Cart Hunting for Prime

[Robes]

Congrats on the TT. My Prime in still in the box, while I complete and tweak my equipment rack. Just thought I would add that Diamondback cables made a huge difference in detail when connected to my Nakamichi CD player and Sony ES receiver. I connected my Yamaha C-2 preamp to the CD last night and got another bump in quality. BTW, both the Yam and Sony were recently serviced and sound better than ever. My advice, don't skimp on cables. I found the Blue Jeans were a close second to the Diamondback but a bit bright and with less detailed midrange. This last opinion was based only on internet YouTube comparison. I did have Monster silver coax for a while and they were not even close to the Diamondback.

JA

Thanks for the note. I haven't looked into cables, I have Monster cables from the 80's. I will wait till I have everything setup in place so I can better decide on lengths I will need-
Robes-

[fischerd]

Enjoy the Prime table Robes! Very nice indeed and glad you went in that direction after reading through your thread. I would also recommend getting a little bit updated of a cable. Don't need to go crazy, as there are a lot options. You can incrementally add stuff piece by piece. IF you can borrow a phono stage, might be a good idea to see how an external phono preamp compares to the one built into your Yamaha. Not very familiar with that model Yamaha. Just something else to keep in mind down the road. Just enjoy what you go most of all! Most importantly, enjoy the vinyl listening and the Prime Best value in VPI's production lineup!

[Robes]

Hi All-

UPDATE: After spending a couple months over 3-4 different forums I finally decided on a cartridge. I have it in hand now and the transaction was as smooth as could be. I bought a brand new never been opened Sumiko Blackbird HOMC from eBay, from Hong Kong, for $888.00 USD included free S/H. I got it in just a couple days wrapped like you wouldn't believe- inside 3 boxes and each wrapped in bubble wrap & shredded paper- you could play football with it without a worry. The seller (2juki) sent me an email stating the value was listed way low (& not to worry) but that was to sail through customs & that it did. Upon inspection the cart looks perfect, all original packaging & never opened.

I felt I was taking a chance on this but I had the time if things went awry, also it was covered by ebay & PayPal should something happen. I looked everywhere for a deal on a Blackbird and could only find new for $1250, no one would drop the price. I found a couple used but they were asking close to this "ebay" price so it wasn't worth chancing used. I really think with my system, this was the best cart available for me and my preamp. I'm able to have a few choices in loading this HOMC with my preamp compared to all others in contention.

Anyway, happy with the cart and deal I got and still busy getting all ready for the Prime, probably another few weeks before I see it but I'll have things ready and new tools to set it up. FYI: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Sumiko-Black-Bird-2-5mV-High-Output-MC-Cartridge-Made-Japan-/352189026149?hash=item52001a0f65

Robes

[elader]

one vote for the ortofon quintet bronze....

your preamp has MC abilities.