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Any opinions on a new arm for NAS Hyperspace?

I have been systematically upgrading my system over the past year and I have now got around to my TT.

I am quite happy with the Hyperspace but I think there may be some benefit in upgrading the tone arm and cartridge. I have a 3 year old carbon fiber Space Arm with a Lyra Argo.

I was thinking of just going ahead and upgrading to a new Ace Space arm (now with azimuth adjustment) and a Lyra Skala (trade-in my Argo makes this a bargain). I unfortunately would have to do this without preview as my local Nottingham/Lyra "dealer" is really not into analogue and when I last checked didn't have a working TT set up!

Has anyone heard the new Ace-Space arm (2006 version)? Would it be a worthwhile upgrade? I am also confusing myself as I'm thinking in the price range (less than $2000) there are a number of other options, viz Morch or second hand SME V. Should I even be looking beyond Nottingham as I understand the Ace-Space is a good arm designed to be synergistic with the Nottingham tables?

As far as a cartridge goes I am also considering a van der Hul Frog as an outside option. I am tending towards the Skala because of the good things I've heard about it. Any opinions on cartridge selection would also be appreciated.

The rest of my system is
Phono amp BAT P-10SE with Super Pac,
Pre-amp BAT 31SE
Amp 150 SE mono blocks
Speakers Dali MS-4
Cables are all Acoustic Zen.

Music is mostly modern jazz, folk , some 70's rock and a smidgen of classical.

My objective is to get more detail and focus. I always listen carefully for sound detail. It pleases me when I upgrade and new sounds are evident which were hidden before.

Thanks for your time,

Tom
motnic
weim_boy
27 posts
 
Tom,

I have recently purchased a space deck 294 w/ the new ace 12" arm.

but I really don't know jack.

What I do know is that you would be well served to drop a dime and call Jay Kaufman who owns the Audio Revelation - a audiogon vendor.

Jay spends a remarkable amount of time trying out different combinations of tables/arms/cartridges...
I spent one session with him voicing 3 of the dozen or so turntables that he has in rotation. I learned a lot, but he wore me out.

Audio Revelation - 760-944-0444 (PST)

Regards,

Jeff
dgad
782 posts
 
Tom,

The Nottingham Hyperspace has a slightly warm sound for a turntable. There are different ways to get the most from this table. Your direction w. Van Den Hull cartridges or Lyra is correct. Find the arm that matches these cartridges the best is my recommendation. The SME V is not a bad starter. I am not familiar w. the NAS arm but people love them w. their tables & others done. Quite a few people try Morch arms. The interchangeable armwand is a good bet. You really need to match your arm to your cartridge to get the most. I just went through this myself. A wrong combination can be a big mistake.
motnic OP
23 posts
 
Thanks for the feed-back. I have also spoken to a few people and have been advised in my price range there are better options than the Ace Space arm. I will heed the advice and will start the process of evaluating my options. I plan to update this post when I finalize my selection.
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