acos lustre

[karma67]

are these tonearms any good fellas?

[Bigman80]

Good reputation. Never heard one though.

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[topoxforddoc]

The Acos Lustre GST1 was the standard tonearm fitted to the early Rega Planar 2 & 3s in the late 70s/early 80s. I had one 30 odd years ago, when it came on a TD125/II I purchased. It was ok, but nothing special. It formed the basis for the Rega R200 tonearm and then later Rega replaced all of their Acos sourced tonearms with the RB300, which was significantly better IMO. Here's a potted history of Rega tonearms.

https://www.vinylengine.com/a-guide-rega-tonearms.shtml

[walpurgis]

are these tonearms any good fellas?

I've had a couple. Nicely made and versatile. The sliding base is handy, but is not the most rigid of assemblies. If it still has its extra weights, it will accomodate a wide range of cartridges. It's adequate in sound quality in my view, but nothing outstanding. I'd not pay a fortune for one. If desperate to have it, maybe £150 tops.

[JohnMcC]

I had one with an AT120e from about 1980. I thought it was pretty good - I couldn't afford an SME and the Lustre worked well with a Shure M95ed, a V15, and the AT. No complaints at all at the price level. And yes, in good nick I'd say £100-£150.

[helma]

There's also GST-801, which looks like a more serious beast. Haven't heard either, though I lusted after a 801 at some point when one was available for a price that wouldn't have been that bad.