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tonearm upgrade, how far up the food chain?

I currently use a Rega RB 300 upgraded with the Origin Live structural mod (i.e. counterweight) and Incognito rewire. It's on a Thorens TD-850, Grado Statement Reference cartridge. Based on comments here on the Gon, many seem to feel that upgrading the arm should come before the cartridge or table, under the circumstances. How far up the ladder do I have to climb to get a noticeable improvement? And, do arms (that is, their bearings) really wear out, or their performance decline, with normal use? considering midlevel Origin Live arms, given the Rega mount. thanks in advance for suggestions.
lloydc

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lloydc OP
764 posts
 
it looks like I am already in the ballpark of the percentages referenced by Nickt. Phono stage is an AR PH3-SE modified by GNSC, which is not bad. Upgraded from an EAR 834P, which was a tremendous improvement.
lloydc's avatar
lloydc OP
764 posts
 
Thanks so much for the thoughtful comments. I am largely persuaded that upgrading the arm should be a priority, and probably the phono stage, too (which I suspected.) Unfortunately, the Thorens is not the best platform to "build on", as it is limited in the arms it will accommodate, only Rega-type or SME (with a different arm mounting plate, which takes almost 6 months and $200 to get from Thorens.) fwiw, the low output Grado Ref was described as a "budget" cartridge by a knowledgable distributor, and it exhibits slight sibilance in my system; it is good to know it is probably not the most limiting factor in this setup.
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