Cartridge Opinions - Sorry

Dear @kennyc :  "  I fail to understand the purpose of ranking components by value. I see often contentio.......... ""

Well that's you because other of us think different. The first post about was:

"  The big deal you're going to find is that if the tonearm properly tracks the cartridge, then the choice of cartridge is far less important than people make it out. "

followed by this other post from the same person:

" I discovered that the arm is more important when ".....


You said:

""  I also surmise that few check the accuracy of stylus to cantilever mating.  ""

I posted in the first page:

"  Every audiophile knows the importance to match the cartridge/tonearm combination and to make an accurated geometry alignment.  Now, we can have a great cartridge mounted in a great tonearm and even can't shows at its best if the TT/cartridge/tonearm overall alignment/geometry set up is not made it accurately "

I can add that almost everyone knows that it's the cantilever/stylus the ones that be align in the protractor.

These info comes from a tonearm manufacturer:


"""  Our Opinion on Component SignificanceComponentPerformance SignificanceTurntable 23%
Tonearm 17%  Cartridge5%  Phono Stage 25%   15% Amplifiers
15%Speakers   """


Your post about looks useless but is your opinion and I respect it.

R.





  

Dear @klooker :  What happens with what you posted in the OP:

"  I could possibly go higher if there is something out there that really shines for less than $1,500.  ""

Good luck with your Hana and that can fulfill your needs/priorities.

R.

@rauliruegas 
One thing I realized is that I needed to be able to do my own setups - hence the purchase of the protractor.

After that purchase my budget was reduced and so were my options. 

I spoke with a couple distributors who both recommended the Hana ML. One was out of stock and he still recommended it instead of trying to sell me something he had in stock. Maybe they make more margin on the Hana's, I don't know. Being able to buy a cartridge with a USA warranty also made me feel better. 

Anyhow, I'm not disappointed with the cartridge. The only thing I don't like about it is the shape of the body - it's difficult to gauge where the cantilever is without getting your face down to its level.

I'm sure this won't be my last cartridge.

First of all Raul, I did not denigrate the SME arm. It was a great arm in it's day. It is not as good as some others by virtue of it's geometry. I generally reserve denigration for uni pivot arms. I hate to say this but that turntable system? is a mess. You need to clean that up. A record clamp that massive is not necessary with vacuum hold down. It is bad for your bearing. Belts that long are also a problem.
I am grad for you that you can afford a Formula 1. Maybe some day I will be able to also. 
Value is an important issue for most of us. We want to get the most for our money but we also expect performance to be within a certain envelope. Those of us on a budget or who are married look for the least expensive item that will get us there. I am more likely to trust the opinion of someone on a budget than someone who can spend anything they want. For those people if it is more expensive it has to be better. 

Now granted there are a few talented experienced folk that can reach optimization by ear, but many/most have not experienced “optimum”. @atmasphere seems to be alluding that there’s much more performance that can be wrung out of your existing cartridge if it is not yet optimized.

This. +1 

Due to the crude adjustments or complete lack of adjustments on many arms, optimizing the cartridge is very difficult if not impossible! If ever there were things that cause analog to be problematic as opposed to digital, this is certainly one of the big ones. Flip that coin over- if you have an arm where every adjustment is easy, and add to that no arm tube resonance and no chatter in the bearings then you can get the cartridge to perform.


I can give many examples but a small one is this: If you wish to optimize VTA using an SME5 it is done by raising the arm. But first you have to use a tool to loosen the arm pillar from the base. Then you can use the threaded rod on the left side of the arm that bears against the mounting plate, thus raising the arm. Did you go too high? backing up the adjuster does not cause the arm to sink- you have to push it down. Hint: Apply a dot of white paint to the top knurled knob (which should be several times larger) so you can count the number of turns you've set up... watch it though- when you loosen the arm pillar, the arm can rotate with respect to its base. Point is- its tricky. With the arm I have now there are two graduated scales and I can adjust the VTA on the fly. This design has been copied by a lot of arm manufacturers but SME isn't one of them. 


Arm tube resonance is the simple fact that the arm tube is made of something, and that something can vibrate. It should be damped so it can be neutral. Most arms have nothing in this regard- some do. Now if your arm tube is editorializing while you are trying to play music, will your cartridge perform the way it should? Of course not. If the bearings in the arm chatter because they are set slightly loose, same thing. If the bearings are in the plane of the arm tube rather than the LP surface, same thing.


I master LPs. I know what the master tapes sound like, and how LPs produced thusly are supposed to sound. I heartily recommend to anyone to do something similar- at the very least get a nice set of microphones and record something you can stand to listen to and get it mastered to LP. Then you will have a reference. This is invaluable!


The bottom line is as quoted above.