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
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,160 posts
 

OP i’m heading your way in May to chase fish… please PM on records. 

the ML is a very nice cartridge 

Jim

ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
3,289 posts
 

Thanks for putting Rocks in my head, lol….

Spinning it right now.

alvinnir2's avatar
alvinnir2
129 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.

bpoletti
1,557 posts
 

I have heard several VPI tables with JMW 9 arms of different generations.  All have sounded good with an Audio Technica OC9 II, III or OC9XM:.  Short of spending maybe 4X on other cartridges, it's not likely to find a better cartridge.   Ignore the earlier reports of the cartridge being bright.  It was not likely the cartridge was set up correctly. 

ghdprentice
7,502 posts
 

OP,

I am trying to be helpful here... I promise. You said, "But, it’s not about improving my streaming setup. It’s about reacquainting myself with analog." It sounds like you are implying there is a unique sound there.  If you mean the nostalgia... no problem.. great. I get it. But if you are talking about sonics.. .then, today, you can get digital that sounds like analog and analog that sounds like digital. It is all in the choice of equipment. So, if the pursuit is the best sound, then investing in only one technology will net you the best possible sound. While for decades it was thought that analog had its own sound... it was really more that solid state and digital had such great flaws that analog was preferred musically. That has gone away over the last ten years or so.

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