Cartridge upgrade for Scoutmaster/JMW9


Hello again.

I have a Scoutmaster (with SDS, stainless steel-Delrin clamp, VPI series 2 phono cables with shielding), JMW 9 arm, Herron VTPH-2 phono stage, Musical Fidelity KW500 integrated amp, Transparent speaker cables, and Wilson Sophia speakers. Current cartridge is Soundsmith Zephyr Mk II (new in January this year).

I listen to rock, jazz, classical, and Indian classical music.

I really like the sound I have now. I guess I am looking to upgrade the cartridge to see if I can get more of what I have now.

I have been reading the forum posts on this subject. Seems like the Zephyr, Lyras, Dynavectors, and Benz are common suggestions.

I would like to throw the Soundsmith Paua into the mix. It seems like a good choice to me. Have not seen many posts on it, though.

I would appreciate your comments on these and any others you suggest. Maybe I should stick with what I have now? I am willing to spend up to 4-5k, but is it worth it?

Thanks a lot.

Arsh
arsh
Hello Arsh- first things first. The first thing you should do is to get a better tonearm cable than the VPI cable, which is mediocre at best. Something like the Audience AU24 SE will give you far better results than what you have. I would then take a look at the Voice cartridge from Soundsmith. Peter at Soundsmith will make one with medium compliance that will fit your setup to a "T". There are lots of good MC choices as well if you want to go that way - Ortofon, Myajima, Cardas Myrtleheart (Benz that IS available),etc. You have a great system with the Herron phono stage - get the most out of it!