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Decisions, decisions....

I'm one of the Naim fold, getting back into vinyl in a more serious way. I currently have a Moth (i.e., Rega P2) with a rewired, re-weighted RB-300 , currently using a Shure V15vxmr that to my ears sounds pretty darn good. Recently I have acquired three other things, all needing to be set up and give a listen. 1-an older Sota Sapphire with the Sumiko arm, 2-a Rega P7, and 3-a Linn LP12. I'm a bit ocd-hence the case of GAS. A musician to boot. So what cartridges would you folks out there recommend? I'm set up to go either MM or MC, and I have a couple of the Shures-one NIB. Like I said, the Sota has the Sumiko arm; the Linn is pre-Cirkus, Akito, Valhalla, Trampolin; the Rega, of course has the 700. I am eager to try the MC route-trying to keep cartridge costs under $2k each (or about that)-which brings up another obvious question, does a Lyra Delos, or a Koetsu Black, etc, outclass the tables I own? And the cartridge doesn't have to be that expensive if there are options that would get me "there" for less. Would I be better off selling the lot and getting a single, more expensive deck? I like the idea of checking different things out, but I suppose I could do without that. One caveat-I haven't heard the VPI Classic, but I must say that the other VPI's, though they sound good, seem a bit overly analytical for my taste. That said, please share your thoughts.
goforth
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
I'm not an vinyl expert but unless you enjoy tinkering w your 'tables, I'd second/third the idea of getting one table, but I think you might focus on one that can handle 2 or 3 arms or get an arm w interchangeable headshells or arm wands.
goforth OP
8 posts
 
Thank you, everyone. Really interesting thoughts, great food for thought. Lewm, Concerning the VPI vs. Linn, you're right, I'm sure. Personally, I prefer the more flattering to the analytical. I still listen to Charlie Parker records that were recorded with a wire spool recorder from the men's room-anything that flatters those recordings is just dandy with me... I've been a professional musician for a bit more than 40 years now, and I like to get to the music, ascribing to the Ellingtonian philosophy that there are two kinds of music-good and bad. That applies to engineers as well, unfortunately. One engineer in particular comes to mind...he had the remarkable good fortune to record some of the best jazz players the world will ever hear, and his engineering skill was, well, to be generous, very, very marginal. "Criminal" hits closer to the mark without overstatement. So I'll take a bit of flattery with playback, because in spite of the ghastly recording quality of those records I still want to hear what those guys played. This guy is also responsible for the necessity that any preamp I own MUST have a "mono" button.

The real irony with him is that he NEVER got any better!!!

I digress-let me put my main question this way-considering what I have right now, what cartridges do you all like? As I said in my first post, I'm a "flat earther"-Naim through and through: 82, 2-Hicaps & NAPSC, 2-135's and a 250 biamping SBL's through a Naxo. Old stuff in good shape, nothing too fancy. Works pretty good, though. Thanks again, everybody. Sorry I went off about...well, you probably know who I was ranting about.
lespier
68 posts
 
Which Sumiko arm is on the Sota?
If it is "The Arm"(rather than one of the cheaper Jelco made Sumiko arms) then I would hang onto it and maybe get the Sota serviced at the factory.
jawks
41 posts
 
In response to your questions about cartridges, there are two which I'd recommend highly and are under your $2000 budget. 1) Lyra Delos. Bought this recently for my VPI Aries 1 and love it. 2) ZYX R100-02H. Just paired this with a Rega P25 and am still breaking it in, but it sounds awesome. Just my thoughts. Sounds like you have some decisions to make about which table(s) to keep ...
goforth OP
8 posts
 
It's the Jelco, I'm sure, from the pictures of the Arm I've seen. I must say, though, I like the Sota design. I like having pitch control, for one thing, and the combination of the suspension and the weight of the table seem to me to be a good idea. The arm I have is the FT-4 or FT-3; should I consider a different arm?
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