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
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.
Funhawk,

are you using a SUT I have a Denon AU340 for the DL103D and a Uesugi SUT (L) for for the 103R. I had a MA500 head amp but the AU 340 was better sounding. Please let me know what you have. i like the sound of the 64S too its magic with the 103D but somehow I feel the 103D is more pure/true sounding.

Tgaral i noticed before you had a Uesugi SUT at some stage?

michael
Funkhawk
thanks for the input. I've been reading very positive comments here on audiogon about STAX, Grace, SAEC FR64s etc
Only thing is that FR is realy very expensive at this moment, STAX is more accessible and Grace is hard to find.
Michael
Yes I had a Uesugi bro-5 and liked it with my Luxman LMC-1 cartrdige and even with an old Denon dl-55 but was rather soft and detailed. I lided it with Classical music Violin Cello etc but for Jazz and rock it was too smooth in my system. I replaced it with a Cinemag from Bob's Devices and found that an amazing dynamic/punch improvement in comparison with the Uesugi.
So far I like the SAEC WE-308L most on my BL-91. Micro seiki was not bad but too light for my Miyajima Shilabe: The Saec is has a bit more detail, better instrument positioning and most important for me sounds more "LIVE" than the MA-505, and Morch that I had the chance to try on this BL-91. I am cleanig it thouroughly now. Some people have reomended me the SAEC WE407/23 but it is too expensive. Other people like Miyajima-san himself for example recomended me the WE-308L some weeks ago. He is using this arm himself in his listening room on a Garard 301 that he has restored completely. I could buy one for a very reseanable price with SA-500E stabilizer (that I'm not using) and SAEC S1 bracket.
If I find a reasonable priced WE-407, STAX U9 or Grace I will certainly try them. AT this moment I'm in my "trial episode" :-)
Enjoy the music.
For de Denon dl-103D I usually do not use a step-trafo. I use a Creek OBH-15 a MC pre-amp. For the Denon dl-103R, I sometimes use a Denon au-320 step-up, but my default step-up trafo is an Ortofon T-30 (28 Ohm setting). My last trafo is a Dynavector DV-6x, but I have not tried it with the Denon dl-103R.
Ikeda IT 345/407 are good match for the shilabe , probably for the MS too
Since they use to work with FR as standard in the past