best is a bad word to use.....it belongs on magazine covers where no one will take it seriously.
for years i enjoyed the vdH Colibri.....i owned 6 different Colibri's. i felt it was more detailed and energetic than any other cartridge i had heard. i still feel that way. when everything is ideal it has that magical connection. but my tastes evolved and i have found that the Colibri seems too extreme......it is transcendant on the perfect Lp; but has too much high end energy for many Lps (and many listeners). it requires perfect set-up.
for a small group of Lps it might be hard to beat.
so to find the ideal cartridge involves finding the best compromise. or it involves multiple tt's, arms, and cartridges (which is my current direction).
currently i like the Lyra Olympos as an ideal all around performer among cartridges i have listened to in my system. but it cannot equal the Colibri on certain Lps.
so which is better? who can say? even in my own limited experience i cannot pick out a 'best'.
there are many cartridges out there which i have not heard so i would not have any idea of which would be my favorite.
for years i enjoyed the vdH Colibri.....i owned 6 different Colibri's. i felt it was more detailed and energetic than any other cartridge i had heard. i still feel that way. when everything is ideal it has that magical connection. but my tastes evolved and i have found that the Colibri seems too extreme......it is transcendant on the perfect Lp; but has too much high end energy for many Lps (and many listeners). it requires perfect set-up.
for a small group of Lps it might be hard to beat.
so to find the ideal cartridge involves finding the best compromise. or it involves multiple tt's, arms, and cartridges (which is my current direction).
currently i like the Lyra Olympos as an ideal all around performer among cartridges i have listened to in my system. but it cannot equal the Colibri on certain Lps.
so which is better? who can say? even in my own limited experience i cannot pick out a 'best'.
there are many cartridges out there which i have not heard so i would not have any idea of which would be my favorite.