joshnich Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Due in great part to the counsel of our own Max G, I took the plunge and upgraded my tone arm. I have been using a modified RB250 which I thought was a solid performer. Max rightly pointed out that I was not realizing everything my Shelter 901 had to offer with the Rega and I should maximize the performance with a better matched arm. We corresponded and discussed a number of higher mass options. I ended up buying the Origin Live Encounter, which has an effective mass of 14.5grams which is an excellent match for the low compliance Shelter. I have to say that I am amazed at the improvement in fidelity. It really is quite phenomenal. Across the spectrum, the level of natural detail and clarity has improved dramatically. The bass is tight, clean, and dynamic. Most amazing is the natural decay of the notes. It is a whole new level of nirvana. I would never have imagined that there would be this level of sonic improvement. I have been listening to LPs that I have heard thousands of times before with newfound appreciation! Its really really cool. Before I would think, doesnt that acoustic guitar sound good? Now I could think doesnt that 1945 Martin D28 with Diaddario medium gauge bronze strings sound great? Given my experience with this I can guarantee that the next time I get an urge to upgrade, the money is going to be spent on the front end! Thanks Max! Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorjen Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Wow Josh, great looking arm. It appears that the upgrade has far exceeded your expectations. Don't you just love it when that happens? Would you say that the tonearm wire used in the Origin is also far better than the Rega? Or, had you already done a wire upgrade on the Rega? I have wanted to try a 901 or 90X for some time now. But, the arm on my last VPI table and my current Sony just were/are not compatible enough for me to justify laying out that kind of bread. Hopefully down the road. Geez, I have to finish some of these damn projects I am working on first I suppose. And, I have not even touched your Belles in over a year[]. Way to go Josh, glad you are happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Congrats, Josh, on the new arm. It's indeed amazing how much of a difference an arm can make on vinyl performace - and I am not talking about obvious cart/arm mismatches. I remember moving from an SAEC arm to the SME 3012-R and that change was not at all subtle[]. The next step up might indeed be rewiring of the arm. A friend of mine did that to my SME's and again quite a veil was lifted. This will also be done on my latest toy: an SME Series III - but that's going to be a different story []. Anyway, enjoy your new toy. Wolfram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Max is the man not that Allen or Gary might not have given the same advice but I have surely read enough of Max's material to know he has it going on when it comes to vinyl rigs[] Nice call Max[] My vinyl rig is the next upgrade to my system and the Encounter w/Shelter 901 on a Origin Aurora Gold is one of the setups on my shortlist[] if you consider 7 different rigs a shortlist! Congrats Josh and I'm sure you are enjoying every minute of it[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudret Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Josh, Enjoy your tonearm. From what've read it seems like an excellent choice. I am anxiously expecting delivery of my SME 3012. Wolfram, what kind if wire did you use in your 3012R? Kudret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 It wasn't until I heard the improvement in Larry's system when he upgraded from a Graham 2.2 to a Vector that I realized how significant an impact the right tonearm can have. I'm glad you found a nice match for your setup Josh. Looks great too! Max certainly knows what he's talking about! I was lucky to have Larry and Edmond handy for advice when I needed it. Ultimately, it was Larry's Basis and a freak A'Gon Vector auction that got me set up. I wouldn't have settled for less after hearing Larry's combo. Nothing like listening to all of your LPs again for the first time. Enjoy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshnich Posted July 8, 2006 Author Share Posted July 8, 2006 It wasn't until I heard the improvement in Larry's system when he upgraded from a Graham 2.2 to a Vector that I realized how significant an impact the right tonearm can have. I'm glad you found a nice match for your setup Josh. Looks great too! Max certainly knows what he's talking about! I was lucky to have Larry and Edmond handy for advice when I needed it. Ultimately, it was Larry's Basis and a freak A'Gon Vector auction that got me set up. I wouldn't have settled for less after hearing Larry's combo. Nothing like listening to all of your LPs again for the first time. Enjoy!! It is like listening to the records for the first time. Now that I realize what a difference the tonearm can make I am afraid what I am going ot spend upgrading the table! Jordan, I cant believe that you havent touched those Belles in a year. I recall that by the time I returned home from droping them off, i had received an email with photos of them already taken apart. BTW training camp is only a few weeks away! I sure hope that Alex learns to hang on to the ball! In regards to the wiring. Origin uses lintz wire internally hard wired to cardas with Eichman Bullet phono plugs. Pretty nice wire set up at any price point. They use the same set up in all of their arms from the base modded RB250 to the $4500 top of their line. I plan on listening to this set up for a while before looking to the next place to spend money. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlieboy Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Vinyl bliss. I love it. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Isn't it just great when an upgrade exceeds expectations. I was quite concerned about advising at distance when I have no concept of Josh's current sound, expectations, experiences etc. etc. The only thing I do know - is that with the Shelter 901 it really does benefit from higher mass. They say in the blurb that medium mass is OK - and frankly I am yet to hear it play as well as it can in that configuration. I also think those Origin arms are a steal for what they are. They are very well made and designed and priced extremely reasonably in comparison to the competition. So huge relief over here - I have advised Josh to stay with his current setup now - for a while at least - before we start on the route of Level 1 and level 2 upgrades to his Champion TT. Congrats Josh - now go listen to some tunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Tone arm and cartridge matching is a real black art. When you get it right, the results can astound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Kudret, I wanted to use Cardas tone arm wire and was about to order it when a friend of mine (who also did the rewiring) suggested a wire thinly coated with lacquer (we call this lacquer wire in German and I have no idea what the English equivalent might be!). The 'special' aspect of this wire is that it was produced in the 1950's in the US and it is supposed of excellent quality - perhaps due to different standard of manufacturing(?). I really dodn't know if that's true, all I know that rewiring both of my SME's took them to a different/higher sonic level. I recall various posts in which SME arms of that vintage were described as slightly 'slow' - something I never understood - well, after rewiring I know why!!! I am sure you'll enjoy your 3012, but do yourself a favour and rewire it straight away. Wolfram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudret Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Thanks, Wolfram. I did a google search and found various references to laquer wire. I have no idea as to where to find it though. Kudret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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