i had a scout for about a year, and then moved to a scoumaster, with the periphery ring and center weight. very huge difference in every way possible. the scout is very good. the scoutmaster with the extras is entirely in another league. i also have an sds and can't imagine not. i had it with the scout and it made a very nice improvement. as far as tube/ss phono goes, i guess it just depends on your system and what you want. i use a tube amp and preamp, but i use a dynavector p-75 phono pre. i like mixing ss with tubes, and the dynavector is a giant killer at $595 with low output mc's, which my sumiko celebration is. in terms of carts, i don't think you have to spend several thousand dollars to get a terrific cart. my celebration runs $1500(altough i got it used for $1000)and i like it a lot better than my previous, a benz micro ref 2 which goes for $2k. and there are certainly terrfic carts out there for a lot less(the sumiko blackbird comes to mind at $750).
as far as installing your cart, i'm sure you can probably do it yourself. however, you may want to buy a cheap cart to practice with. and having said this, i still think there's good reason to have an expert do it for you. it's nice to have a relationship with someone who does this for a living, especially when you're just starting out. but you're right, even though there's a lot of little details to learn about, it's not rocket science. plus, if you order your table online, the vendor will install a cart for you, assuming you buy it all from them.
well, hope that helps. i'm sure others much more qualified than me will chime in her. do some searches here and on the vinyl section of audioasylum.com and you'll get tons of info.
good luck!
as far as installing your cart, i'm sure you can probably do it yourself. however, you may want to buy a cheap cart to practice with. and having said this, i still think there's good reason to have an expert do it for you. it's nice to have a relationship with someone who does this for a living, especially when you're just starting out. but you're right, even though there's a lot of little details to learn about, it's not rocket science. plus, if you order your table online, the vendor will install a cart for you, assuming you buy it all from them.
well, hope that helps. i'm sure others much more qualified than me will chime in her. do some searches here and on the vinyl section of audioasylum.com and you'll get tons of info.
good luck!