I currently own a Graham 2/Ceramic on a Michell Orbe. I have heard the SME 309 on the Oracle IV, briefly though, and I thought it sounded good. I recently heard a Oracle V with a Stogi(?), the more expensive model. It sounded good as well and it's cheaper than the Graham 2. I have heard the Graham 2 on a Basis 2500, and on a different Orbe. In Both situations they sounded good and different. It really tells you what the cartridge is doing! I'd go for the arm before the cartridge. In my case I replaced the table, arm and a week later the cartridge, which was sounding a bot ragged anyway after 4-5 years of use, after I snapped the cantalever!
Graham or the Frog: which is crucial?
I own an Oracle Delphi Mk V/SME 309/Goldring Eroica H combo running into an EAR 834P. As tragic as this is to admit, we are approaching the twlight of analogue replay which makes it excruciatingly difficult to audition equipment. I would like to upgrade both my tonearm and pick-up cartirdge, but I would like to spend some time listening to these thousands of dollars worth of gear before I commit! These are my three questions: 1.) Is the tonearm or the cartridge more important and why? Which should I spend more on? 2.) Is the Graham 2.0 a good match for this 'table? Mikey liked it, but I've never heard it. Any other suggestions? 3.) Is the Frog a good mate to either of these? Again, any suggestions? Thanks.
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