Hi Gregor,
In response to your recent post from Jan. 2015 the following may be of interest.
Having been involved in Hi Fi gear since the early 70's I've had a number of turntables over the years. My first decent one was a Technics SL 1100 A acquired in 1973. This was paired with an Ortofon M15E cartridge and served me well until a light finger scoundrel made off with it under circumstances that perturb me to this day. Of the handful of subsequent TT's that weren't stolen, obsoleted, traded in or given away the Linn LP 12 was my standard from 1986 - late 00's. When an opportunity to purchase a Lyra Helikon mono cartridge from a magazine reviewer arose at a significant discount from retail I bought a 2nd Linn w/ Lingo power unit & EKOS tonearm (used for about $2000 ) circa 2010 or thereabouts. So, yes, two turntables, one stereo / one mono. All good until I felt compelled to upgrade when I saw an Avid Acutus TT offered on audiogon at a ridiculous bargain price approximately 75% off retail. Having it shipped from Vietnam was not inexpensive but it arrived in A+ condition, essentially as new. It did not come with a tonearm so this was the subject of extensive research. Right around this time Graham engineering introduced an upgraded version of its very well regarded Phantom tonearm. The deal closing factor in my decision to purchase this was the fact that it offered interchangeable arm wands. Or armwands, not sure which is correct?
At any rate this was precisely what I was looking for once I learned about it. My reviewer pal scored me a great deal on the Graham, as I was able to buy the tonearm and have the additional armwhatever included in the deal at N/C ! The savings were deployed towards the purchase of two Lyra Titan cartridges, one stereo / the other, yes, you guessed, mono. Once again accessed at a discount owing to my pals connections. Perfect for my purpose as they were both the same size, weight, profile which greatly simplified the process of switching back & forth between them without having to adjust other settings such as vertical tracking force, height, etc...
I use the Musical Linn Twins for everyday non critical playback such as spinning beaters, repro's, stereo 7"s, Lovin' Spoonful 45's and the like. Much simpler than clamping every disc, turning the power unit of the Avid on & off every 140 seconds and so on...
Best of both worlds and not insanely $$$$ when factored over the course of 30+ years.
And then the Lunar System thread arrives. Yikes, its pretty much becoming Groundhog Day 8 days a week in these parts...
A few pics illustrating the above noted:
Apart from that I think you can also send in your old cartridge and have it rebuild , costs you nearly the same as a new one.....
