Scheu/Eurolab TT - which tonearm, mat


I am about to buy a Scheu/Eurolab PremierII turntable, probably with a 50mm-platter. I am undecided, however, about the tonearm-choice: Does it pay to go with one of the Scheu-arms (especially the Cantus or the new Tacco), or should I rather buy a used SME series IV or V? Anyone compared/switched? Another question for the flimsy wiring of the Scheu-arms: Anyone replaced them with sth else? And lastly: What is the best TT-mat for the Premier? Living Voice Mystic Mat, Ringmat, Extreme Phono-Non-Felt, or sth else. (I even thought about testing a blue leather mat made by Acoustic Solid, it does look so nice...)
hassel
Hi,
I've no experience with any of the arms you're considering so I'll leave that to others, except to say that it can be a serious error to choose an arm before choosing a cartridge (or vice versa for that matter). The cartridge/arm synergy is about the most important in the whole chain.

Choosing an arm without knowing what cartridge(s) you're going to use could easily restrict you to a type of cartridge you don't prefer, or result in sub-optimal performance with the cartridges you do prefer.

Of course to choose a cartridge, you have to know what phono stage you're going to use, to make sure gain and loading will be compatible. On and on and on... ;-)

I'd be surprised if a Scheu sounded best with any mat. My Teres sounds profoundly better with a clamp and no mat. Since Teres began as a, "let's DIY a Scheu" project, I imagine the same philosophy would apply. Mats seem to suit suspended TT's better than suspensionless ones, and of course they help TT's with noisy motors and/or bearings. None of those considerations apply to a Scheu.

Enjoy the tunes whatever you choose!
Well, in fact, I already do have the cartridge : an Ortofon Venice, which is, from what I heard from others (and from Ortofon), an excellent match with Scheu-arms, as well as with SME-arms - and with the phono stage of McIntosh C-200 preamp. So I am not asking out of the blue...
Hassel,

You may not have been, "asking out of the blue", but we were certainly being kept in the dark!

Thanks for filling in that detail. Hopefully some who've used both brands of arms will chime in.

Regards,
Doug
The specs of your cart -
Mass 9.6g
Compliance 16cu

It would be recommended to stick to arms with an effective mass below 14g to get a resonant freq of above 8hz.

The Mystic Mat does have a positive effect on the Scheu premier table.

http://www.soundscapehifi.com/lv.htm
Dear Hassel: The Moerch DP-6 tonearm its mates very well with the Premier TT and will do an exellent job with your Ortofon cartridge: precision headshell and red dot version.
Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
Ahh!

Do consider what Rauliruegas said. That would be a gorgeous looking rig.
The Morch also can accomodate different arm wands from Morch so you can use just about any cartridge your heart desires.
Being a proud owner of the DP6 and Premier mkII, I have to say it's a very decent setup that rival my friend's rig in excess of +US$5000-8,000 .

For best value, you may want to go with a used DP-6 that pop up time to time.

If you need any specifics, feel free to give me a buzz. I think another good try may be the Cantus arm from Scheu as well.