Best vintage or modern tonearms for Denon DP 80


Hello,

I am looking for a tonearm for a Denon DP80 TT.
Are there any suggestions for a tonearm under $3000.00
easy to set up.

What do you think of a PA 5000 tonearm?
Audiocraft 4000, Victor 7054, Victor 7082
Sony PUA 7, PUA 1500, 1600

Thank you in advance.
Lea
lleall
Realistically, I would like to purchase a Dynavector or a Lyra cart, not a TOTL but higher up the chain.
I would like the tonearm to match well with these cart offerings.

My 3 yr plan includes buying a non vintage arm: Dynavector 507 MKII or Graham Phantom Supreme.

Right now, if there is a vintage tonearm:

-that marries well to Dynavector and Lyra carts
-that gives a different sound from the Victor but is still very musically satisfying
-easy to set up

I'd buy it for a second arm. If the consensus is that another vintage arm would be in the same ballpark in performance then I'd just leave the second armboard empty until I can afford either of my longterm tonearms.

Thanks everyone for posting.
I guess it depends on what you call vintage. Most of the arms of the 70s were made to handle the high compliance MM cartridges that were popular then. As MC became more popular, you got the Linn Ittok, Rega 250 and 300, Syrinx, Michell, Sumiko etc. A Michell Mechanic is a great arm, The Sumikos are the same as the Jelco today, except for the M800 "The Arm" which is a great arm. there are also the Helius arms like the Scorpio and Aureus. In fact, the current Helius Aurora and Omega are great arms.
So, its more a question of what cartridge do you intend to use, and if its a low compliance cartridge, you need a medium or high mass arm. You can check compliance at the vinylengine site.

Same topic but much much smaller budget .. which tonearm usd300 or less with vta adjustability for the dp-80 ? Available sme 3012r is too long with dk300 and sme iv may look out of place. Tks !

If you are thinking SME IV, the Rega RB 300 will be as good as, there are many tonearms today that are only in the Market as Rega had no Patent.

As a result of Rega success in the market back yonder, Brands being hurt come onto the Market with New Models as plagiarised Rega Design and Geometry.

SME and others fall into this practice.

A RB 300 can be acquired for approx' $300, as a model it can be modified at very reasonable cost. Patience might even get a modified version for the monies wanted to be outlaid.

As a Tonearm user, I moved on from fine tuned SME 3009's to the SME IV, during this period of using the IV, I also used a TA Design based on the Rega, a Audiomods Series Five Micrometer. The IV and Series Five were almost indistinguishable in use.

I has a similar experience when selecting the IV as a purchase, even though not experienced on the home system, a IV and V were not able to distinguished into a category where one was noticeably a improved performance over the other, hence I bought the IV. 

A modified Rega, should not be too far off in performance to any of the above mentioned TA's, maybe ? it would be a parity performance at a very fair cost with a lesser attractive aesthetic.