Does a record player make that much of a difference??

@fsonicsmith yours is always the question when $ is involved…. the hard and fast rules seem to come and go IMO… for example Jelco supplied a vey competent tonearm that was capable of much…sadly they are no more. Yet we have Hana with scale / volume / quality control building excellent for $ MC, ditto Ortofon for MM ( RIP Signet, Grace , etc )…

good ?

@inna I didn’t want to rewrite volumes as your question contains the life work of many a deceased and living master… they are many… For me anyway it starts with mass and compliance matching. i am an advocate of using the  Korf calculator, which includes acceleration. So for example, my Lyra Delos is not ideally suited to the Triplaner without added mass, experiments with added mass help the ear / brain understand the impacts. This is just one relationship, 

Part science, black art, and luck…. along with an exploratory spirit

@lewm Tri is a gem. See California system photos, set screw attachment visible. 

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/7100

Clearer decay….clearly my observational powers don’t emphasize spelling… regrets.

I think a more appropriate model for the headshell block / fingerlift / armpipe interface is to think about it as two blocks with a tuning fork hanging off one block… damping the tuning fork vs the effects of adding mass probably better explain the increased effect on the Lyra vs Kuzma carts. The thing about models is they are wrong…but by how much ?

but these are subtle things…almost…ephemeral ?

Lew my TP 7 mk2 has a single screw that attach it to the cartridge block.

Well - those are two great tonearms @sksos and as i recall Kuzma deleted the fingerlift off even the entry level unipivot for sonic reasons . I would say the lift damping via the shrink was more pronounced on my Lyra cartridge than w Kuzma…but i would describe it as less grain / haze and cleared decay.  - hope that helps.

i have significant seat time at a local dealer w 4 point and Safir….. just lovely execution and sonics….

Best to you

Lew - I initially blanched when J Carr suggested i remove the finger lift on the Triplaner….. we compromised and i put shrink sleeve on it with the heat gun….

But…it’s a LOT of musical fun to go FAR beyond competent…..

Volumes have been written…..my take is given competent speed, bearings, isolation and arm rigidity then the transducer is #1. Try changing one form of energy into another….