Questions to ask as I shop for a tonearm?

Have you asked the manufacturer what arms they believe, works well with their table?

Shouldnt they should be the most qualified, I hope so!

I don’t think any of the modern arms under $1500 can do it better than classic japanese tonearms. Here is what i am using along to some others which does not fit into your price tag.

These arms are all under $1500:

Lustre GST-801 - with two different counterweights and additional ringweight is fine for many cartridges from mid compliance MM to high mass low compliance MC. Magnetic tracking force and anti-skating, silver wiring, vta on the fly.

SONY PUA-7 - very easy to use/adjust for many cartridges, comes with additional sub-weight for heavy MC. Just make sure the arm has its VTA on the fly and armrest like this.

Technics EPA-100 - also very easy to use for MM cartridges and some lightweight MC, rubby ball bearings, unique counterweight with dynamic damping option. Many info online. Not good for heavy headshells and heavy cartridges! Great tonearm.  

Victor UA-7082 - long version of the popular UA-7045, very nice tonearm with vta on the fly, easy to use and adjust quickly. One of my favorites. Designed for the best DD turntable made by Victor/JVC (TT-101).

Denon DA-401 for high compliance MM cartridges only !

P.S. It depends on your cartridge, but you can’t go wrong with any of the arms from this list. Highly recommended!

These are all good recommendations. The best bang for the buck in a new arm is unequivocally the new Jelco 550. Even better is the 850.
You might look into the existing mounting and its options. Most arms require specific mounting distances fron the center if the platter. This is called the pivot to spindle distance specified in millimeters. 

sbank thanks for all the info & especially the tips on whose comments to pay attention to. 

Thanks everyone 

Here's some more information;


    https://www.stereophile.com/category/tonearm-reviews?page=3