Synergy

@rvpiano Your is one more story worthwhile adding to the threads about Third Party Services treating a Cart' in need of a professional service.

I am an advocate of this methodology to have a Cart' overhauled and returned to service.   

My Rebuild, that is in use at present, was compared to another Cart' on a few occasions. The first being demo'd at very low hours, followed by approx' 100 hrs  and at approx' 200 hrs of usage.

The Cart' has been demo'd in this same system on later occasions as well, especially against other Cart's that are temporarily available.

The comparisons were 'all' on the same TT>TA>System to a Cart' from the same Brand, that was the Brands TOTR model from an earlier era, this Cart' had less than a few hundred hours usage, at the first comparison.

The rebuild shared some added components that the TOTR Cart' has in use for the design.

The voicing was very similar on all occasions, and my own Cart' certainly become a very worthy contender at the approaching 200 hrs of usage demo', this was when both Cart's Bass Notes were extending to almost identical frequencies and were decaying in a almost identical manner, it was the Mid's and Highs that were most noticeable for having a difference to their voicing.

Silver and Aucurum Coils / Boron and Beryllium Cantilevers, as well as the Cart's Body Mass, will be quickly identified as being responsible for voicing variation.

What was learnt is that Cart's can take time to find their true voice, and my build choices were seemingly very much in favour to all who were at the demo's.        

@rvpiano  It is these experiences like the one being shared between ourselves, that creates advocates for certain methods to have a musical encounter.

Buy New - have the Manufacturer receive the Cart at a later date, or have a Third Party Service receive the Cart' at a later date, it is not such a big deal, but it is to some and not to others. We are both in the 'not to others camp'. 

It does seem there is not the same stipulation when it comes to having a Cart' cleaned or evaluated for a Styli replacement or a damage, it seems a Third Party Service is an acceptable method for this.

I only want the Cart' to be used as a  tool to replay Albums, and it has proven to work exceptionally well or this role. 

@lewm As I have made known on this forum in the past, I gave up being insular, "man locked away in room with HiFi System" many many years past.

It has been this change of participation, from a lone enthusiast to a enthusiast, that has been participant in Social Activities / Group Activities in relation to my long term interest in Audio that has been the game changer.

Learning through experiences had is the only way I could discover a complete new direction for setting up my Audio experiences in my home. Not a Sales Ad, Media Review, or Forum Chit Chat, is a substitute for a ’sat in front off’ experience.

Add to the experiences had, the ones that others involved in social gatherings are willing to introduce you to, and things move on tenfold.

Do keep in mind my reference to my rebuilt Cart’ and comparisons is not new and was a revisit over the course of a few years, in conjunction with assessing a progression of a design for a Tonearm.

I do have upcoming experiences to share about TA Designs being evaluated through comparisons and Cart’ rebuilds on donor models to be used by myself and as a result of being invited to be demo’d ones that some friends have donors on standby for rebuild designs that are in the pipeline. I am assisting with purchasing one such donor model for a friend at this moment in time.

Then again I could have been uncommunicative, stayed at home, and educated myself by reading a few reviews and analysing the math about the latest whatever and let such alternate experiences pass me by.

@mulveling The Hana Umami Blue is now on my radar to have a demo’ of along with the Verismo. I have been kindly offered a demi’ of the Verismo by a Gon Member in the UK, who also has an Ortofon Anna and A95. This is an invite I wish to revisit during 2024.

Ortofon through a subsidiary, are Market Leaders in Damper Technology, there is a huge resource for R&D into this area, as they are producing small parts for the medical industry. The Verismo has a Damper material that has been produced through this new market activity.

In my view, there might be a time when Ortofon become far advanced to their competitors when it comes to Damping Materials selection / options because this in house resource and ongoing R&D.

My own system has been unchanging for quite a few years, there is a lot going on within it that justifies this. Nearly every purchase made now is of a Bespoke Produced device, the only unchanged Item that is a Brand is a PW Transport, other Brands are modified and much used is commission built.  

In the past year+ the system has commenced to be packed away, in preparation for a substantial revamp of the home. All Packs are in the listening room, so it is not quite the same space I designed, but CD at present can still be used.

I am now toying with not buying in Temporary Accommodation but putting something together that meets the needs, with the intention this will become the listening space for my main system and something less intrusive is used in the house. There is a lot of materials available to me for free or Transport Cost only to help with this as a plan.

Most of my musical encounters are now had within the homes of others, and most get togethers do have a theme and agenda, for a proportion of the time allocation, with about 25% being solely for musical encounters or new musical encounters.

@mulveling  I know the Sumiko Pearwood very well, I have heard the Cart' used on all TT Drives, but mainly BD's. 

I have heard it mounted on a SME V/12 and 2 x Origin live TA's I missed it on the upper in range OL as a 12".

Most recently it was demo'd on a Vertier TT > TA.

On all occasions the Pearwood sang in a way that was very very appealing, as a Cart' with a Wood Body, it certainly keeps itself up the ladder and avoids the label of full bodied. A underpinning of a Rich Tone will be more accurate as a description. 

It is not possible for myself to recommend a Cart' to add to a list, as I don't have a broad experience of Cart's used in domestic systems and residences, most are heard from the period when I attended commercial events and many of these are obsolete.

To help reign in the traits of the 20/20 that are known for being very revealing, and options that should not require too much monies look at the following:

1, The 20/20 Phono Pre' has load setting adjustment, speak to the producer and let them to suggest a setting to assist with High Frequency Roll Off, this might be all that is required.

2, I have had great success with 5mm Forex Foam used as a Platter Mat, this material in this thickness has kept all the wanted intricate detail from the recording, but added a Rich Tone at the expense of the Upper Frequencies. I am yet to meet anybody who experienced the 5mm in use across a variety of TT's, who are not impressed with the performance and bang for buck element. I got a batch of Forex Foam in 3mm and 5mm for approx' $30ish. I have been quite tempted to try this in 8mm as a result of the substantial jump in impression made between 3mm-5mm. 

3, A Signal Wire in a Cable produced with D.U.C.C Wire, has shown a Rich Tone in all the systems I have loaned such a Cable type to, a careful search could get a 6N Purity for $70 - $100+. 

4, A SUT 'will' add a Rich Tone at the expense of the highest frequencies and certain brands can Roll of the Highs very noticeably to make way for having a very weighty loose bass presence, a SUT loan would be the best practice for this method.         

@mulveling I too have options on owned Phonostage and SUT's.

I can also loan SUT's, Head Amp's and a few other Phon's especially SS to have the non Valve experience. 

Having the options, has for myself been very satisfying, especially when certain permutations have been Jaw Droppingly Good with some favoured Albums. 

Without such options, discoveries will be lesser in the making. 

@mulveling From experiences had to date, I have found that a Cartridge transforms in its capabilities as it leaves the £1500 - £2Kish cost and is a Cart' coming in at the High £2K's the £4K+ region.

There is a range of Cart's that are very likeable and even much admired in the lower price range. 

The Upper price range, is where I experience most Cart's in use today.

It is within this price range that experiences have left me with the impression, Cart's of this Value Transcend in performance and impression able to be made.

It is this impact of impression made, that makes the individual want to be broadening the range of impressions that have proven so attractive. I certainly don't see the desire to experience differing models and designs as an infliction being expressed by a compulsive consumer. Most experiences had that have been extremely attractive are on both owned and unowned Cart's.

My experiences have been that a Cart' that can make a extremely good impression, when coupled to a certain TA > TT, can repeat this impression made in multiple systems, and used through a variety of Phonostages.

As long as a Cart' has the voicing that has the fundamental attraction to a particular user, they are for me looking like a safe bet to recreate this trait in all set ups to be used.  

Hence, my interest in the Hana Umami Blue, does it really offer all that is stated to date for such reasonable monies. Then there is also the cockiness/confidence the owned system will most likely give a Cart' increased potential to improve performance, over some of the systems used giving the favourable reviews.  

The Head has evolved, we started with the impression made through exchanges of certain devices used for replaying a Vinyl LP, and now the Thread is a:

Not a Anologue Bass vs Digital Bass vs Silver vs Copper vs Streaming vs CD vs Vinyl vs SS vs Valve vs Near Field Live  Omni Directional vs Recorded Directional, etc, etc.

The list of trivial concerns, valuable time is spent on pondering, is seemingly futile as a pursuit.

There are plenty of entertaining moments being denied, with this type of energy usage. 

@rvpiano Enjoy your curiosity about different Interface available and discoveries to be made.