I'd think a well-seasoned Koetsu Roswood would be well worth rebuilding.
However there are some caveats. If the last re-tipping you did was not by Koetsu, they may not accept the cartridge for rebuild. The only place that rebuilds Koetsu to sound like a Koetsu is Koetsu. If it was done somewhere else, you have some kind of hybrid, that is not really a true Koetsu any longer.
If this is the case, I would recommend getting a different cartridge like the Shelter. The arm/cart matchup will be almost exactly what it was with the Koetsu. The Shelter cartridges have a compliance rating of 9cu, and so does the Koetsu. Weight is also similar.
The Shelter 501 or 901 are awesome cartridges, and would not disappoint you. They are made by some of the old guys that used to build the Fidelity Research cartridges in the old days, that were considered to be competition for the older Koetsu. The Shelters have the classic Japanese MC cartridge sound and are continuing that tradition. There are not many others who are. Also, the Shelter cartridges are very affordable compared to the others, and the sound is competitive with the best. |
I just read the IAR review of the MDB cartridge. It gave it very high praise. It is available for $5500 for the basic model from Damoka Distribution in NY.
If you read the description, you find it has a special diamond shape made in Switzerland. This leads me to believe it is a European made cartridge. They also say it sounds exactly like the master tape, and has none of the "lush" sound that "romanticizes" the music. What that really means, if you read between the lines, is that it is like the other European cartridges that have all the right "audiophile" characteristics, but are lifeless and sterile. Just what I would expect from another Euro cart. If you like the Koetsu, FR, and Shelter, expect a big letdown from this MDB cartridge. I haven't heard it, but the warning signs are there. |
Maxgain, I have had a number of disagreements with Moncrieff's opinions in the past. I have no way of knowing what this MDB cartridge sounds like personally, and he may be right on the mark.
But after reading enough reviews, you can sort of judge what the guy is saying by certain statements. And add to that the typical sonic flavor of the rest of the stable of highly regarded Euro carts, and the conclusion that I'm obviously jumping to, is pretty clear. I've heard similar comments about alot of Euro cartridges, and the fact is that they're real good at tracking and getting all the steps right, but they can't dance. |
Yes, the EMT's were nice. That was in the old days. If they only kept on that track instead of the one they are on now, I wouldn't be saying this stuff. Some of the Ortofons are still good, but no reviewers pay any attention to them. It's like there is some kind of conspiracy to eliminate musical cartridges from reviews or something.
The Shelter is kind of hard to find out about, but there are a couple of reviews on it on the web. They come up on a Google search.
These cartridges are for the people who liked the old style Japanese MC sound, and not everybody does. But for music, you can't beat them. They keep the music "whole" and don't break it into a hundred little audiophile pieces. There is a presentation in these cartridges that gives a lifelike feel, and the emotion is conveyed in a unique way. They don't attempt to achieve numeric perfection, but seek to convey the emotion and soul of the musical performance, and that is what I want out of my system. |
I know that the high-end ZYX R-100 Fuji is one killer cartridge. It's as good as a Shelter 901, but a little different in the way it does things. It is slightly better than the 901 on small scale music, and the 901 is a little better on large scale stuff. Nothing that I know of can beat the 901 for accurate bass response, and natural tonality. Not too sure how the lower end ZYX stuff is. I heard that their $1k model was the OEM for the Monster Alpha cartridge. Not sure about that.
I have not heard the Sumiko Blackbird, but I'm not holding my breath about it. It is supposed to be an upgrading of the Blue Point Special, and is even on a similar platform. The BPS was a barking dog, and needed replacing in a major way. If Sumiko was smart, they'd resurrect the old Supex MC line, and that would sell like hotcakes, just like it used to, back in the day. |
I will tell you that a really musical cartridge in the very reasonable price range, is the Denon DL103R. I used one of those for several months before getting my Shelter 501, and it is a jewel of a cartridge, for the money. Very similar in character to the Shelter, and very detailed and dynamic, with the "wholeness" in the presentation. I would highly recommend this cartridge to anyone wanting really nice musical sound for very low money. It could stomp on a number of $1k cartridges, with no trouble at all. And it only costs $230. |
Yes, I'm old and in the way. |
Well I may get some flack for this, but you couldn't give me a Grado. Never liked them.
The stylus shape of some cartridges can make a noise difference, but my experience has always been that the phono section is more problematic in that area than the stylus shape. All records will put out some kind of ticks and pops, and the key is to have a phono section with a high overload margin, so it doesn't overload when all that wideband hash from the pops hits it. If the phono section doesn't overload, all you hear is a small click. If it overloads, you hear an amplified "explosion" as it amplifies the overload down the chain. This is one reason why alot of people like tube phono sections, because they don't have near the overload problems of alot of SS units. Naim has a very good phono section with a high overload margin, and they give very quiet operation with clicks and pops. That's the trick that most people don't know about. I had a conical stylus with my last DL103R, and 103, and have eliptical now with the Shelter, and noise was about the same. I am using a modded MFA tube preamp with a good phono section and NOS tubes.
For cleaning, I made my own record cleaner out of a lazy susan, with some cork coasters on it to protect the record. I then got a paint pad with those little nylon bristles for cutting in on wall painting. That works great for getting into the grooves. I use a 25/75 mix of alchohol/distilled water for the solution. For vacuuming, I got a used Bissel rug and upholstery cleaning machine at a yard sale for $2, and modded the nozzle to be correct for vacuuming the record. I protected the nozzle with industrial Velcro strips, like a Nitty Gritty does. I rotate the record on the lazy susan while applying the fluid with the paint pad, and work it all the way around. Then I turn on the Bissel, and vacuum it all off. Works great. Then I flip the record over and do the other side. The whole rig cost me about $12. It does as well as the Nitty Gritty or VPI, but doesn't look as cool. But it cost a whole lot less, and it works. |
The current equivalent of the 103c is the 103. They dropped the c designation, but it is the same cartridge that they have made since 1961. I had one of those prior to my 103R. The 103R is way better. It has smaller coils of 99.9999% OFC copper, and slightly lower output, and sounds great.
As far as poor tracking goes, that is the fault of the arms that it is used in, not the cartridge itself. The compliance of the 103 is very low, and puts alot of energy back into the arm, and very few arms can really handle this cartridge well. The arm is really causing the mistracking that is heard with this cartridge. It needs a fairly high mass arm, with great bearings. |
Edle, I got my 103R from a member called Martin, who advertises a running ad on the Audiogon classified analog section. I haven't checked recently, but the last time I looked, he was selling them for $230. He is in Singapore, and is a reliable vendor. They are not imported into the US, so they can't be gotten here. You must order from overseas. If the ad is not there, use the member lookup, and email him. He will get back to you. |
Max, the Celebration does look like the old Supex 900, and it may even be that. I haven't heard one, but when I saw a photo of one, I was encouraged. But $1500 is a bit much for a Supex 900, don't you think? |
Yes, the FR-64 was a great one. Still highly regarded today. |
Max, what TT/arm are you using it in? |
Well, Max, the Shure should do ok in that arm. I think that maybe you have gone the wrong way in cartridge selection. When you like the sound of Japanese low compliance, low output MC, and then go to American high compliance, high output MM, you have to expect alot of difference.
If the price is a major factor, then the Denons, or the Ortofon X5-MC would be real nice. The X5-MC is a reasonably high output MC that is around 2mv, so it might work in your ARC MM phono section, without a transformer, if you have enough gain to support a 2mv cart.
The same guy, Martin, is also selling the X5-MC for around $115, which is way below the $325 retail.
I found that once I got hooked on low compliance, low output Japanese cartridges, I couldn't listen to anything else. You might consider this, because that might be what's driving you out of analog. |
You gotta get a good one, and they're not cheap. The best I know of that you can get new, would be the EAR MC3, and the Shelter 411. The good used ones are the Cotter Mk2, like I have, but it has a very funky loading system, and requires soldering jumpers, and the correct diagram to tell you which ones to solder. Also some of the more expensive Ortofons are good, and of course the $6k silver wound Audio Note Kondo model is real good. If you can DIY, Bent Audio offers some raw transformers with schematics, so you can make your own for about $400. Or you could find some Lundahl or Jensen raw transformers, and do the same thing.
The $100 stuff isn't going to get you where you want to go. The good stuff is $800 and up. Sad, but true. |
The Studer thing is a pure sine wave power inverter, that allows me to use a 12vdc battery bank to power my preamp, which is the only part of my system which is AC powered. All my other stuff is purely 12vdc battery fed.
The inverter takes the 12vdc battery voltage and steps it up to 120 volts, and creates a 60 cycle sine wave out of it, so it can be a fully regulated 120vac power source, that uses the batteries to get the power from. This totally eliminates using any street-mains power for my system, and is much cleaner than any power conditioner could ever be. The Studer Inverter is less than .05% total distortion of the line current at full power, and has no noise or hash on the line. It was designed to power portable audio/video recording equipment in the field. It has a perfectly timed 60 cycle frequency, and fully regulated power feed. The sine wave production is perfect, with no sawtoothing. It is perfectly quiet and distortion free, and none of the phase drift or power grunge of normal street mains power.
I wanted to go all DC, but I have not had the custom preamp made for me yet, to achieve this. The preamp is the only AC powered device left in my chain. You would not believe what a difference battery power makes to the sound of this system. |
I buy all used records off Ebay and A'gon. You can get NM condition ones for under $10 most of the time. I also think that the original prints sound better than the new re-releases anyway. |
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Hey, I gotta get some work done. Signing off. |
Hi, I'm back. Here's a little info from the Audio Note Kondo site on MC Step ups:
"Due to the extremely low output, we do not recommend the use of active moving coil stages for any of the Audio Note cartridges, as they do not offer the linearity and general noise level necessary to get the best yield from the Io cartridges, this requires a transformer."
Now if it's good enough for Kondo-San, it's good enough for me.
I have found that my experiences have also borne out his findings. I use a Cotter Mk2, and I like it. If I could afford the $6k AN silver wound transformers, I'd certainly give them a shot.
What do you guys think? |
The Jensen transformers are pretty good, and are sometimes included in some of the better phono stages to provide the MC input stage.
I think that the transformer should be located as close to the tonearm as possible, to boost the signal at the earliest possible point, so the information losses from these very low level signals traveling along the wire is minimized. |
Hi Rockinroni.
Yes, I use a Shelter 501 right now, and it's very nice.
I have not owned an AT OC-9 personally, but have heard them many times. They are quite a nice cartridge, and have been sort of a cult item for years. Not in the league of the Shelter, but better than alot of cartridges in its price range. I'd have to say that on my arm, I prefer a Denon DL103R in the lower price ranges, but that's a personal preference, and some may like the OC-9 better. |
Here's a link to the Jensen transformer page with all the criteria for selecting the right one.
http://www.jensen-transformers.com/mc.html
Yes I'm talking about VDH and Clearaudio mainly. Benz has a couple of carts that are ok, like the LO-.4, and the Glider at a lower price point. Mostly all Euro stuff is overpriced and has a zippy high end. Also too clinical, and lacking life.
And yes, it is happening with cables and stuff too. There seems to be a marketing trend that is going for impressive high end detail that is unnatural and tiresome. The same goes for alot of speakers.
The Ortofons that I like tend to be the older ones or the ones derived from those older models. I still like the Jap cartridges better, though.
And Clearaudio and VDH are ridiculous. The Shelter 501 will beat the VDH $5k Black Beauty, and I don't like any of the Clearaudios.
So when we realize that this is happening with the products, it becomes harder to find the musical stuff, and we really have to work hard to find it. It is almost never put in front of our noses, because all the magazines and dealers are showing us some German engineer in a white lab coat, with his spec chart saying," Alles is Gut!" Then they want us to pay $5k for this Teutonic spec chart wonder, that is about as lifeless as a dead carp laying on the dock.
So that's why nearly all my audio equipment is considered "wierd" or is totally unknown to most people. I have to go out of the mainstream to get what I want. There are still manufacturers out there who know what musical sound is, but they are getting fewer. And everyone is being sold a new case of "audiophile fever" every month.
Think about it. If you sell them something that will satisfy them, they won't be looking to upgrade next month. If you sell them something that is initially impressive, and will drive them out of the room after a month, they will be in the market again looking to upgrade. More sales.
I remember hearing once that McDonalds purposely put uncomfortable seats in their dining rooms, so people would just eat and get out, to make room for more customers.
This has become an industry that is putting money ahead of everything else. It is up to us to spend the time and effort to find the products that make sense for us. This is why I keep talking about this stuff that I've found that works good. Somebody has to do this. |
Sorry Jack. I thought that I might ruffle a feather or two with that comment. Just my opinion. I'm sure your rig sounds great. Different people like different things. Not everyone would like what I have.
I probably should have worded my comment a little more diplomatically. :^)
I'm glad you're listening more and enjoying it. That's what it's all about. |
Roni, thanks. My jaw is also on the floor, every time I turn that amp on and listen to it. Lak will be on the vinyl boat soon. |
