Help Needed Picking a Tonearm from my Kenwood KD-750

[CF-105]

Hi Folks.
New guy here, but I will jump in with both feet.

My Kenwood KD-750 is in sickbay right now, getting a full recap and mechanical restoration. As a part of the deal, I'm looking to replace the fair quality stock Kenwood arm with something dramatically better. I was originally thinking about something along the lines of an Audiomods Series 5 or a SME 309. Maybe even a Rega 1000. All are tonearms that I believe work well with unsuspended and mass loaded TT's.

However, I was talking to one of the foremost TT gurus in the area, a good guy and a guy that I trust, and he threw me a bit of a curveball. He said that instead of going with one of the modern arms, he has had great success with a SME 3009 II (unimproved) on tables of this kind. No, I wouldn't get the detail of the modern arms, but It would give me a wonderfully musical sound and a great tone.

For cartridges, I've been a long time Grado fan, and would with put something from a Sonata up on it, or maybe my NOS MCZ. I also have an original Maestro. My all time favourite cartridge was my Zyx Fuji, but I have also been intrigued by the London Deccas. My TT guru even started talking about Ortofon SPU's!

So, with all that in mind, what would you guys recommend? New or vintage? Let's say up to $2K max in price.

[karma67]

and cue the mission 774 guys!

[walpurgis]

and cue the mission 774 guys!

Yup. Perfect with Deccas and ZYXs.

[CF-105]

Yup. Perfect with Deccas and ZYXs.

Just what I was thinking!

[walpurgis]

Employing the fluid damping of the 774 is a must with Deccas and many MC's, but the results are excellent.

[CF-105]

So I ended up going with a Fidelity Research FR-24 mk II. Should be an exact drop in. And a much nicer cartridge!

[czaplowka68]

So I ended up going with a Fidelity Research FR-24 mk II. Should be an exact drop in. And a much nicer cartridge!

Please, share your thoughts about the arm, as I'm ready to install one in my KD 750.