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Tonearms: Ripoff?

If you search for tonearm recommendations you'll find an overwhelming amount of praise for $1k and less products. Audiomods and Jelco are the two most mentioned.

The Audiomods is just some guy making Rega-based tonearms in a workshop. Just some guy is putting out tonearms that compete with tonearms that cost many times the price -- from the likes of SME, Clearaudio, VPI, Graham, etc.

So the question is -- are tonearms just a scam? How is it that everyone loves Audiomods and Jelco to death and never talks about / dismisses high end tonearms? Is it because there's no real difference between one of these low-cost tonearms and the high end ones? Is an Audiomods Series V ** really ** the equivalent of a SME V? Some guy in a workshop equals the famed precision of SME? Is that once you have the math and materials worked out all tonearms are essentially the same? Or is it that most owners of record players online are dumpster-diving for vintage gear and simply can't afford to listen to better?

So, what's going on?
madavid0

Showing 2 responses by clearthink

clearthink
1,421 posts
 

sfischer1"There is no rational basis for extraordinarily expensive anything."

There most certainly is and in actual fact and practice there are many very expensive items that can objectively, factually and rationally be justified that you do not see this suggests that you are confounded, confused or disoriented.
clearthink
1,421 posts
 

sfischer1"as a recovered watch addict, people don’t justify expensive watches based on their time-keeping accuracy"

Addiction to anything is a very sad thing and by definition those who are addicted to any thing at all are not rational in any way they are destroying they're lives and acting out of some painful unmet physical or emotional need but that does not prove "There is no rational basis for extraordinarily expensive anything."
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