Hello,
I used a Sonata for a few months. It was a phenomenol tracker with great bass extension and good weight in the mids. However, the extended trebles that I have become so used to with MC cartridges was reduced. I then tried a Benz Glider which was very much the opposite. The Benz was a terrible tracker when it finally found a home in my Clearaudio Reference TT. The fullness in the mids was much reduced but perhaps a little more closer to the truth. And the upper frequencies had more extension and resolution. The 1mv output of the Benz was a much better match with the ARC PH2 which is more geared to higher output MC cartridges. The Benz was quite a nice sonic match but ultimately it's incompatibily in the Clearaudio Reference TQ1 arm (it worked superbly in the Linn Ittok LVII) pushed me to try another cartridge: Koetsu Rosewood. The skipping and getting stuck was gone. The Koetsu brought back more fullness in the mids but to another level. It made me remember the Sonata's strengths.
I still have the Sonata and Benz Glider so if you are interested, let me know. Perhaps we can work something out. Both cartridges have very little use. Best regards.
John
I used a Sonata for a few months. It was a phenomenol tracker with great bass extension and good weight in the mids. However, the extended trebles that I have become so used to with MC cartridges was reduced. I then tried a Benz Glider which was very much the opposite. The Benz was a terrible tracker when it finally found a home in my Clearaudio Reference TT. The fullness in the mids was much reduced but perhaps a little more closer to the truth. And the upper frequencies had more extension and resolution. The 1mv output of the Benz was a much better match with the ARC PH2 which is more geared to higher output MC cartridges. The Benz was quite a nice sonic match but ultimately it's incompatibily in the Clearaudio Reference TQ1 arm (it worked superbly in the Linn Ittok LVII) pushed me to try another cartridge: Koetsu Rosewood. The skipping and getting stuck was gone. The Koetsu brought back more fullness in the mids but to another level. It made me remember the Sonata's strengths.
I still have the Sonata and Benz Glider so if you are interested, let me know. Perhaps we can work something out. Both cartridges have very little use. Best regards.
John