Which cartridges give the greatest amount of detail? Imaging, soundstage file detail. These are qualities to consider. I know Lyra cartridges are high on that list. What others equal or better Lyras. Is there anything below, say $1500, that is in that same category? Detail with reasonably flat frequency response.
I know you like your Grado XTZ, but given its age, it is probably not advisable to take its performance as a paradigm for all other MI or IM types. (I think those Grados are more properly thought of as IM [Induced Magnet], like my Acutex LPM320 and M320.) My own Grado TLZ ain’t what it used to be. You also mentioned ZYX cartridges as being detailed; I would agree.
My Grado was NOS, never used before, and has maybe 20hrs on it now, but it’s the same age as the AT-ML180 OCC and almost the same age as my all favorite vintage cartridges. Most of them are from the mid or late 80s. I do not use any new cartridges anymore, because none of them impressed me much and i will rather continue my search of the reasonably priced vintage rarities than will buy any overpriced new MC, MI, MM of today.
Grace ASAKURA ONE waiting my audition, that was top of the line MC cartridge, signature model of the founder of Grace (Asakura-San) from the 80s with Boron cantilever.
Never tried this ugly looking Acutex cartridges with extremely high compliance, but i doubt it can beat Audio-Technica AT-ML180 OCC with so many unique features in its design, the AT-ML180 goes for $1.5k easily on ebay nowadays, it’s more expensive than ART9. I remember Raul sweared on those Astatic MF100 and MF200 which are in fact mediocre cartridges compared to Glanz MFG-61. "Cartridge of the month flavour" has faded away.
I sometimes envy your level of absolute certainty about your cartridges and what you are hearing. I on the other hand am always a skeptic. My point about the grado was precisely its age since manufacture, not its hours of use. My TLZ, which used to be my favorite cartridge 30 years ago, deteriorated while in storage in its black cylinder. As to the excellence of the Acutex cartridge, get yourself an Acutex LPM320STR3, or M320, and then we’ll talk. My remarks do not pertain to any other Acutex models.
My memory is not that good, i'm sure it will be impossible for me to remember in 2048 how good or bad was one of my cartridges in 2018.
But what i know for sure is that some of the best cartridges does not get old and still circulated between collectors and audiophiles. People who're looking for fidelity buying 30-40 yeard old cartridges because of the sound quality. FR-7fz does not get old, because it has sealed suspension which never fails.
Maybe i will find the Acutex, one of them is on ebay now, but i don't like the design of this cartridge, reminds me cheap Ortofon OM series.
2048?? Yikes. I hope I make it that long but doubt I would remember which way the table rotates by then, much less be able to see well enough or stop the shakes to cue an arm. ;-)
I do not listen analog anymore. But, when I used to sell audio I auditioned one I will never forget. If detail is what you want? Hands down. Decca London cartridge. They can be a little fussy with certain arms. I was able to hear the snare buzz on Charlie Watts snare from sympathetic vibrations with other instruments when Charlie took a pause. It was an eye opener. That you usually only hear in real life. Just Google - Decca cartridges
What LP/Pressing with Charlie Watts allowed you to hear that level of detail? That's an LP I want to hear..and own!
Another question, what arm and ancillary gear up stream were you listening to?...that allowed the Decca to portray that level of detail. Just as a guess and as part of the system, are we talking of Quads here?
Then there is Top Wing which has introduced a brand new tech that is called "Coreless Straight Flux" and is a MM with a low output MC like characteristics. This is the new king of the cartridges IMO. Best of all you can replace the stylus for a fraction of the cost of MC and it still sounds better than a low output MC
There was a PBS program about the Library of Congress called "Save Our Sounds" (I have it on video tape). They look at each LP through a microscope and determine what type or shape the original cutting stylus was. They use the same shape playback stylus as was used to cut the record. Makes sense to me. Joe
Dear @believehifi: You " sound " as a seller. That LOMC cartridge is " more of the same ", it's another contender but nothing to die for.
The Top Wing is different and comes with an innovation but at a high price. Certainly I can't say is the " today king of cartridges " and I don't know which are/is the foundation for that statement.
Here the OP ask for detail. Had you listening in your today system one of the lowest output Colibri design?
Then there is Top Wing which has introduced a brand new tech that is called "Coreless Straight Flux" and is a MM with a low output MC like characteristics. This is the new king of the cartridges IMO.
This concept was introduced back in the days by Waltr O. Stanton in the 70s. Look for the Stanton 981LZ and 981LZ mkII (Stereohedron stylus tip), it was low impedance, extremely low output MM cartridge, it must be used with MC phono stage with recommended load above 100 ohm, but this is a Moving Magnet cartridge.
I am the North American Distribution for Etsuro Urushi and Top Wing.
@chakster
The Top Wing design is nothing like the Stanton. Trust me this has dethroned the greatest carts in the market. The Coreless straight flux is a true innovation.
I know that "Coreless straight flux" is something new, but the idea of making low impedance / low output MM to use with MC phono stage is not new.
@believehifi I am familiar with Excel Sound cartridges, the Etsuro Urushi looks very close to my Argent MC110 that was made in the 80’s by Excel Sound in Japan. There was also Argent Ruby and Argent Diamond version of the same cartridge (the difference is cantilever). I have 3 different Argent cartridges. Only Argent MC110 reminds me Etsuro Urushi, except for the lacquer finishing. I believe that Etsuro Urushi is nothing new, but just the updated version of the old Excel Sound top of the line cartridge from the 80’s, but for x10 price.
I agree with the poster who mentioned the Decca cartridges. However the tone arm used is critical - the cartridge has ver’y little damping and so the tone arm has to be very well damped. Far and away the best combination I’ve found is the London Jubilee (with its fine-line stylus) and the Well-tempered Amadeus turntable, with its golf-ball-floating-in-silicone tone arm. The sound is noticeably more detailed and more relaxed than the best digital sources I’ve tried, and streets ahead of a fancy Grado cartridge i’d Bought to copy recordings with, or a fancy MC I compared it with. in the old days the Deccan were a bit too edgy, and of course would hop skip and jump with abandon, but this combination solves all of those problems. now if only it would deal with the hole being off-center in the records...
I would like to chime in on the discussion of highest detailed cartridges, phono stages, cables, etc.
I just completed a replacement of my service entrance of the house which had a rather typical 200 amp breaker box with around 60 breakers all GE equipment. The main lines coming in from the meter outside were also typical heavy gauge aluminum and the main buss on the breaker box was aluminum. The reason for the change out was that I had been having a lot of peculiar problems with my new sound system; specifically my amps would go into over heating shut down or turning off due to lack of current under heavy loading (I do tend to play it loud in a 10,000 cubic foot room). I had been using a nice Parasound amp driving a pair of Bryston Model T's, but I thought that I needed more, so I picked up a pair of Anthem Statement M1 monoblocks which are rated at 2000 watts per channel at 4 ohms if driven by dedicated 240 volt mains, which I am doing. Even the M1's would go into protection occasionally when pushed, but not what I would call excessive pushing.
I was begging to think that I had something else going on as the house took a lightning hit which came in via the power service two years ago. I called a friend of mine who is a retired EE with Bell Labs/Lucent and formerly the US Coast Guard. This guy knows more than anyone I know about electronics. I asked him if a slight voltage drop under loading could be causing my issues. I wanted to try removing the breakers, cycling them after a hit of DeOxit 5 and a light spray to the contacts which clamp the buss. He said I was reading his mind; he felt I had a slightly high resistance issue on one or both of my lines which is causing a voltage drop when under heavy loading and that is why the amps go into protection mode. He asked me how the buss appeared in the panel and I said the aluminum was either silver plated or had a slight aluminum oxidation as is usual, but I doubt it's silver plated, so it has to be oxidation. He said "get that panel replaced! In fact get all the aluminum out, including all the main feeds from the meter" "you need to have it all changed out with copper only" Dave told me that more house fires have been caused by aluminum service entrances than anything else as the aluminum oxidizes or isn't installed properly with a proper coating of NoALOX; it all leads to elevated resistance with time and it heats up. Especially when the house is near the ocean, which I am.
So, out it all came; I had all new Siemens copper buss panels installed with Siemens breakers and new heavy 200 amp rated copper mains brought in through conduit to the panel.
Was there any noticeable differences? You bet there is! I find that I get much more output from the amps at much lower volume settings and I cannot push the volume as high as I used to or it's blistering to the ears.... plus, when I opened all the doors to the deck and really pushed it so that I could go outside, the amps have not gone into protection mode! Wow, first time. And I took temperature readings last night on the heat sinks of the M1's after hours of heavy use, they were reading around 90 degrees F on a very hot summer night. I mean they were about 5 degrees warmer than the ambient temperatures. This is approximately 10 to 15% cooler than before.
Now 'hear' is the best part: I could not believe how much dynamic range I am hearing. The upper mid range and upper range is far more present than before, far more detailed and the bass is faster, tighter and more powerful. I am amazed and when I reported this to my friend Dave, he said that of course I am going to hear this improvement as the amps are not seeing voltage sag under load, they are getting full delivery of current and when high demand for current with dynamic music occurs, they are delivering much more. The best way to describe this is that it's as if the power from the amps has doubled or more and the detail in the music is as if I just installed a $10K cartridge picking out things I have never heard.
Total cost for the change out by the electrician, $2600..... far less than buying a fancy new phono preamp and cartridge :) I cannot over emphasize the importance of using only copper mains and buss in the service entrance. Aluminum seems to very common in construction as it's less expensive and builders use it often. So if you are into great HiFi as we all are; inspect your service entrance!!
Hey BIF. I had an old Shelter 90X, needed replacing.
Got the Zephyr Star from Music Direct. Great price $1695. Worth every penny. Great sounding cart, a bit warmer than my friends Lyra Titan and Atlas. Not quite as detailed. But many of my audiophile friends here in Houston actually prefer the sound of the Zephyr Star. I even contacted Lederman to see if he would upgrade me I got so enthusiastic about Soundsmith. I still may go all the way to Hyperion, but this Zephyr is so nice, and rebuilds so reasonable, its hard to justify the extra $$$. They Hyperion is $8K.
One more recommendation for a London Decca. Its unique, no-cantilever design has been astonishing listeners for over 50 years. My Super Gold certainly astonished me. From its reputation, I was kind of expecting exaggerated dynamics and overwhelming 'slam', but what I heard was ... natural. Lifelike would be another good description. Imaging is the best I've heard by a considerable margin, able to reproduce duets, choruses and such so that one can follow each singer or instrument separately, or together, and switch between them effortlessly.
It is not the edgy, in-your-face, exaggerated-transient kind of detail, (unless that's on the recording), but rather (IMO) simply a more accurate tracing of the groove that preserves micro-dynamics as they are actually cut. Micro-dynamics like the quiver and breathiness of Elvis Presley's voice, enough to turn "Don't stop thinking of me" into "Don't stop the-hinking of me", because that's how he sang it. That's a blatant example, but I started hearing less obvious ones all over. And, when it's on the recording, it resolves into that elusive quality called "air".
At least that's what I hear on my Quads, when nothing downstream gets in the way, (like my current backup amplifier, alas). No SUT needed. I recommend getting it with a DeccaPod mounting adapter installed, at least that's how I ordered mine. Used it with Clearaudio Satisfy and Jelco SA-750L tonearms, the latter with a Yamamoto 'African Black Wood' headshell. I had none of problems or downright horror stories sometimes recounted with older models - just two of the easiest, most obviously right setups I've performed. Caveat - will hum with some DD tables, but not on my Technics SP25.
I very much agree with sqlsavior's advice to get the Decapod version of the London pickups. It is available for the Gold and Super Gold models, the Jubilee and Reference models not needing the Pod, as they don't suffer from the plastic mounting bracket the Gold and Super Gold (and lesser models) do.
As to arms for the demanding Londons (and earlier Deccas), another approach is to use them with a Townshend Audio Rock turntable, which incorporate a damping "trough" (containing thick silicon fluid) at the front end of the arm mounted on them. The trough provides the damping the Londons benefit from (some consider it mandatory), making a damped arm unnecessary.
In regard to the detail the op desires, the Decca/Londons are legendary at imaging (depth especially), one of their strengths. Another is their astonishing immediacy, presence, dynamics, and plain ol' excitement. Their sound in comparison to most other cartridges is very similar to the sound of direct-to-disk LPs in comparison to LPs made from tape recordings. The cartridge excels at reproducing the percussive element---the attack---of musical instruments. Nothing matches the Decca/Londons at reproducing drums, the sound of a plectrum on acoustics guitar strings, a piano played aggressively. Another strength is their ability at reproducing the "texture" of instruments---the "growl" of a bow being dragged across the strings of a cello, the tip of a drumstick "clicking" on a ride cymbal, the keys of a harpsichord "plucking" it's strings.
Many of us are familiar with those EMT cartridges. What is
curious by them is the output. We are used to low output
carts with probable assumption that they need less wire for
their coils. However this cart produces 0,9 mV output which
is like our ’’black swan’’.
This isn’t about detail per se, as I haven’t heard it yet. I have a Nakamichi MC-500, with a .9V output, like Nandric’s black swan. I don’t know yet if that’s sufficient to connect directly to standard input, or if I’ll still need a step-up.
But I’m curious. Does anyone know this cartridge? Even by reputation? It seems to be rare, as I find no info online.
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