Quote Originally Posted by hifitommy
mmmmmmmm tasty! i had an hwIII/sme IV for a while. had it been with your arm, i would still have it. i DO prefer a removable headshell so i can easily swap headshells/carts. when i played kraftwerk's 'autobahn' on it, i finally GOT the record. that is i more appreciated it as prior to that i had found it only lukewarm as compared to say-electric cafe. with the vpi it became more vital.

i see the ring, is it the ttweights or vpi ? i might be on the hunt for a good mc for affordable money were i you. this is an arm that would get the most from a mc. an oc9, or as john elison just stated on AA, his denon DL-S1 from comet supply (the price is super!, its just been a long wait for him as with others who may have gone another route by now). the sme will however extract the best a 440 can deliver.

http://www.cometsupply.com/pm/DNNDLS1/

its not that i dont like the 440, i was one of the first users, but that denon would be a real step up.

jack-if the scout isnt significantly less than the classic, i might suggest the classic but its not my money.
He had a demo Classic that he was trying to get me to bite on for $1900. It had a Shelter 201 cart mounted on it. I wasn't familar with the cart, so I passed. The Scout was $1800 and he was going to throw in either a Dynavector or Grado cart and I don't remember the models.