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Ariston RD11S Tonearm

S

Supertykes

New Member
Evening. I'm the proud owner of a Ariston RD11 turntable. It came with a RB250 tone arm. I'd like to treat it to a new arm. Perhaps something more in keeping with its style. SME arms seem quite expensive, any other suggestions?

Chris
 
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The Rega arm is a good solid arm. It all depends on what you're wanting to use for cartridges. If you want a lightweight arm without the high price, I recommend ADC.

What's your budget?
 
The RB-250 is a capable design especially when fitted to a good 3 point suspended turntable, which the Ariston is. You can fit a good cartridge to this combination and tweak the set up to get the combination sounding very good indeed.
 
melofelo said:
The RB-250 is a capable design especially when fitted to a good 3 point suspended turntable, which the Ariston is. You can fit a good cartridge to this combination and tweak the set up to get the combination sounding very good indeed.
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Modding the RB250 is one option. I haven't thought about the cart in much detail yet. Possibly a 2 M blue
 
mythless said:
With your budget, I think the Rega is the best choice, unless you get lucky on the second hand market. With 400 GBP I would just opt for minor tweaks on the suspension and a new cartridge.
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I have found a few sub £400 SME 309s, as well as a few upgraded RB250s, including a Michell Tecnoarm. So it would appear I do have options. Can't decide which would be better on the Ariston. I'm leaning towards SME.
 
Use the right high compliance cart and you can't go wrong with an SME 3009 Ser II imp. in good condition. It has to be intact for £400.
 
I knew a guy a long time ago who had an FR64S on an Ariston. Even though he lived in a concrete highrise, if you walked by the table, the suspension would bottom out lol. Sounded pretty good, but a bad mismatch weight-wise. The Ariston springs work better with a light arm, needless to say.

As to what looks good, it's a matter of preference. SME 3009/II probably qualifies....too bad it doesn't sound that great. Shure V15-V with a Jico stylus is probably the best option, or maybe a Denon DL-304. Anything with a stiffer suspension will shake the arm to bits with its flimsy cheese grater shell and knife edge bearing.

My vote would be for a a Mission 774 original, but looks might be an issue. Even though the 774 is low mass, with the damping trough and appropriate paddle, the design is robust enough it can accomodate the stiffer suspensions found in today's cartridges. It sounds pretty good, too....much better than the RB250, even with the Michell mods.

https://www.vinylengine.com/tonearm_reviews.php?make=Mission&model=774+(original)
 
ripblade said:
I knew a guy a long time ago who had an FR64S on an Ariston. Even though he lived in a concrete highrise, if you walked by the table, the suspension would bottom out lol. Sounded pretty good, but a bad mismatch weight-wise. The Ariston springs work better with a light arm, needless to say.

As to what looks good, it's a matter of preference. SME 3009/II probably qualifies....too bad it doesn't sound that great. Shure V15-V with a Jico stylus is probably the best option, or maybe a Denon DL-304. Anything with a stiffer suspension will shake the arm to bits with its flimsy cheese grater shell and knife edge bearing.

My vote would be for a a Mission 774 original, but looks might be an issue. Even though the 774 is low mass, with the damping trough and appropriate paddle, the design is robust enough it can accomodate the stiffer suspensions found in today's cartridges. It sounds pretty good, too....much better than the RB250, even with the Michell mods.

https://www.vinylengine.com/tonearm_reviews.php?make=Mission&model=774+(original)
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It sounds a great arm. I have read some more. However, pretty hard to get hold of!
 
Honestly, the SME 3009 S2 fixed headshell isn't a bad arm. You can always add a heavier counterweight and the dampening kit too to accommodate more cartridges.
 
Thanks. The SME is putting me off a little due to limited cart options. Mission seems hard to get hold of looking at a Jelco SA250 ST as a replacement for the Rega.
 
Supertykes said:
The SME is putting me off a little due to limited cart options.
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Where does that come from? Never had an issue. As long as you keep a high compliance cart - it's a super performing tonearm. I've had Stan 681eee, 881S, O'fon VMS20, Shure M95ED, and now a Denon DL-301 II mounted on it. I've even had a DL-110 slapped on it for a few weeks, which was compliance wise border-line, and even that - did superbly. When I say 'superbly', it's not on account of my golden ears or because my wife had told me so, I mean it empirically passed all the HFN Analog test LP torture tracks. You do not get a problem with an SME 3009 SII imp - limited cart option wise.

Pw02J7b.jpg
 
While mine is a detachable headshell. There are plenty of cartridges to choose from not just those of the past, though I would highly recommend them as there are some fantastic styli choices.

Grado and Nagaoka also works with the arm.
 
Thanks guys. I guess it was the bit about sticking to a high compliance cart I was referring too. Obviously not limited carts, but perhaps a Jelco or Mission allows a broader spread of options. I have a good sense of options now, so I will keep looking. The Rega has a Super OM 20 on it at the moment and I think I can can get better out of the table with a new arm and cart. So many options!
 
The OM20 is a great cartridge that will work with the SME. Mission only allows for greater cartridge range if you have the paddles, so, in my opinion it's the same as the SME.
 
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