Does anything better Jelco arm ~$1000
@sbank - I cannot offer an opinion on the Jelco arm, but I do own an Audiomods Classic II arm with the bead-blast finish - since 2013. I have the version with the micrometer VTA - which allows for precise resetting of the VTA back to a pre-defined "norm", something very handy to have if you like to change cartridges frequently. I also have the Silver litz wiring loom with KLE Absolute Harmony RCAs The quality is more like a "Bentley" and Jeff is very good at what he does. Fitting and setup was a doddle and the features on the arm allows for very precise adjustments. I had the Rega RB250 arm with the Cardas loom prior to the Audiomods and right off the bat you could feel the difference in the bearings between the two arms when placing the stylus over the album - the Audiomods was much smoother. The counter-weight, although it looks normal, is "loaded" towards the bottom, which lowers the centre of gravity and there is an additional very small weight that allows for extremely fine tuning. If you place an order, jeff will email you to ascertain what TT/cartridge you will be using - he will telll you if it is a good match to the arm. He will even make a mounting plate if required I doubt I will change the arm in my lifetime and other owners that I have conversed with feel the same. Here is a review I conducted of my arm http://image99.net/blog/files/f233eea773cbc47d311b80d32702da48-40.html I’m currently using it with a Soundsmith modified Denon 103 caridge with their ruby cantilever and Optimized Contour Contact line stylus The sound is extremely detailed and the cartridge tracks very well One incident occured in transit - something had fallen onto the package with some force and put a dent in the wooden box the arm came in - even through the exterior packaging. I contacted Jeff anf after explaining the damage he assured me the arm would not have suffered any damage - in his words " The arm and bearings are much stronger than they look" It has been on my TT ever since and has operated flawlessly. A good friend has the Series Five on an SL1200 with a Van den Hul cartridge and is extremely happy with it Only thing left to say - It’s no "Saab" :-) Regards - Steve |
@sbank - re... So does anybody else have a suggestion besides those already mentioned?Take a look at this one... http://www.michell-engineering.co.uk/tonearms/ I do not believe the Michell is the same league as the Audiomods, but it is much better than a stock Rega and Michell is a large company - so parts/support should not be an issue To be quite honest - your concerns about support from Jeff and resale value should be minimal - it's a hifg quality build and probably the last arm you will ever buy - Jeff is also very responsive to emails (at least to my emails) From what I have seen they are generally snapped up pretty quick - Here is one that was sold on the same day as posted http://audioabattoir.com/t/for-sale-audiomods-series-v-tonearm/1666 One review i read, when I was looking placed the Series II, placed at the same level of quality as arms costing between $5k- 6K USD - the Series 5 is apparaently even better I would read jeff's comments about what is better with the series 5, because from my listening chair the Series II is a top notch buy. Also take a look at this thread - it has some suggestions https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/drop-in-replacement-for-rega-rb300 Regards - Steve |
