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Top 5 Tonearms Newer or Vintage Under 2500 That Will Beat anything above/below 2.5k?

From all your tonearm experiences trials errors comparisons etc is there a Top 5 tonearm list that are known for their musical superlatives in all music ranges and genres? including finer detail nuances feeling, 3d sound but also deep bass and midbass, basspunch. Airy highs. And importantly long hours listening without fatigue.
The criteria also to be met are easy setups for all angles vta vfa azimuth anti skating etc 
The Tonearm must also the ability to use more than just one or two cartridge compatibility.

Probable Turntables to be Used: Garrard 301/401, Lenco, Linn, Thorens 124, Technics 1100 1200 10 or 15. 

Heres the list i compiled of ToneArms to pick from.
Feel free to mention others.

  • Tw Raven, D Talea, Graham 2.2/phantom, Moerch, Origin Live, Vpi, 
  • AudioMods

  • Clear Audio, Stax, Rega, Technics 500/1000, Sumiko, Alphason, Black Widow, One unipivot, Saec, Clear Audio, Basis Vector, Triplanar

  • Origin Silver, Rega 9, Linn Ittok, Project, Technics 500/1000,
  •  Alphason, Audio Technica, Dynavector 507

    Grace, Mission, Grado, Ortofon, EMT, Thorens Tp,
  • ESL, Sme 3012, Sme 3009, Sme V, IV,

  • Schroeder, Kuzma, Eminent, Ikeda, Breuer, 
    Stax, Kenwood 007 arm, Sonys top Arm, Artemis
vinny55
audiotomb's avatar
audiotomb
1,112 posts
 
A used Triplaner MkVII
audiotomb's avatar
audiotomb
1,112 posts
 
Good luck finding a Durand Talea for $2,500

lottery like luck
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

@chakster , If I remember well Raul preferred manual VTF

adjustment by Lustre 801.The reason being that the counter-

weight could get nearer to the pivot this way. So those who

own Lustre with defective magnetic VTF adjustment need not

worry. I hope you deed not sell your sample because of this

''imperfection'' (grin).

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,400 posts
 
By the way, the Terminator is available with your choice of silver or copper internal wiring. ;-)
dgarretson
2,586 posts
 

As noted by Nandric, he and I are "long" on SME 3012R, with five or so examples between us.  There are a fair number still available, mostly from Japanese sellers.  This is a really versatile arm-- working well with both high and low-compliance cartridges.  Some consider it superior to the SME IV & V-- particularly in terms of LF precision without bloat.

The Trans-Fi is also fine, though I find that its low vertical mass occasionally presents a tracking problem with some cartridges.

From what I've heard from a few friends with Reed, it's a really enjoyable listening experience, but colored in a euphonic way.  

I keep a new-production Kuzma 4PT on the same Luxman PD444 as the 3012R.  These arms are close in overall quality, but the 4PT may be slightly richer than life.  

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