Mating a Frog with an Oracle...


I own an Oracle Delphi Mk V/SME 309/Goldring Eroica H combo running into an EAR 834P. As tragic as this is to admit, we are approaching the twlight of analogue replay which makes it excruciatingly difficult to audition equipment. I would like to upgrade both my tonearm and pick-up cartirdge, but I would like to spend some time listening to these thousands of dollars worth of gear before I commit! These are my three questions: 1.) Is the tonearm or the cartridge more important and why? Which should I spend more on? 2.) Is the Graham 2.0 a good match for this 'table? Mikey liked it, but I've never heard it. Any other suggestions? 3.) Is the Frog a good mate to either of these? Again, any suggestions? Thanks.
sgh
Changing to the Graham will be a religious experience for you. I suggest you listen to the Benz line too, and if you can afford it, the Koetsu. The turntable you have is not state of the art, but once you get the arm and cartridge on it, you will think so. (And don't forget the value of the tonearm wire!) After that experience, you may ultimately wish to upgrade the turntable to one of the later designs, and laugh at the stories of the "twilight of LP, if you can quit listening to the music long enough!.
To: Albertporter, I appreciate the advice. I'm wondering, however, what you mean by: "...you may ultimately wish to upgrade the turntable to one of the later designs..?" Do you mean a better 'table? As far as I know, the Mk V is the latest Oracle Delphi. Thanks again.
The comment really meant that there are turntables that are a better match for the Graham arm than the Oracle. The Basis Mk 5 is the first to come to mind. Please don't think that I mean that the Oracle is not good, I have owned two of them myself. There are several layers of high end turntables, and each one is certainly worthy, but there are differences, just as with the tone arms we are discussing.