Upgrade from Rega Elys 2

And I don't think that the Elys is bad - but I think the system is capable of quite a bit more and the source needle / cartridge is the easiest thing to change. 

Oranfoster,
On a Rega table, do all Ortofon 2M series cartridges require the same 2mm shim size? 

@audiosavage1 - Once I replaced the Elys 2 with the Denon DL103, I started thinking of the next mod’

I thought maybe adding a one piece harness - it may breath new life into my TT/cartridge.

Cost is around $450
- I started with this upgrade and it was pretty good - for a couple of years :-(

Then a friend told me about the Audiomods arm that comes with the one piece harness
http://www.audiomods.co.uk/

It uses a Rega Arm tube - but the similarities stop right there - the rest of the arm is completely re-designed/built to exacting standards!

I bought the Audiomods "Classic" arm (bead-blasted) and was extremely glad I did. It finally allowed me to hear what my cartridge was really capable of.

Great to look at, extremely high level of craftsmanship and superb abilities and performance is what makes this arm something of a "keeper"

Other Rega owners I know are extremely happy with their Audiomods.

If I had my time over again - I’d skip straight to the Audiomods. It made the most amazing difference to my analogue rig - even with an unmodified Denon DL103 on the end - add a shim, and you’ll be in heaven.

Like most people - I had a budget, so I went with the one piece harness. But hindsight being 20/20, it turns out the harness upgrade was a bit of a waste of funds.

Here’s my Audiomods are on the TT
http://image99.net/blog/files/f233eea773cbc47d311b80d32702da48-40.html

And here’s a worthwhile Denon DL103 Tweak - cost - $12.50

http://image99.net/blog/files/23c020f75290d3392577113371f4dc94-38.html

I now have a Denon DL103 modified by Soundsmith (with a shim) and it is superb - I haven’t even bothered looking for another cartridge.

Sorry for perhaps creating confusion, but being someone that was once in your very position - I thought I’d share one of my mistakes and a couple of my successes.

BTW - the Audiomods should also improve on the performance of your Elys 2

Damn me now - thank me later :-)..

WillieWonka - those are some tempting upgrades. After talking with my dealer (I live across the country from the folks I've been using but they've been stellar), I'm going to get the TT up and on the wall with a wall bracket / shelf, obtain an after-market cork or other mat (the felt is a freaking dust and static charge magnet), do some more isolation of the other equipment, think about power cable upgrades (TT and amp) and then look at either a new cartridge and/or tonearm set-up. I'm just getting into the mid-fi game and have kids to put through college, so although there's a lot of room to improve, the steps will have to be small / incremental. 

Could just buy a good TT to start with .