Cart for Basis Debut/Graham?

Ngeorge - I too was surprised that I wasn't more impressed with the set-up. However, other than one particularly good-sounding LP, everything up to this point has been so-so. No buyers remorse though, as I realize that both the table and arm are first-rate. Could be the cartridge/arm set-up.

James & Esoxhntr - thank you both for your input. It would appear from your comments that the Shelter 501 is in the running. Esoxhntr reminded me that I should probably contact A.J. Conti and ask for his suggestions too. Thanks guys.

After letting the Shure break in for a couple of days, things are beginning to sound better. There's something to be said for patience. Sometimes my lack of it gets the better of me.

The images are now more solid with more air around performers & instruments; bass is punchier, with good snap and dynamic transients. Hopefully things will continue to improve, though I'm still on the lookout for a good moving coil cartridge to match the Graham arm.

Kurt - Thanks for your thoughtful response. Yes, I'm the lucky guy who snagged the Debut on Agon. Apparently I wasn't alone in thinking it was a good deal. Living in the same area as the seller eliminated the need to pack and ship, which was a bonus for both of us.

Here I am trying to conserve money and you've got me buying a Rhea (just kidding). I almost jumped on a used Janus recently for $3,900. But having friends who own Callisto's which have been somewhat less than reliable, I thought better of it. But after getting the Basis, if I could sell the Viva Linea preamp and E.A.R. 834p for close to the price of a used Janus, I'd probably do it.

You suggest trying a Shelter 90x, but it seems Monk doesn't think the Shelters match well with the Graham arm. Is this just a difference of opinion or do the arm/cart matching formulas bear this out? I'm new to vinyl, so it gets confusing determining which arm goes well with which type of cartridge. High compliance/low compliance, high effective mass/low effective mass. Then there's medium, which is really a gray area.

I'm open to any and all opinions and suggestions. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to respond. Your input is very valuable to me and will be seriously considered.

Unfortunately the concensus seems to be that I'll have to spend a considerable amount of money to really do justice to the table and arm. I guess that will offset the good deal I got on the table, huh?

Ngeorge - Thanks for bringing me back to earth. I sometimes have a tendency to believe that more expensive equipment is the way to solve a problem. You're right that my current equipment should be good enough to provide more than adequate performance. I think it's just a matter of proper cartridge matching and proper set-up.

While I suspect that a higher performance phono stage might elevate the system, I don't think that's the cause of my current problem, especially considering it sounded very good with a cheap Denon direct drive table with ancient Denon MC cartridge. I think a moving coil is more to my liking, and the E.A.R. probably sounds better with one as well.

Newmanoc - Thanks for your opinion of the Dynavector. I see you've got a Linn Klyde listed in your system. Is this your present cartridge? If not, what did you go with?