very high standards (and expenditures!) in gear. The most expensive version of his arm is priced at 799 pounds, about $1255 at the moment. Jeff sells direct to the consumer, so no dealer mark-up. Each arm is made to order, so you can get exactly what you want. The arm performs way above it's price point. There are reviews from U.K. and U.S.A. mags available to read on the Audiomods website, as well as testimonials from customers. Definitely worth checking out!

Trans-Fi is all over it. It's much simpler to set-up than a pivot arm if you can adjudge a right angle.