I’ve just started reviewing Fremer’s you tubes now.
You mean as opposed to aural/sonic/audible?
Yes. I don’t think it will be a different league to a P10. It will sound different, yes. I had a Delphi Mk IV with SME V myself 10-15 years ago, I also had experience with some Rega arms. It’s a great looking turntable, but except of the inferior SME III arm, the others are not adjustable in azimuth (just like the Rega), even worse, the Delphi platter is concave, which would make it necessary (which is why it’s sold with the SME III). I used custom angling of the cartridge. The SME are no “fast” arms either (Rega rather better there). IMO the Delphi is a great classic old design which had its time and didn’t evolve so much. Sounds great though, but doesn’t jump over a certain level.
I would say (without having compared them side2side) the Delphi is more damped, solid and full range sounding, the Rega faster with better pace, transient response and liveliness. Both great but by construction limits not having the basics of reaching a certain level of 3D magic.
I’d start with the turntable, then the phono preamp, then the cartridge.
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I concur.
Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts. Well said and detailed. Best of all I am convinced my setup is comparable to Oracle/SME 
Agreed. Note the twist if you consider the DS optical cartridges you need to use their phono preamps. I have been tempted by that thought.
Yes, if there’s some sort of unusual cartridge you’ve got your heart set on, its needs probably come first, certainly driving the preamp choice, or maybe even the TT.
How about tonearm length and shape?
They seem to range from 9 to 12 inches. I think the 12s are more suitable for symphonic pieces (?) but don’t know why. What would drive one to select a 9er vs. a 12 or something in between?
Are there advantages to an S shape vs. a straight arm?
Maybe you can profit from my experience in upgrading my Turntable system. My current vinyl setup is a Technics SP-10 R in a Accoustand custom plinth from the UK, tonearm Funk Fx-3, Funk Houdini, X-quisite Ca cartridge, Boston Audio mat2, Lyra phono pipe cabel and a van den Hul the Grail SB phonopre.
Two years ago I started with the Technics, a Transrotor 5012 tonarm ( which is a tuned SME 312) and a Grado the statement 2. It sounded good but I wasn’t really happy. I first changed the tonearm to the Funk Fx3 which made a substantial improvement to the sound. Although the Fx 3 costed half as much and the processing/bearings are inferior to the SME it sounded twice as good in combination with the Grado.
No question, I sold the SME.
Next upgrade was the Funk Houdini. I cannot recommend this little product enough. It really transformed the sound of my system, especially in terms of 3-dimensional staging and tidiness of bass performance. Strong recommendation.
Even the change of my cartridge to the x-quisite ca, which is one of the best cartridges at all, didn‘t have such a strong impact to the sound as the Houdini. I tested the x-quisite with and without it and it was no competition.
If I were you, I would start with a new tonearm and the Houdini. Another worthwhile upgrade is a graphite turntable mat ( Oswald Mills Audio, Boston audio isn‘t available anymore )
Then I would invest in the best phonopre and then the cartridge.
My turntable base is DIY out of slate decoupled by Sylomer. This is a cheap and effective base and better than springs or sorbothane. My next upgrade will be a Minus k platform or something like that.
I hope it helps and sorry for my limited English 
From what I recall of high school geometry and physics, a longer arm has the geometric potential to have less tracking error because the length of the arc will be smaller relative to the radius, creating a smaller degree of deviation from the stylus’s null points. As in all things, it’s a series of tradeoffs that involve allowable physical room, effective mass of longer arms, compliance, cost, etc.
As far as I’m concerned, the only advantage to a well-designed S arm over a well-designed straight arm is the ability to have a plug-in headshell. Each one has its own issues with azimuth affected by mass and center of gravity location relative to its pivot points.
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A 12 inch has lesser tracking deviations and therefore probably is recommended for classical music due to the fortissimo near the runout groove. A 12 inch beats shorter arms if its construction is so rigid, that it has no disadvantage in this regard towards the shorter ones of the same build. Only few 12 inch arms fulfill this, but in tracking they are always better. As Craig mentioned, and just as with this Funk Houdini…you have to ensure that the add. mass fits your compliance matching.
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That’s interesting with the Houdini. It does what usually a tonearm should do (among others): eliminate resonances from the cartridge while tracking. A tonearm should transfer the resonances as fast as possible away and destroy it within the arm base and turntable base.
That the Houdini does this work just above the cartridge shouldn’t be optimal (as this procedure can’t be without tiny mechanical processes), but obviously better than if the tonearm and bearings don’t do it fast enough or properly at all.
Normally, the better the arm, the lesser or even worse the effect of the Houdini should be.
Just my logic.
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Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I never know the Houdini existed until now. I’ve got their website marked. Beautiful turntable, nice clean lines.
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Plug-in headshells. Intuitively, I’m a little sceptic about their alignment repeatability. It seems on the surface that after going through an intrigant cartridge alignment process to get the 3 dimensions of the stylus tip just right , the last thing you’d want to do is loosen or tighten it from where it was set. Or are the mechanical tolerances’ so tight that the effect of changing a headshell is negligible? Or do you realign after each changeout?
Intricate! That’s intricate you dumb…
FYI: I just read Brinkmann just released a tube simulating device replacing those tubes for reliability reasons. It fits not the tube sockets and is retrofittable.
Yes, right - but they actually did it to improve the sound, not for reliability reasons. The actual tubes will last more than 20,000 hours, according to Brinkmann. What they are saying is that there was a particular tube that was rare and expensive which produced better sound. They created an electronic version of that tube, so there are no supply issues.
Yes, in this article they just mentioned as an advantage that the new devices don’t drift in performance or age. But they also said the new devices replicate the sound of the tubes (which is quite meaningless for the use in a power supply, which as you mentioned has a very different reason than the typical sound characteristic a tube has for a use within amplification circuits). Typical clueless Hi-Fi writing.
@BillT - The community has already given you some great feedback, but here are some thoughts from someone who moved from a VPI Classic Signature to a Clearaudio Innovation Wood. It was a slight improvement, but not necessarily one worth the price.
The Prime Signature you have is no slouch as a plinth and a motor. Rather than choosing an entirely new turntable, you could always look at upgrading the feet, adding a secondary plinth, etc. My mileage increased with the VPI by replacing the stock feet with Isoacoustics Gaia feet. You can also choose to put a second plinth underneath like the Isoacoustics Delos.
Which tonearm do you have? I believe all Prime Signatures have 3DR or Gimbal arms. If you are not sure if you have a 3DR or 3D, double-check as the Nordost Reference wiring in the 3DR and Gimbal arms are a significant improvement to the stock discovery wire. The Gimbal arm seems to be a better performer as well. That said, you don’t have to limit yourself to VPI tonearms! If you’re not handy, VPI will create a custom armboard or mount just about any tonearm on your plinth!
If you don’t already have the stainless center and periphery clamps, definitely get those! The VPI ring clamp is a very good addition as it adds to the mass and stability of the speed while flattening your records on the platter.
I would instead invest a bulk of the money in your next cartridge, phono cable, and phono stage. I truly think that is where you’re going to get the most bang for your buck. I won’t give you cartridge recommendations, but I did use some expensive carts on my Classic Sig, including DV XV-1S, Audio Technica ART1000, and my current Air Tight PC-1s which is now on my Clearaudio table. The VPI table was worthy of having all of of them mounted over time.
As for a phono stage, I wholeheartedly recommend looking at the Modwright PH 9.0X just released last month which features Lundahl 1660S transformers ($4K). Prior to the Modwright PH 9.0, I owned the older Modwright SWP 9.0SE, and I demoed it against the Chinook, the Herron VTPH-2A, and the Allnic H1201. The older Modwright blew the others away, and the PH9.0 immediately blew the older SWP 9.0SE out of the water. My stage is now back with Modwright to get the 9.0X upgrade.
So to net, perhaps look at spending $4-6K on a cart, $4-6K on a stage, $4-5K on a tonearm if needed, $1-2K on a cable (phono and/or power) if needed, $1-2K on accessories. That will go especially far if you’re patient and careful on the used market, and you may even get to keep a chunk of that budget for records or to put back in your savings.
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