Replace/Upgrade Oracle Alexandria tonearm?

MMCCOY,

Check your e-mail. No problems with RB300 on Alex. MKIII

Salut, Bob P.

I'm not shure if it will require or won't require any of adjustents of an armboard and thanks for correcting Basik...

My friend has the same Alexandria with the same problem as you do. He also has a crafty shop where he can order any shape for any weight(at least that's what he's planning to do) and shop for new arm. AQ PT9 and Linn Basik are probably the best arms that will match Alexandria since you more need a precision of both above rather than rigidity of Regas tended to fit "perfect" turntables. I now realy suffer from Rega(on my Michell Gyro SE suspention turntable) especially if I ever need to adjust it! I modded it with Clearaudio heavy counterweight and never modded the armboard with no compromise so I assume that there is a tolerance allowed in changing of the counterweights of arms to the balance.
Another option you need to consider is SME3009 that despite being S-shape can be a good competitor to even modified Regas especially with good wires inside.

I presume you meant Linn Basik?

My apologies that I'm ignorant about changing tonearms... I've just never done it before and want to make sure I don't dig some whole I can't a) afford or b) dig myself out of ;)

So if I found an arm with the same mass as the Prelude (ala the Audioquest PT9 or Linn Basik) I can just drop it in? Mounting (etc.) should be the same?

I searched and found another couple 'Alexandria tonearm' posts recommending a "Origin Live OL-1(modified RB250), with Expressimo Audio HeavyWeight counterweight, and HiFi mod" and another saying they were happy with the RB300 on their Alexandria.

Any advice (or links to articles) for how this newbie 'mechanic' can change the tonearm on an otherwise perfect Alexandria would be greatly appreciated.

Or conversely, does anyone have a nice Prelude arm they'd like to part with?

The rule of suspention turntables is as follows:
The sum of masses of armboard and tonearm must be always the same which means that by changing tonearm you must change the armboard.
I can tell that AudioQuest PT9 and Linn Basic arms have an identical mass and can be placed on this deck without changing or re-shaping the armboard. Not sure about Rega arms though...