2. analog
  3. 193852-87347

Back in the vinyl saddle again.

Since my divorce 8 years ago, I have not used my turntable and have been spinning CD's, followed by streaming. As a result, I decided to sell the turntable, along with the roughly 1,000 albums I still had.

To that end I set up the turntable so I could demo it for potential buyers.

Unfortunately, once I played first record, I was hooked again. Now I am mired in another rabbit hole and I am in need of some advice and recommendations.

Current setup is a VPI Scoutmaster (circa 2006) w/JMW 9 arm and a Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood MM cartridge. The cartridge is probably overdue for either replacement or retipping. Related equipment are a Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL phono stage, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated, ATC SCM19 speakers and a REL bass array.

My questions are:

1. Should I keep the VPI or sell it and use the money to buy something newer? If I decide to buy, can you recommend any possible replacement? Budget, perhaps $2,000 CDN ($1,500 USD). 

2. If I keep the VPI, can someone please tell me the real effective mass of the JMW 9 (2006 version) I have? I have read it is anywhere between 7.7 and 10.2. Which doesn't really help.

3. Likewise, if I replace the Virtuoso Wood cartridge, what is a good replacement? Either MM or MC. I am considering a Dynavector XX2 MkII if it is a good match for the JMW9. Also, what do you think about buying used cartridges? Is it an option?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

tony1954

Showing 1 response by alvinnir2

alvinnir2's avatar
alvinnir2
132 posts
 

I had a VPI Aries with the same tonearm, I think you are likely to not find anything comparable to what you have table and arm wise for your budget so I’d say keep them

I think a new cartridge is a great idea. Buying used is a bit of a mixed bag , you never know what you’re going to get or if the reported play hours are accurate or not. Not worth it unless it’s a great deal. The suggestion of the Hana SL is a good choice. I had the original one, not the Mark 2. It was great value for the $ and worked well on the JMW 9 arm.

I eventually upgraded it to one of the Benz Wood Micro SM cartridge that I liked way more. 6 months into ownership, the suspension collapsed. Got it replaced under warranty and that was it. 

 

I wouldn’t be too concerned with the JMW arms lack of antiskate , I never heard any degradation of sound due to the lack of it.

BTW Once I optimized my digital front end to an Auralic G2 with a Musician R2R DAC, I sold all my analog stuff and albums. The freedom to have access to all that music and explore some much new stuff with equal or better sound quality was the turning point for me. Granted my playback benefits from an all tube amplification chain and sounds just great and still very musically "analog like". Just sayin...

Heads up to Tomic601...yeh the trout should be biting well by then ,can’t wait.

More to discover