How important is the tonearm?

01-31-11: Dan_ed
Paperw8, most any tonearm is a complex system in itself. Sorry, no easy answers.

you should always question your own assumptions to make sure that you actually know what you are talking about. if you just accept the "it's inscrutable" line, then you are like so many of the "audiophiles" who spout commentaries on this site but who substantively don't know what they are talking about.

i am not suggesting that all of this subject matter is trivial, but my feeling is that i at least try to understand it. "trust your ears" is just not sufficient; if you can't gain some understanding of a process for purchase decision-making you are just throwing your money away. think about it, with all the equipment out there and all of the "synergy" issues that are about, there is virtually an infinite number of different combinations of equipment that one can try. even a turntable system involves a daunting array of choices between the variety of cartridges, tonearms, turntables, tonearm cables and phono stages - and all of that is before you even get to the preamplifier! you have to have some way to cut down the possibilities.

I've been down this road before with you, paperw8. Tap,tap! That would be the sound my head would make as it hit that same brick wall as the last time. No thanks, I really don't care what you think you know.

it's all gimmick. For below $500 each, you can find a table, a tonearm and a cart and enjoy music, spending more than that is just for your ego

And many will tell you the same about buying anything analog. Your value judgment is your own.

I started this tread and I finally bought a new Tri-Planar VII. I considered some more exotic arms like Telea or Reed but decided to go with Tri-Planar, a well respected product made in the USA.

Maybe with more experience in analogue,I will give a try/experience one of those exotic arms in the future.

By the way, I like the sound with this combo: TTWeights Gem Ultra V2/Tri-Planar/Benz Ruby 3. I am sure there is better but for me, this is a bit better than the VPI Scoutmaster I had previously.