Can a modern arm beat my MAX-282?


I recently had the oportunity to pick up an Air Tight PC-1 Coda for a great price and have been very impressed with it's performance over my long-time cartridge (Shelter Harmony). It's gotten me wondering how far I can taky my vinyl rig.

I'm currently running it on my Micro Seiki MAX-282 with the J-shaped arm.

I'm now wondering whether the arm could be holding things back. The MAX has never been a popular arm, but I've always been happy with its performance. I'd love to hear what folks here think a modern arm might bring to the system.

I'd be consdering things in the range of the 4point 11, Reed 3p, SME Series V, etc. I suppose I'd also consider a 3012R or FR64, since I've never heard these arms.

I'm curious if this would just be different or if I could acheive a broad improvement. Any thoughs?

My deck is a Micro RX-5000 Air with the BA-50 base and my phono stage is an Accuphase C-47.

 

domino22

@domino22 no, I think the 4pt11 is very nice too, but for the case of those well known carts that like higher mass the 4pt14 is great.

 

@rauliruegas unfortunately not. Have friends that do. I would gladly though...

@domino22 - checkout Audiomods arms, they are amazingly good

http://www.audiomods.co.uk/

Audiomod Series Six Tonearm - Positive Feedback (positive-feedback.com)

You can email Jeff with your turntable deatils and he will let oyu know if it is compatible, or if a custom mounting plate (which he makes) is reqired

I purchaed one many years ago and have never wondered if there is a better out there sicne.

Regards - Steve

That's for the link Steve, will check that out! My second arm is a Trans-fi Terminator, which is also a semi-DIY solution that punches well above it's weight from the UK!

@rauliruegas, thanks for those rewire links. I'm wondering how much benefit I'd get by rewiring the arm wands without rewiring the body as well. Either way there would still be several plug connections in the signal path. As an experiment I may wire up some tonearm wire direct to a couple of RCA plugs and run that up the outside of the arm to see how much of a difference it makes.