It's my pleasure to show you how to make wallets defy gravity and levitate. 
But yeah, a true mono cartridge really brings new life to mono records. It was a revelation for me how good it is.
Showing 12 responses by dwette
I never went from a $5K to a $10 cartridge but I did go from a $5650 Dynavector XV-1s to a $12,995 Lyra Atlas Lambda SL (both have since gone up in price). As great as the XV-1s is, there's no contest. The Lyra spanks it in every category, and then some. But you also need to have the turntable, arm, and phono stage to take advantage of the improvements. I also have the Atlas Lambda Mono on my second tonearm. |
@luis223344 I have a lot of jazz/classical/rock mono records (hundreds). It was worth it to me to get another tonearm and a mono cartridge. Playing mono records with a true mono cartridge is so much better than playing them with a stereo cartridge and engaging a mono button. There’s better signal to noise ratio since the mono cartridge is insensitive to the vertical grooves that have no musical information (just adding noise otherwise). |
@luis223344 What’s nice about my setup is I have the exact mono counterpart to my stereo cartridge (Lyra Atlas: SL + Mono), both on identical tonearms on the same turntable. Both also run through the same phono-stage. I’ve been able to really see what a true mono cartridge brings to the table, i.e. comparing Atlas SL with mono button engaged vs the Atlas Mono. Some mono records almost sound stereo with the depth of soundstage the mono cartridge adds, and they play so quiet since the mono cartridge ignores the noise of the vertical grooves. I think it’s worth it if you have a collection of mono records you play often enough. |
If you don’t have the turntable, arm, phono cables and phono-stage to support a high-end cartridge you might not hear much of a difference between $5k and $10k. A $10k cartridge might just as well expose the flaws of the system as anything if you don't have the supporting gear. OTOH: if you have a maxed out analog front end, one can take good advantage of the higher end cartridges and get pretty big bang for the buck. In that case going from $5k to $10k can produce marvelous results. That’s how I feel about where I am with mine. |
Go home $5K and $10K cartridges. You're all drunk. https://trackingangle.com/features/clearaudio-launches-new-flagship-diamond-jubilee-mc-cartridge |
That's not at all how I personally describe my Lyras. The HF is very smooth and silky. It sounds beautiful with every kind of music I have played with it. It's a somewhat similar sound of the better Dynavectors, IMO (I have a XV-1s). I also have an older Clearaudio Concerto V2. That's a cartridge I feel has tipped up HF, with a midrange that's too anemic and analytical for my taste. I especially don't care for it playing classical music. |
@rvpiano @mulveling Regular albums absolutely do benefit from higher end cartridges. That's a big part of the reason I have gone down that path of upgrades. If I just cared about boutique audiophile reissues I would have been done upgrading long before many of the changes/upgrades I have made in recent years. My primary motivation for system improvements is to bring more out of all the regular records I have collected over the last 50+ years. I think one of the biggest benefits I get out of using my Lyra Atlas Lambda SL is how well my old classical records (from 60s, 70s, etc) play with it. The audiophile records already sounded great with lesser cartridges. The regular records benefited more, IMO. |
No, but that may come to pass, based on my experience with how very good the Boulder 1108 phono-stage is. I have a Naim Audio NAC 252/Supercap DR preamp + Naim NAP 300 DR power amp, with Dynaudio Confidence C2 Platinum speakers and a pair of REL S/510 subs. I was using a Naim Superline + Supercap DR phono-stage, but after adding a 2nd tonearm I needed something with dual phono inputs, but I wanted something that is not a downgrade from the Naim phono-stage. The Boulder ticked all the boxes. If I ever decide to move on from my Naim 252/300 I have (which is quite excellent) I would first audition a Boulder 1110/1161 series for pre/amp, based on how good the phono-stage is. My digital front end is a Naim NDX2/XPS-DR. I won’t make any changes there, for the simple reason I just don’t play digital that much in my main system as I do analog. |
@atmasphere they also play test pressings in the record plant during the manufacturing cycle. I’ve been on tours of the AS/AP/QRP facility in Salina. They have a small room next the one where all the presses are located. I’ve observed a plant engineer take a record off the press and go into that room to play it. I was told they do that periodically for quality assurance. They might not sit there with a stopwatch playing the whole thing (I don’t know), but they at least do spot checks. I can’t speak to other plants but that’s what they do at QRP. I’ll bet it’s the same at RTI, Optimal, Pallas, etc. |