Best tonearm under $1500.00 low-mid mass

Dear C123666,
Dear TWL,

The Rega RB600 has an effective mass of 10 grams. The bearings are higher tolerance than the RB300. It uses the same cables and neutrik plugs than the RB700 and the RB900. The RB600 has the high density counterweight (Tungsten) and the RB300 has the standard counterweight (Stainless steel).

Regards,

Gino

The Rega tonearms(except the 250) are all iterations of the same design that started with the RB300.

Most people feel that the RB250 is the way to go, and do mods to it, because it doesn't have the spring like the 300 and others.

The 300 is also nice when modded, as are the others. However, the general consensus is that the 250 sounds better than all of them when modded.

The Origin Live Silver is generally thought to be better than any of the Rega arms(modded or unmodded), and is only about $900. For this reason, spending more than that for a Rega arm or modded Rega arm, seems unproductive. It is in a Rega base, but uses a proprietary arm which looks very similar to a Rega arm, but with some important differences. It fits into a Rega arm hole, and has the same geometry, so it is a "drop-in" fit for any table previously fitted with a Rega tonearm.

However, as the original thread poster was asking about low-mid mass tonearms, none of the Rega or OL arms would qualify for that, because they are all around 11-12 grams effective mass. But they will work fine with the Clearaudio cartridge that he mentioned.

A Rega RB600 is simply a RB300 with better wiring; is my understanding correct? Is the wiring in the 600 up to the standards of the various RB300 rewired units (Incognito, Origin Live, Audio Note)?

REGA RB600. It doesn't exist anymore but maybe you can find one to your Rega dealer or from the distributor.

In my opinion, I would disagree on Raul's evaluation on Graham 1.5T. It is actually better made than the later versions. I like the Graham more becuase they're more sturdy base than the Morch. The ceramic wand also made some improvement to avoid any "ringing"

Dear Richard: I agree with Twl. The Morch DP6 it is not only the best tonearm under 1,500.00, it is one of the best tonearms at any price. Forgeret the Graham, it is a bad design tonearm ( all models ).
Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

A used Graham 1.5T. Approx. $900-$1200.

How about a Morch tonearm? They are very nice, and have interchangeable wands for matching to various cartridges. They look great and sound great, and are in your price range. I like the DP-6 best.