Advice for a new analog system

Making a inroad to having a Vinyl Source with a Budget of $60Kish, this is a avenue to many many options.

The Avenger Direct is a DD TT Drive Motor design, this drive is my preferred. It also as a model, has a modern aesthetic and is aligned in styling to other High Price Tag TT designs.

It will be difficult for me to suggest it is a better performing TT, than other DD TT Options I have experienced, as I am not with a experience of the Avenger Direct.  All I can observe is that some of the alternative DD options will not carry the same features for the design as the one you are suggesting as a TT.

Where I stumble with such a design is the Cantilever Arm Board, it is a design I have never settled with, when seen used on very expensive TT's.

The TT is seemingly to be supplied with the Companies Tonearm, this to me seems a restriction to attain the TT>Tonearm permutation that has the most attractive presentation to the end users unique preference. Supplied as a Naked TT, there is a lot to be learned about Arms and where there is room to improve on the in-house offering.

Arms are notorious for having a controlling influence over the perception of the sound being presented. It is a little bit like a Rich > Transparent Perception, some dislike a Rich Perception, some want it to the point of overbearingly weighty. Some like a Transparent Perception and other like the most uncoloured clinical bite as their Transparency.

With the Tonearm the controlling influence of the design is perceivable. It is for an individual who is to live with the choice made, to reveal where their attraction is to, how much the impression of being constrained and restrictive, through to how much freedom and unsubdued the presentation is being perceived as. There will be a point where the end user finds the Smile that can't be removed, and the how do I pay moment comes out from nowhere. 

Your Budget Allocation for a TT>Arm is extremely advantageous to be able to achieve this experience from the start off.

The Cart' can be contained within this Budget as well, if alternative Brands are being looked at as a TT>Tonearm .     

There is a shortlist to be produced to extend beyond the suggestions being proposed by yourself, I am sure that with a $34K +/- ? Budget, it is not going to be limited to DD only, or only one Tonearm Option.

@ftrot There is a minefield to get through, you are willing to part with serious funds.

Helping you to consider some of the things worth thinking about is the intention. You are a prime candidate to be coerced into a particular way of thinking as the retail side of this business can do that really well.

A 'mark' like yourself, with a need for knowledge with such a Budget, is in a precarious place.

This years Holiday has to be paid for, an individual like yourself, could supply the readies to charted a Superyacht.

My descriptions given are to help you get on route to the Short Cut of Single Investment for life. 

At present I will not recommend to you products, I will comment on products I have had direct experience with, or products I know where there is a potential to recieve a Trusted assessment as report from a user experience.

I am quite familiar with a Glanz MH 1200s used on a Direct Drive TT with a Miyajima Cart. The Arm certainly is not a device that creates a perception of being constrained in any way, it has a notable freedom and breathes life into the replays, it is in keeping with the Arm presentation I am interested in and is quite seaprated in it performance to arms I choose not to use any longer.

As an Ortofon Cart user on DD TT's, this Set Up wiith a Miyajima Cart' has a noticeable Body and a Strong Hint of Richness to my sensitivities, certainly not overbearing to my taste and certainly one that is an extremely attractive encounter.

Another with a want for a Richness in a presentation, might see this Cart' with having a leaner presentation. 'Richness is in the ear of the Beholder' each has their own threshold for what is bearable before it becomes unattractive.

@mulveling has proved to be good source to learn about how a Cart' . Their Broad Experience of Cart's in use, has enabled the sharing of Cart' models that can be identified with for the levels of Richness that can be detected.  

Additionally VAS NY Inc has a Facebook Page where there are Needle Drops presented in a video of the completed work they have done to Cartridges. Even though not ideal as a Audiophile Listen, there is enough on offer to determine where Richness is present or not as a result of a design for a Cart'.       

The STST Motus IIDQ has been referred to on another Thread and I have recently learned an individual based in Mainland Europe, who has possibly the most experience with Vinyl Replay Devices that I know off . This individual has been using a IIDQ since November 2022.

I am watching out for their updated reports on this TT's usage. Usually there is a period of use where a range of Arms and Cart's will be used along with the TT, it is then when there is great value to the assessments being made known. 

Whilst accumulating LP's if some are being sourced as used items, there are services supplying Used Vinyl that has been cleaned ultrasonically, in some cases in a Cleaning Machine that has a Multi $0000's purchase price. Having the best purified vinyl from the off set will bring a further satisfaction to a very good recorded used Album. 

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@vonhelmholtz I have my radar out to get an audition of a MSL Gold or Platinum, with design and Parts used to build the Platinum having the most appeal.

It does seem this will most likely be achieved through a HiFi show, so the Demo' environment will be carefully assessed to work out how the Sound is being effected.

Your description is food for thought for anybody expressing an interest in a acquisition with a sizeable budget, the Phon' > Cart' coming in at close $20K, with  a Phon' Upgrade Power Supply as an option as well. 

Your choices for supporting ancillaries, when combined with a Modern Alternative Model of a DD TT >Tonearm can still be achieved as a complete set up for the OP's proposed budget for the DD TT > Tonearm only.  

@grislybutter I am on board with your observation, hence I have attempted to reinforce the OP's inquisitiveness about the broader range of options available to them.

Learning where the Presentation from a Vinyl Source and Supporting Ancillaries is in relation to producing a Sound is off great importance. The uphill trudge is the discovering the Sound that is extremely satisfying to ones unique preference.         For an inexperienced user of a Vinyl Source, and having the Budget available as discussed, a decent amount of footwork and gathering experiences with assist with homing on a Goal.

I do not see it being achieved through descriptions offered on a Forum, but a description will arm an individual with a info' that might become identifiable when having a first hand of experiencing the device being described.   

@vonhelmholtz Would it be possible to supply to the OP/ Thread a description of how the  Fatboy Tonearm performs and what is the stimulus to feel an exchange arm would be a better device for your purposes.

The OP is not a New Driver, still in their Teen Years, wanting to spend 20K+ on their first owned vehicle.

Advice will always be to get a bit of experience under the belt with a Fender Bender/ Older Vehicle.

The OP has obviously found a place where spending a substantial monies is a option, and is not wanting to have a continued experience of Building the Vinyl Source and Ancillaries, there is enough in the kitty to achieve their end game set up between $5K - $65K, where the spend starts and cuts off is the OP's choice, they are adult and know what they would like to achieve.

Gathering a Broader Knowledge before a Spend is no bad thing, and this is seemingly where the OP has placed themselves.    

@ftrot Please let us know how any demonstrations received from a Particular Permutation of TT>Tonearm>Cart', especially how the presentation from the Vinyl System was perceived, and whether it was a attraction or detraction to your unique preference.

A Few Demo's of the few different Set Ups may help steer you toward, the presentation you prefer. A design of a Phonostage will also be a critical factor in the experiencing of a replay that is to be assessed as extremely satisfying to yourself and wanted to be maintained to such a standard.

The Discovering the Devices that create the most attractive presentation for you, may be a little more of a future find, but will be well worth the extended period of search when the most attractive experiences for yourself are discovered.   

@blisshifi Your assessment is seemingly available as a result of your first hand experiences of the devices. Your evaluation is that there is Sound being produced that has been not so impressive and impressive, there is a better experience to be found across devices for you at a closely shared price point, and even more, if the Value of a Particular Brands Device, that already impressed, is from a Model more expensive in the range.

I have experienced this on a few occasions whilst at  Phonostage Bake Off, where similar cost items are compared, there are Models that stand out as being much more impressive than another. A phon' that has won the most favour is moved onto the next increased in Value Demonstrations, it is surprising how certain more expensive models can leave a Phon' that has impressed sound quite wanting and not so attractive. Only experiencing these types of demonstrations and making ones own assessments, will there be a better understanding produced.  

It is this type of encounter that is being encouraged to the OP, to experience and process a evaluation and assessment.

Hopefully whilst doing the footwork, a discovery of a Presentation is met, that is satisfying and one wanted to be maintained or be built on.

Recommendations are immediate, but they are not encounters in a audible sense, where the end user has their chance to experience how a device impacts on them.  

@blisshifi The Holy Grail is today the Home Demo' in the Room used for the Set Up.

The next best is to have the demo' in Home where the Set Up and Room are familiar, and some of the Systems devices have been used in your own system.

There is enough on offer to get an extremely good feel for the Sonic of the device under the knife.