Anyone contrast Transfiguration with Allaerts?

To me, the Benz Glider is a little bit on the brighter side of the spectrum, and is a touch "rough" and edgy sounding, though I like the speed and detail. If it is neutral sounding to you, then you have a pretty wide range of cartridges that will sound good in your system (the thing that typically annoys listeners the most is when a cartridge sounds edgy and lean). The Allaerts, Transfigurations and Ortofon PW are more forgiving in this regard than the Benz Glider. All of the cartridges I mention will deliver, particularly with classical music, the full harmonic complexity and "density" of the music while not sounding sluggish and overly warm.

Of course, how a cartridge will perform in your system depends a lot on specific component interactions. That is hard to predict. My general impression, on hearing the Transfiguration Orpheus and Phoenix in several systems is that these are forgiving cartridge that work well in a wide range of systems. The lower output Allaerts could be touchy when it comes to having enough gain. The Allaerts were also very touchy when it comes to loading. The Ortofon PW I only heard in one system (though two different tables). My own experience with Lyra cartridges is that they are not terribly sensitive to loading, but very sensitive when it comes to getting VTA set correctly.

Dear Ebush: It is always " nice " to see that you are looking for a quality improvement in your sound system reproduction.

There is something that worry me about when you say that the Glider is neutral,good balance, grainless and the like. As Larry point out the Glider ( in my own experience ) is a " little " different for what you experienced but like always it is system dependent.

If all that is true then think first on this: a top cartridge like the Titan i, Orpheus, XV-1, the Finish Gold ( Allaerts ) and many others are very demanding on tonearm and phono stage quality/facilities to show its best performance and from what you posted and with all respect IMHO maybe you don't have ( yet ) the audio items to match that kind of cartridge level ( any of those top named cartridges and other ones are several steps atop your Glider ).

Of course that you can go on but I think that if I invest " big " money on a new cartridge then I want to achieve the best from that cartridge.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

My electronics are definitely up to the task of handling a "higher end" cartridge.
The preamp is a $5k custom designed all tube unit with "tele's", Mullards and other very old nos. The power amp is a class A triode 300B push pull that is really quite extraordinary. Arm is a Moerch DP6 on a Merrill Heriloom. I believe the Glider works because it is matching the built in Jensen 347 step-up trannie perfectly as well as the arm. I have had a high output Glider sounding like you have experienced but switching to a low is REALLY very good now and my system is very neutral. Sitting as close as I do, brightness would drive me crazy. I have tried an Allaerts MC1B and it was as superb as has been noted except for a degree of thinness in the midbass/lower mids. I think that my step-up at 80 ohms is suspect as others have actually reported that 40 ohms is perfect in a step-up although 100 ohms for active is spec. My armtube is also suspect as a heavier tube has been recommended. Do any of you have recommendations on step-up trannie impedance for the MC1B?

Dear Ebush: As I say system dependent. In my experience the near field sit helps a little but not to much about ( the Glider performance ), other side I prefer the quality cartridge performance with out step-up transformers.

Of course that what you like are the whole " colorations " of your system in the same way that I like mine.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Yes, each of us has our own "filters". I need neutrality, grainless (low distortion) without rolling the top to get it. and great phase and harmonic integrity. My sense it that the Allaerts will deliver the depth and resolution to add to what I already have. I just need to match the cartridge and look for other's experience in best match for step-up load, non-step up active load, and effective arm mass. Any help here will be greatly appreciated. I also wonder about the Benz Ebony L which seems to aim at the same characteristics.
Ed