Immedia RPM 2 vs Clear Audio Emotion cmb

The Emmedia rpm2 at ARC sounded awesome, cant wait to get one in my home, should give me many hours of listening fun.

Thanks for the heads up when moving the table, I am going out to Audio research corp on Tuesday to listen to the same table and ARC gear , it should be fun , all though I dont know what cart they are using right now. It should still give me a good idea how this table will sound overall.

I think when Allen Perkins designed and voiced the RPM table and arm, he probably used Lyra carts (he was / is the Lyra distributor). They work particularly well on that table / arm combo.

One point of caution. Make sure the platter is lifted slightly and supported before moving it around. IIRC, the bearing can be damaged.

I can get a deal on the clear audio , I will go with a wood body maestro mm cart, I have heard this on other tables and it sounds great, lots of detail while still being warm and rich sounding, maybe when funds allow I will get a better cart than the Maestro, but I think it would be a good place to start.

I'm not sure what price range cartridge you're considering but the Lyra cartridges (made by Jcarr's company) are really very good and mate up well with the Immedia tonearm. I'm also been happy with Koetsu's in the arm.

Have fun.
---Gary

When I first was offered the trade for the Immedia table I did not know much about it, I was in the hobby when the table first came out but ran only digital so it went under my radar. After some research it seems clear that this was a very highly praised table, so I think I will pay to have it
set up, wally from wally tractors is local so I will have him do it, so I can get the most from it. It does not come with a cart, and I think I will run with a Clearaudio cart to start with, cant wait to hear it.

It's been some years since I last used the RPM 2 turntable and arm. At the time my impression was that the arm was a better performer than the Triplanar or Graham of the day (Graham 2.2), but was somewhat more demanding to set up. Based on what I have heard from the Emotion and Satisfy, I am confident that the Immedia can offer a higher level of performance.

OTOH, I fully agree that installing or replacing the belt on the RPM-2 is a PITB.

cheers, jonathan

Immedia is still in business and supplies parts. One word of caution -- installing a belt on the Immedia is extremely difficult and frustrating. Other than that it's a great turntable/tonearm.

thanks guys, the clearaudio table I was thinking about was the emotion cmb/satisfy combo, about two grand without cart, the immedia rpm2 with armboard upgrade was six thousand in 97, the arm alone was $2,400 , it weighs fifty eight pounds !!! after reading some reviews on stereophile on line it seems that Immedia was going after state of the art at the time. I think I might just try it out. Does anyone know if it can be serviced still? what if it needs a new belt, ect, Thanks , chris

My previous message got garbled. What I meant to say was that the Clearaudio was neither very cheap nor very expensive. It appears to be going after the "value" market as opposed to the state of the art. This is in contrast to the Immedia, which was an attempt at defining the best possible in it's day. My gut tells me it would be the better choice.
---Gary

I respectfully disagree with Jaybo. In it's day, the immedia RPM combo was about as high end as one could get. I suspect that it would outclass the Clearaudio combo, although I haven't actually listened to that table. Reading what's available on the web, the Clearaudio appears to be a good turntable in the mid-high end. It's not super cheap ( >$5000).
I have an RPM tonearm and I find it competitive with tonearms like the Triplanar and Grahams. Not necessarily the best but it can play in that league. I'd jump on the RPM combo if I were your shoes.
---Gary

keep the clearaudio