ClearAudio Essence MC


Well . . . . moved recently and ended up bending ever-so-slightly my Clearaudio Symphony MC stylus.  That cartridge has no repair/rebuild possible (sad . . . . ).

So the Co offering me reasonable deal on newer (Essence or Talisman Gold V2) cartridges.  They've been described to me as 'modern sounding' when compared to my older cartridge . . . . 'exciting' . . . . . Hmmmmmm . . . . ?
So perhaps one of these, or open my thoughts for once in 15 years to others . .

But my question: any user opinions on the Essence MC?
In use as such:
VPI Scoutmaster SigClearaudio Symphony + PrePlinius 9200
Thanks for any/all with this
beans57

Showing 1 response by beans57

Thanks for the input.
Yes, using JMW-9 Memorial Signature tonearm with Scoutmaster.  Believe it has a slightly heavier effective mass than the regular JWM-9 but I have conflicting info on that.
That Symphony was a fairly neutral sounding cartridge with that setups (and its compliance was 15) and that is by far what I'm continuing to seek out in a replacement.  So the 'modern sounding' . . .'exciting' . . . 'lively' . . . terms that were tossed my way by sales and the Co itself doesn't really sit well with me, although understood perhaps I'm reading more in that than there is.  Its just this time around retirement isn't too far off and reckless sums of money 'are' i.e. I'm not going to be in a position much longer to start laying down coin to try out things and keep replacing until I find something I like.  Living out in the sticks compounds that issue.  So with my own wits and a collection of anecdotes and opinions, I'll feel better making a decision on this.
I was eyeballing an Ortofon Cadenza Bronze that seems closer to what I was looking for.  No 'deals' with that as with Clearaudio's decent replacement program . . . up here (Canada) dropping $2500 down to get it.
one thing in all of this:  I'd really like the cartridge to be serviceable for rebuilds.  Waiting on a confirmation regarding that from Clearaudio, but I had a couple people point out to me that more than a couple long standing companies 'do' offer that ability in how they construct their cartrdiges.  That is a 'huge' plus after seeing this $1800 CDN Symphony having this bend and absolutely nothing can be done about it.
Thanks again