I think 'Stringreen' will be displeased with me.
I have posted the following elsewhere, so I will shorten it.
30 years ago I was a student in London ont.. I went to London Audio, and was given an education in high end.
Straight to the punchline; The Linn LP12 with the top of the line 'tonearm', coupled to their cheapest cartridge "EASILY" outperformed the top of the line cart on the inexpensive tonearm. Case in point, the tonearm is wayyyyy more important then the cartridge. Do not expect a huge change, just a different one. By keeping your expectations low, you will be impressed.
My absolute best analogue rig contained the Zeta tonearm mated to the Koetsu 'Black'. Please realise this combo came into it's own when the Koetsu was near the end of it's life. A rebuild destroyed the magic.
It has been talked about a lot here. Synergy between arm and cart. is the trick. This is a crazy hobby. Don't be surprised if the grado/SME combo is more 'musical'.
Also remember; a well worn cart. is less susepticle to VTA and SRA. You 'will' have to spend a lot of time figeting with the VTA SRA Azimuth, anti-skate, etc. of the MC to get it perfect. Don't even get me started on the problem of album thickness's changing a few parameters.
Good Luck, and keep your expectations manageble.
I have posted the following elsewhere, so I will shorten it.
30 years ago I was a student in London ont.. I went to London Audio, and was given an education in high end.
Straight to the punchline; The Linn LP12 with the top of the line 'tonearm', coupled to their cheapest cartridge "EASILY" outperformed the top of the line cart on the inexpensive tonearm. Case in point, the tonearm is wayyyyy more important then the cartridge. Do not expect a huge change, just a different one. By keeping your expectations low, you will be impressed.
My absolute best analogue rig contained the Zeta tonearm mated to the Koetsu 'Black'. Please realise this combo came into it's own when the Koetsu was near the end of it's life. A rebuild destroyed the magic.
It has been talked about a lot here. Synergy between arm and cart. is the trick. This is a crazy hobby. Don't be surprised if the grado/SME combo is more 'musical'.
Also remember; a well worn cart. is less susepticle to VTA and SRA. You 'will' have to spend a lot of time figeting with the VTA SRA Azimuth, anti-skate, etc. of the MC to get it perfect. Don't even get me started on the problem of album thickness's changing a few parameters.
Good Luck, and keep your expectations manageble.