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How to choose a cartridge you can't hear on your system?

My personal cartridge history has gone from a humble Goldring to a decent Benz H2 and finally a Dynavector XV-1s.  Recently my 3 year old decided to break the needle on both my Dynavector and Benz (two arm setup).  This tragedy prompted a me to send my Dynavector out for re-tipping and the purchase of a new cartridge to sustain me through the expected rebuild period.  I bought a decent Sumiko Evo III.  

All of this is to come around to a realization.  In many ways, each cartridge brings something new to the table.  The Evo II had more solidity or weight to the sonic presentation than the others.  The Benz had a seductive warmth and the Dynavector a detailed nuance I most enjoyed.  I don't think it is possible to know ahead of hearing a cartridge in ones own system which brands house sound one prefers.  

I find cartridges to be the hardest audio component to buy.  How do you choose?  
chadlesko

Showing 2 responses by syntax

syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
chakster is correct with his opinion.
Price is no guarantee for good Performance. The differences in a cartridge family are subtle, mainly differences in the amount of coils, the kind of diamond and maybe the body. When I look for a cartridge I try to listen to it first somewhere to get an impression.
...and this MM nonsense.... well, each his own religion but after 20 years of trying to push the sonic curtain, to listen to a lot of Systems and having contact to manufacturers there is ONE rule:
Do not believe what some "manufacturers/experts" will tell you. Sitting in the front of a computer, everyone can write whatever he wants. I did visit a lot of them and you can not imagine how deaf they are in reality and how lousy/shrill/compressed their System is. In all those years, this shocked me most. They do "something", they find Fans for their "something" and after a while they believe in their average "talent" and think they created something outstanding.

syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
When I wrote my comment I did know that this will include myself. This is normal, I am not Jesus.
The best investment you can do, is to educate yourself. It is not easy, it will need some time but after a while you can rate something. To know what is responsible for what  is mandatory for a superior result (superior has nothing to do with a high price tag, it has more to do with "done right"). It is better than rolling a dice, isn’t it?

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