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Which tonearm for vintage Micro Seiki BL-91

I have "upgraded" from a vintage Micro Seiki BL-51 to a vintage (again)BL-91 (checked by the local Hi-Fi shop). Unlike the BL-51 that came with a hard wired original tonearm this BL-91 comes without any tonearm.
Could someone recomend me a good tonearm for this turntable. I'm wondering if modern tonearms like the Kuzma 4 point ( have an offer for a second hand one), SME V (or IV-VI), Schick Tonearm, or TriPlanar would be a good match or should I rather go to the older ( and less expensive) designs like the Saec 407/23, Micro Seiki MA-505 Fidelity research FR-64S).
I have a Miyajima Shilabe that I bougth second hand here on Audiogon. Sounds very "organic" meaty full bodied and that is what I like.
Does someone have experience in using recent desings on older turntables?
Thanks in advance
Enjoy the music this weekend
Tony
128x128tgaral
tgaral's avatar
tgaral OP
17 posts
 
Michael
thanks for your comparison between FR-64s and Grace.
I have a phonostage which has a good SUT. I'm keeping my system as it was excepted the turntable and the tonearm. Just want to know how newer tonearms like MOerch UP-4,DP-6, SME IV or V,Reed, etc perform in comparison with the older designs together with my Miyajima Shilabe.
tgaral's avatar
tgaral OP
17 posts
 
First of all I wish you all a Happy New Year.
I finally went for the Moerch UP-4 in 9". Its mounting distance is 1 cm shorter than the MA-505. I received it last week but need another tonearm base that I will make myself. The MicroSeiki MA-505 had to go because it is not mine. I didn't buy it myself because I wanted a brand new tonearm. Looking forward to listen to this Danish Beauty.
No VTA on the fly though so a bit worried about that.
Tony
br3098
660 posts
 
No VTA on the fly though so a bit worried about that
Unless you have so much time on your hands that you can afford to (or are anal enough to want to) reset VTA for different LP thickness, VTA on the fly is probably only really necessary if you are going to be swapping cartridges often.
tgaral's avatar
tgaral OP
17 posts
 
Thanks for your comment I think I agree with you. Once my system wil be "finished" I will enjoy this for a while. But I want to compare new designs wiht older ones that is why I bought a second hand Saec WE-308L with stabilizing weight and bracket for plinth mount. All this for a very reasonable price. I'm expecting it this week. I will try to compare with the new Moerch UP-4 and decide later.
Enjoy the music
funkhawk
2 posts
 
Hi,
I have some BL-91 TT's and some Denon TT's.
As some other person on this forum, I also have an FR-64s with Denon dl-103R and a Grace g-704 with Denon dl-103D. The Grace/Denon dl-103D is the better combination. But somehow, I also like the FR-64s a lot.
But for the bl-91, you could go for both the FR-64s or the Grace g-704, both are visually nice on a bl-91 as is their sound. For the Grace, there is no standard armboard for the bl-91 available, but you can glue on the A-1201 armboard.
Other nice possibilities are: SAEC w407 or the newer SME 309.
Finally, you could also look for an older SME 3010R or a STAX UA9.
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