Rega arm vs Sumiko

"02-19-15: Misternice
The sumiko mdc 800 is the tonearm you want."

I agree with you. The MDC 800 would be a great choice. No longer in production, but they occasionally are offered for sale. This was a classic and desirable pairing with the SOTA turntable.

Old MMT over old RB250 would also be my choice.

Misternice and Jperry are absolutely right, MDC 800 "The Arm" was designed by David Beltcher himself and machined by the same person. One of the best tonearms ever produced with metal bearings rather than nylon bearings found in other Sumiko tonearms. Counterweight placed as close to the bearing as possible. One heck of a tonearm.

I know that I may be in the minority range but the new Rega tonearms are, IMHO, way better than the old Sumiko MMTs.

Yes Schubert, people still complain that these still carry almost the same wiring and horrible little "clips" but they have been vastly upgraded in other areas such as improved bearings and a tightened spindle fit tolerance over previous models.

Each bearing suposedly individually selected to find the perfect match for the chosen spindle.

Brand new low mass precision engineered vertical bearing assembly. Completely redesigned arm tube to redistribute mass.

A much better arm no longer good for toasting marchmellows :-)

Kiko65...just a quick correction. It was David Fletcher, not Beltcher that designed the SOTA tables.

Kiko, I agree Rega arms are better now, but those clips still just plain suck.
About 6 months ago I had an RP-6 and a Pro-ject Perspective at home to audition , both with Ortofon Black.
I thought the 9cc Pro-ject arm was better for my purposes,
I'd guess most rockers would prefer the Rega.

Thank you Mofimadness,
I think I was "belching" while typing :-)