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 5 responses by lohanimal

@madavid0when you wrote:

"The isn’t whether I want to spend a lot of money on high end tonearms or not, the issue is if they are a ripoff or not. Do they offer audio performance above cheaper ones? This is NOT hard to understand.

So far there is ONE poster who says he’s seen an improvement moving up from cheaper tonearms to more expensive ones. The others have all refused to address the question or admit that they think high end tonearms are a ripoff."

Can I just ask you the question - are all your opinions based upon making a jibe at what can be paraphrased as what you clearly think "more money than sense" audiophiles - or are you genuinely looking for guidance with a view to putting an arm on your TT.

You are asking questions on value - but that is utterly arbitrary. To person starving even £20 quid on a MM cartridge would be an extravagance. A Casio digital watch is as functional and accurate as a Patek Phillipe - likewise do you want food or a protein meal replacement shake. In other words what are your parameters? A Vertere or an SAT will be wasted on a Rega P2 lets' say. Put it on a OneDof or an AF1 and it makes sense. You don't put used Lada tyres on an F1 car - to some palpable and marginal gains may well be small - but to them it is value. 

In fact with all your posts I am curious as to what you have as your hifi system? Without wishing to insult those who own these products (I have owned them myself) but are you trying to compare a Rega P2 with an Exact Cartridge to an AF1 with a Lyra Atlas? 

You spend ages on the forums - as such do you actually listen to music, let alone your own music system?

I have decided not to entertaining the curiosity of the OP save to say this:

A bird has wings, so does a plane, therefore a plane is a bird...


@billstevenson 

totally agree.
Let's live in a world of: Gruel; protein shakes; Ladas; grey brickwork and without hills and landscapes.
Because why bother??
@jollytinker  I do love your post - just saw it today (yes - 9 months later)

Perhaps the OP should pop down to his local plumbers - buy a copper pipe - go get some mains cord - cut out the cable - go to a toy shop and use some marbles for bearings - and hey presto - he can say that's better than: SME V; Breuer; Durand; Basis Vector and Kuzma 4 Point.