Cartridge / Tonearm opinions requested...

Why do I get the feeling that no one here is partial to the Wilson Benesch arms? ;0)

Twl:

My friend just took posession of a new Aesthetix Rhea. I'm sure by the end of the summer the inevitable phono stage shootout will take place.

At one point I had an all Krell system. The KPA is the remnants of that system.

Baldwin:

Which WB cartridge did you have? Analog or Carbon?

Bombaywalla:

I definitely take your comments in the right spirit and I appreciate your input (same goes for Twl - your insight regarding analog always seems to be spot on).

What I was referring to was the W-B cartridge which is of Japanese origin - not the arm which I know is of British origin. I don't know who in Japan makes the W-B Analog cartridge (the Carbon is sourced from Benz).

Regarding my choice of arms...I really could not decide between the Moerch or the W-B. I was kidding about the carbon fiber but I actually do prefer the look of the W-B over the Moerch for what that's worth. Of course sonics come first.

As far as the synergy with the Teres and W-B...I spoke with W-B's North American distributor. He was not familiar with the Teres table but considered the Act 2 to be more of a "universal" design than the .5 arm which is specifically designed to work in the Circle table. He didn't suggest their would be any compatibility issues with any particular tt design approach. I've had numerous conversations with Chris Brady regarding arm selection. He didn't seem to feel as though there was as much of a difference among the arm choices as there was from jumping up to the 265 from a 255. I mentioned the Wilson Act 2 arm and he didn't voice any opinion that it would be a bad choice. Perhaps he isn't intimate with it.

I haven't ordered the arm yet so I may wake up tomorrow and decide on the Moerch but this is starting to get to me. I'll have to come up with a definitive answer soon.

Looks like I need to do more detective work and ask more questions...

Thanks!

4yanx:

Regarding the phono stage...the Krell KPA has served me well for the past 8 years. It's a very flexible unit but I'm not married to it. As you can seem from my initial post I tend to live with equipment for a long time. Considering the age of the Ariston the Krell was more than adequate. There are lots of great phono stages out there and eventually I'm sure the Krell will find a new home. The arm/cartridge situation is making me neurotic enough - I couldn't even think about a different phono stage right now.

Actually I'm fixing up the Ariston and moving it into my office system. I have an Alphason HR100s sitting in a box just waiting for it and the Shelter 501 is on the way. I'm sure it should breathe new life into an old friend.

Well I just threw a curve ball at my decision.... After reviewing the responses to my post and asking a LOT of questions to dealers, manufacturers and distributors I've decided to bail out on the Wilson Benesch arm and the Shelter 901.

Instead I am going for the Morch DP-6 and the Allaerts MB-1 Boron. In a way I'm a bit disappointed to not get the 901 (I can't wait for my 501 to arrive) but the Allaerts appears to be an out and out monster and has a real synergy with the Morch arm. I looked forward to the 901 but I lusted after the Allaerts.

Chris Brady expects delivery of the cocobolo platters early July so I hope to have my new Teres 265 up and running shortly after.

Many thanks to everyone who responded to my posts and e-mails.