Technics magnesium tonearm 1200G vs Jelco 850


Has anyone tried both? Thoughts?
dionisofun
the 1200G arm is great, especially with vintage mm cartridges.  It sounds great with MC as well.
I have an SL1200GAE and I use an Integrity TRU-GLIDER

PENDULUM FLOATING TONEARM for a nice bump in sound quality.

There are NO direct replacement, custom made armbase is required even for Jelco (or anything), but for Reed the armbase on technics can be flat, there is nothing going throught the armbase except for 3 small mounting screws. So this armbase is simpler. 
I doubt the Reed is a drop-in replacement for the OEM tonearm, but it prossibly could be done if one were willing to modify or replace the tonearm mounting board.  And of course the Reed 3P is superior.  So too are a dozen or more other tonearms.
This is Jelco 850. Don’t know why you asking, but if you want to upgrade stock tonearm you’t better look for something better than Jelco knife-edge bearing design. It was popular upgrade for OLD technics turntables, but the "G" series is excellent NEW tonearm.

If you want some killer tonearm for SL1200G then look for Reed 3p series, it will be definitely much better tonearm with amazing options.
In my experience, it is usually more about the arm and cartridge combination than it is about the arm and turntable combination. In other words if your cartridge is better mated to the standard arm on the 1200 G, then you will hear everything as sounding better than if you were to substitute another tonearm like the Jelko. Conversely, your cartridge may mate better with the Jelco. The only way to choose is by trying both. On a pure quality level, I would guess the 1200 G tonearm is probably at least on par with the Jelco, if not better.
I have the SL 1200G with the magnesium arm.  Another member uses an Origin Live arm on his Technics SL1200G and said it takes the table up a few notches.  I have no experience with the Jelco.