VPI table, cart and phonostage? - Novice.

i had a scout for about a year, and then moved to a scoumaster, with the periphery ring and center weight. very huge difference in every way possible. the scout is very good. the scoutmaster with the extras is entirely in another league. i also have an sds and can't imagine not. i had it with the scout and it made a very nice improvement. as far as tube/ss phono goes, i guess it just depends on your system and what you want. i use a tube amp and preamp, but i use a dynavector p-75 phono pre. i like mixing ss with tubes, and the dynavector is a giant killer at $595 with low output mc's, which my sumiko celebration is. in terms of carts, i don't think you have to spend several thousand dollars to get a terrific cart. my celebration runs $1500(altough i got it used for $1000)and i like it a lot better than my previous, a benz micro ref 2 which goes for $2k. and there are certainly terrfic carts out there for a lot less(the sumiko blackbird comes to mind at $750).

as far as installing your cart, i'm sure you can probably do it yourself. however, you may want to buy a cheap cart to practice with. and having said this, i still think there's good reason to have an expert do it for you. it's nice to have a relationship with someone who does this for a living, especially when you're just starting out. but you're right, even though there's a lot of little details to learn about, it's not rocket science. plus, if you order your table online, the vendor will install a cart for you, assuming you buy it all from them.

well, hope that helps. i'm sure others much more qualified than me will chime in her. do some searches here and on the vinyl section of audioasylum.com and you'll get tons of info.

good luck!

I totally agree with Sberger that the Scoutmaster is much better, and even more so with the ring, which you can't use on the Scout.
As far as cartridges and phono amps go, you'll get a very wide and bewildering range of opinions. Best to narrow down exactly how much you want to spend. The Scoutmaster is certainly capable of revealing refined differences between them. Better to define what you want it to sound like, or match to your other components or room acoustics.
Myself, I'm using the Whest phono stage with a Shelter 501. I am happy with the combo, but also plan to upgrade to the new JMW 9 Signature arm when it becomes available soon. You might want to look into that too. It sounds like another killer upgrade from VPI.
For sure, though, you'll be happy with the table.

I am new to Vinyl as well and I am very happy that I settled on the Scoutmaster. Solidly built like a tank and quite revealing to my ears. The upgrade options are equally great.

I am using the Acoustech PH1P phono stage, a benz ace (m) and the SDS and it sounds great. Will be stepping up to the JMW 9 Signature arm as well with the ring clamps and weight, and the new motor/flywheel combo to get to the SuperScoutMaster sound.

I am also considering also a Shelter 901 or the Zyx Airy 3 cartridge to mate with the signature arm to complete the package. Will need to seek comments from fellow audiogoners if these carts will mate well with the JMW 9 arm tho.

Whatever you decide on, its good to have flexibility and upgrade options within the family rather than starting all over when you want to upgrade. The ScoutMaster offers that.

I am very happy with mine .

Go for the Space Deck; its' tonearm is markedly superior to the JMW-9.