SL1200 upgrade tonearm or replace cartridge?

Don't forget that all the damping and wrapping come at a price. These are fixes to tame resonant frequencies, to move towards a more musical and less analytical presentation. I would love to put my 10' vpi tonearm from a Traveler on my KAB 1200 deck, I just can't seen to get past this gastly Technics tonearm. It just seems to take some of the life out of the music.

I'm saying that I made the error of putting too much effort and modifications (and money) into a, relatively speaking, poor tonearm. Any of the aftermarket tonearms that the op mentioned will get you further up the food chain, by far, than any modification and tweak you can make to a $50 tonearm. I know I may be stomping on hallowed ground but I have owned and used a Kab 1200 for years. Ease of use, quick cart changes,great sound, I love it, I even have an Ortofon 2mBlack on it as I speak. The VPI Traveler that I've been trying out is just in a different league and most of that difference comes from the tonearm.
It's the law of diminishing returns.

Johnny- Great looking table.

Nothing left to do but add the SME tonearm.

Same toneam Dave, only differece is in the pitch control. All tonearms contribute unwanted resonances, some systems aren't revealing enough or have too much distortion to notice. I'm glad your happy with the sound of your table, it's a great music maker. It's tough to be satisfied in this hobby.

My apologies Dave, they are clearly different. I have owned both at times and never realized they were different arms. They both sounded very similar/good and look the same. I spend more time listening to music on my Tech, I spend more time fiddling around seeking perfection on my VPI.

Nick-
Have you decided what you are going to do?

My vote is the Trans Fi Terminator, then again I'm not the one setting it up. It looks very cool though and is rumored to sound fantastic.