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Questions to ask as I shop for a tonearm?

I’ll be upgrading in 6+ mos. I’m asking now because I’m still learning. I want to take plenty of time to understand the relevant technical aspects of something so complicated & what makes one person love brand X & another person dislike it.

I have a George Warren tt & a Sumiko Blackbird cart I’m waiting for to put on the stock Rega 250. I’m also waiting for Christmas to hookup a Jolida JD9 mkII.  My budget will be ~$1500. While brand & model suggestions are appreciated... I want to learn about tonearms. As always, I appreciate the knowledge you all pass on to me.
tochsii

Showing 1 response by elizabeth

elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
My advice for any newbie is to buy a complete turntable... And save what may become a long, expensive and painful lesson in what can go wrong buying a separate tonearm.  
For folks with experience, or who have a mentor, great. Without either... Yikes!                           
So I say stick to a ready made pairing of a great table which comes WITH THE ARM.                          
Thank me later.        
Good luck.                  
PS I have been at this a long long time, and I would not consider buying a separate arm unless it was like one of the very best, Kuzma 4 point etc.. And that mainly because they only come as a separate purchase a lot of the time. Anything cheaper.. you can get a good ready made together.And if I did, the arm would be added by a pro.. Not some tinker.

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