recommendation for a high end analog system

Origin Live Illustrious II or higher would give you the more live sound with plenty of detail. After owning several different arms, I was able to find a used OLI II for under $900. It is a simple to setup arm and I’ve owned a couple different OL Silver II arms with good TT’s, along with a couple even better sounding arms than the Silver II. I used to have a Maplenoll Ariadne TT/arm which was excellent sounding. The Illustrious is a very good sounding arm that is a significant upgrade in all ways from what I had before. This new combo is the first one to dethrone the Maplenoll in SQ--much more dynamic and better clarity. I own a highly modified Lenco TT with much of Jean Nantais’ upgrades and mods. This is now a potent combination of superior dynamics, deep bass with definition, and beautiful, clear mids and highs--that is easy to use. I have a used Charisma Reference II cartridge that I bought for under $800 used slightly. I also have a Whest 3.0 RDT SE phono pre bought used for about $2350--dead quiet and very resolving without edge. I have a used TRL DUDE preamp which is absolutely awesome in all ways that I just got retuned with NOS tubes from Andy’s Vintage Tubes and the DUDE is now much livelier than it has ever been and the bass now has great texture--I bought it used and am the third owner. I now have a super DUDE with a couple mods I performed on it a couple years ago and the NOS tubes--much better sounding than the original.

Bob

@ianderson,

The Maplenoll was very quiet, smooth, excellent bass, and most everything sounded beautiful on it.  After reading my post again, my comments on the OL Illustrious II had to do mostly with arms I've had since the 'Noll.  The OL Illustrious II Is more detailed, dynamic, with  more grunt in the bass.  I never put a different arm on the 'Noll.  The only real issue I had with the 'Noll was the delivery of the air to the arm.  It took very little air to move the turntable but much more to keep the arm working correctly.  Twice I had something between the pump and the TT disconnect because of the high pressure pump.  The TT would keep spinning, but the arm would freeze and thus become very rigid.  The cantilever's on two different cartridges snapped from the pressure of the stylus being stuck in the groove.  Very expensive with good cartridges.  A significant portion of the better sound of the OL over the 'Noll is because of the modded Lenco.  

My original post was to be mostly a praise for the OL Illustrious II arm in my system.  The simplicity of its use is also very appreciated since using the Trans-Fi Terminator arm along with the Pete Riggle Woody--both very fine sounding arms.  The OL Illustrious II is just better at everything sound wise.  It might be a 15-20% improvement overall.  I now have a used Walker Precision Motor Controller, but have yet to install the IEC in the back of my Lenco build to actually use it.  From what I've read from others who have, it should make a noticeable improvement in the sound along with keeping the speed perfect, and having a toggle switch to change the phase available.  

My apologies for all this info on the OP's thread.

Bob