First, sorry I delayed in response. I was out of town. The Insider is not as extended in the high frequencys or quite as detailed as the Reference, but they share pretty much the same personality otherwise. The Keuwetsu (which I choose) is warmer and smoother than either of the Clearaudio cartridges, and supplies approximately the same resolution, but with more mid range weight and warmth. (Probably the wood body?) My system tends to be very high rez, so it is the choice for me, musically, not necessarily because the quality is better. I have tried the transfiguration, and sort of liked it. My problem with it is that it seemed somewhat pale and thin when compared to the others we are discussing. You cannot complain about its detail and speed. I also thought it was not quite as convincing in the phase accuracy department. I have not heard the Symphonic line in my own system, so I will not make comments. On all these fine cartridges, the set up is so critical, that it would take two pages to stress the point. The tracking weight, for instance, is critical to two hundred's of a gram. This is no problem to hear!
