Dear @pani @lewm : I don't know why both of you are so incisive about the FW when I can see is not of interest for you and certainly not for me.
Btw, Magico recommend 20 watts amp ( and up ) for the model I listened.
You have your own reasons for your posts about but no one of you listened what I experienced with, so why insist to put the issue so controversial.
Whom cares?, not me.
Lewm 3-way speakers has several advantages and certainly as anything in audio has trade-offs that depends on the design quality.. I know very well your speakers and certainly are not perfect, so what are you talking about?
R. |
Dear @pani : Speaker efficiency/sensitivity of 91db like the Magico I listened means that you can get 91db SPL at 1 meter with 1watt and 91db is high volume for any one.
Speacker impedance curve is other parameter to take in count but as I posted I did not be aware of any problem where I can tell the amp was in " trouble " handling the Magico's.
R. |
Dear @johnss : """
forget LOMC carts from some of the holly grail brands... ""
why should any one do that with out testing/evaluated different cartridges?
You said " ( no names ) but this is the really important issue in your post so if you can share with us the information/first hand experiences you have, it's of true interest to every one.
R. |
Dear @lewm : According reviews with measurements about the Magico differences in sensitivity are only of 0.5-0.8 dbs.
I can't recall model, I was not interested on it. Are you interested on FW?, you can make a call to NP he is really friendly.
Anyway, better if we come back to the OP thread.
R. |
Dear @pani : I think the Magico stays around 90db-92db that's a friendly sensitivity, of course is not a horn design.
In the other side we were listening at around 85db-87db SPL.
I did not been aware of something that could told me a problem with the FW handling the Magico.
Lewm it had to be the " rigth " FW amp because the audio distributor target was to shows its very high quality performance on the FW, the FW just can't achieved that target at least no contest vs the XA. As I said part of the mediocrity/average and if you ask me I can't live with satisfaction audio level with FW but I can do it with the XA ones.
The XA "
should be superior to the FW based on cost alone..."
From NP I would like to listen his XS series.
R. |
Dear @lewm I forgot about what you ask me in one of your posts about cartridges, megabucks cartridges.
First I really don't listen yet all the 8K+ cartridges out there, I think that like around 10 of them only and no I did not find out one of them that was not up to its " major league " quality performance levels.
As a fact in this " major league " cartridges all sounds more alike than different, its differences in between exist and our choice is only limited my our music/audio preferences but ceratinly not for cartridge limitations.
Of course that what can add some limitations could be our room/system overall resolution and quality whole performace level but even here those cartridge never losted its very high " pedigree ".
In the past I bougth almost every new " major league " design but when suddenly those kind of cartridges prices gone to almost the double I hd to stop buying it becuse I don't have that kind of money. Lucky I'm with friends that own those cartridges and that way I have the opportunity to listen these elusive megabuck cartridges.
In the other side with cartridges in the 3K-6K price range the differences between the cartridges are significant and higher that with the differences in between the major league samples.
Btw, other than the speakers that you do not like at your friend place maybe the Durand tonearm could not be the best match, even that the Telos is a dual pivot bearing design is not totally stable and that's why Durand new tonearm design is a gimbaled one and the today top of the line ( VPI did it the same too before. ), maybe your friend can borros the Etna for your system.
Now that I remember one gentleman that I think you know is Dgarretson that I think gone from the ART ( I believe the 7. ) to the Etna, you can be in touch with him. What I knew is that was satisfied with.
lewm, with a major league cartridge sample no one can go wrong. Yes we have to have more care in the overall cartridge set up for it can shows at its best and maybe we have to have a music/sound good maturity levels.
Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R. |
Dear @lewm : I had a rare opportunity to listen the First Watt and XA NP designs in the same system with Magico speakers.
Differences are not nigth and day in favor the XA amplifiers but way notorious. First Watt is a " so so " amplifier and nothing more where the XA is in a different " world " at quality performance levels.
Personal preferences dictates each one audio items judgements.
Anywat NP electronic designs are very good and competitive. I remember the very old Threshold S 5000E and the SA-1 when in those times NP preference belongs to bipolar devices instead today MosFets or Jfets. I'm with bipolars as output devices but at the input too and I don't like transformers at the input as in the SIT FW amplifier. Well there is no perfect electronic designs, trade-offs always exist.
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Dear @pani : """
It is a pity that so many of them are out there to screw up the sound of the original music. Then there are reviewers who give them 10/10, to make things even more miserable.
Only a handful of the manufacturers today really know how to preserve the signal while improving fidelity. In that respect good old vintage stuff was much more consistent. """
I agree with @lewm on his post about modern/today electronics ( and I can tell cartridges too. ).
I don't know from where came your " screw up the original music ". For me that makes no sense because today designs not only are better designs but as lewm mentioned way better passive and active parts and this means THAT ALMOST ALL THESE MODERN DESIGNS ARE TRUER TO THE RECORDING WITH A LOT LESS " COLORATIONS "/DISTORTIONS. Why do you think " srew up the original MUSIC?
No one can make recordings of original music preserving exactly the same, it's no way my friend.
" Vintage stuff was much more consistent? " I don't know for sure what you are talking about,sorry.
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Dear @jbhiller : I read that your budget is between 2k-5k but maybe is a misunderstood by my self.
Anyway, December is " down the corner " so my take is to re-tip the ART 9 and look for money for the Etna or something similar in that league at " " fair " price.
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Dear @jbhiller : Over 90% of we music lovers/audiophiles belongs/own cartridges in the average/mediocre quality performance and only 5%-8% really own and KNOW the differences between the " mediocrity " and the very top true quality cartridge performance.
Normally many of us can't own and play in the big/major cartridge league/class because its extremely high prices, inssane for we " mere mortals ".
The Lyra Etna/Atlas, Anna diamond, Goldfinger and the like belongs to that " major league " where almost all the cartridges named here just can't " touch " it, not even near of it. As I said is other totally different " league " no matters what.
The vintage ones are part of that " mediocrity ". I owned and still own several vintage cartridges and made it " thousands " of evaluations against modern designs and if it's true that some vintage ones can compete with today designs it's true that are far away to compete with the " major league ".
Btw, @lewm the ART2000 ( that I owned ) is a BS of MC AT cartridge and I have a great respect for AT because I owned or listened almost all its past/today cartridge catalogue.
I think that when any one of us are taking opinions from other gentlemans and especially in cartridges we have to be sure which kind of quality performance could have the home system of the gentlemans that offered those opinions, against which other cartridges made it its evaluations in their own systems and their priorities/preferences in music/sound quality performance.
For many of us is very easy to spend " other person money ".
I had the opportunity to have in my system not only the Etna or the Goldfinger but other " major league " cartridges when I made a review of a vintage cartridge.
The top cartridges came from friends of mine that were at my place during that evaluations/tests in my review. So I'm talking by first hand experiences.
Yes I own several cartridges in the mediocrity quality performance where some of them can give us 80%-85% of the quality performance of a " major league " one. Yes, that additional 10%-15% of quality performance has its price a very high one but it's worth to listen it and better yet to have/own it.
@jbhiller the Etna is inside your budget and it's a major league player, it's a bullet proof alternative you will not found out any sign of the mediocre carrtridges as the AT9 and almost all we named here: is a total different " game ".
Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R. |
Dear @lewm : Yes, the Etna is more expensive than 5K but I linked to the OP a very good offer for it.
R. |
Dear @uberwaltz : @slaw : obviously that the ART 7 in LPGear is original. Now this cartridge was out of production by more than two years but seems to me that AT is manufacturing it again or are samples from their last production:
https://www.audio-technica.com/cgi-bin/product_search/cartridges/cartridges.pl?lang=eng
Of course that has the AT whole warranty and you can try it. However for the @OP I think that Lyra Etna is extremely hard to beat and can't go wrong with. R. |
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