No cartridge is good enough.


It appears that even the very best can't extract everything from the groove. Yes, along with table/arm.
Is there any way, theoretically speaking, to take cartridge design and execution to a much higher level?
What about laser instead of cartridge/arm? I know there was/is one company that tried. It didn't sound better and required cleaning records before each play. But laser could be improved. This approach didn't take off, it would seem.
inna
Atmasphere, there are totally different opinions, don't present what you say as a truth. Nor do I think that many would agree with you. Direct to disc is not considered the ultimate sound by everyone at all.
What I posted earlier is fact, not opinion. But there is a reason that tape has traditionally been used in the mastering process of LPs and that has to do with convenience. Recording a direct-to-disc LP is pretty hard- essentially the mastering engineer has to work with the musicians to create each track, and it all has to be right over the entire LP side, otherwise you have to record the entire side over again! Tape can be erased so is a lot easier to deal with.

Tape was originally conceived as a hifi medium by the Nazis during WW2. The first tape recorders were made by them; one of three known to exist in the world is on display at the Pavek Museum in Minneapolis  http://www.pavekmuseum.org/ 

The Pavek is a must-see for audiophiles.

Most people don't realize this but the LP has a lot of bandwidth. All modern cutting systems can put information in the groove up to 30KHz no problem- and it can be played back by nearly any magnetic cartridge- further, nearly all phono equalizers have had this sort of bandwidth going back 50 years. The LP system can go lower than tape can too- the limit being the mechanical resonance of the playback apparatus (7-12Hz). Its hard to get tape to go much below about 25Hz (tape speed being a big variable).

But quite often tape does seem to sound better than the LP. This is not because of the media, its because of how the LP is produced (how much care went into the individual mastering project) and how well (or not) that the LP is reproduced in the home. 
Well, Atmasphere, you would have to prove your 'fact'. And I look forward to receiving direct to disc records from you. I'll return them, no worries.
Inna, glad you are trolling here so the big boys can lay down some history and knowledge. The ELP system was failure IIRC, reviewers stated it never worked very well, thus its limited popularity in hifi circles.
If one is sincere about wanting to hear a direct-to-disc LP, they are available. Why expect someone else to send you one? Weird.
If ELP had been a failure it would have no popularity in HIFI circles at all.
I know that there are direct to disc records, but since Atmasphere is so sure with words, I want to hear his recordings and his records.