Synergy

@rvpiano  : Classical orchestra recording scores almost always are a challenge for cartridge/tonearm/phono stage.. I love those kind of recordings where several of them I experienced live.

R.

@mijostyn : " It leans towards the bass.." that says to me not a good or to good performer.

No, you are unstable because you are as you said still in the " trip ". Every 2-4 months you post that " this or that is the Best cartridge ever heard " ( yes , years ago I was there. My posts and even threads confirm it. ) ). Never say different but the best that it just does not exist. Sorry for my reply, no pun intented now it was enough and you are a wise gentleman.

R.

@rvpiano  : Yes, the Maestro ( that I owned ) is better quality performer and you should be really satisfied with.

R.

@rvpiano : Less rthan a month ago you posted:

" Voila, the system came to life after break in like never before. "

" My system never sounded so good. "

"  I might  have been a little premature in my evaluation.  Most things really sound good.  "

" Maybe being too compulsive! ", extremely compulsive when your  Clearaudio is almost new and you can be sure that needs a luittle more time and after that time you need to make a check up of the cartridge/tonearm set up and start a proccess to fine tunning it through palying with VTA/SRA, VTF, etc, changes.

Before spend in a new cartridge as fast you want maybe after that fine tunning if you are not satisfied then an IC cable could help about.

Any new cartridge will " present " to you a different MUSIC reproduction approach but not necessarily a better one.

Many times the brigthness comews in the recording and we have to remember that live MUSIC has brigthness too.

Anyway, up to you.

R.

mijos: " the critical importance of CONTNUITY for the MUSIC can flow in natural way as in live events. "

I think that your mind unstability comes from that system " unstability " : "  thus the odd combination ", that's part of the system unstability.

Never mind, it's ok with me.

R.

@mijostyn  : " I am still enjoying the trip." I'm not questioning you bu it's weird that a gentleman as you ( I consider you as an experienced audiophile. ) and till all your audio years " still in the trip " and in the orther side it's weird rtoo that you comment nothing about " continuty ". No matters what tube signal proccessin is different to the SS alternative where each one has its own signature same happens with digital/analog domains.

Continuity it's not if " this or that " is better in a frequency range: NO, continuity is not a a tree but the whole forest.

Anyway, only a simple opinion that obviously can't help you.

R.

Dear @mijostyn  : " My mind changes all the time and in it's own little world it is entitled to do so. ..."

Yes as many of us but you changed overall suddenly in the last 2 years and I want to share with you my take about.

In the past I experienced in my system different amp/speaker set up: bi-amp with SS in the low bass and tubes in the other frequency ranges, tri-amp with different SS amps, etc, etc and through those first hand experiences i learned the critical importance of CONTNUITY for the MUSIC can flow in natural way as in live events.

You made some changes in your system ( it's not a critic. ) where from my experiences and point of view you broke that continuty in your system: first you choosed to handle the subwoofers in the digital domain ( crossover. ) against the other ranges in pure analog ( analog bass is different to digital bass ) and after that you choosed to by-amp using SS along tubes and latter you posted that now you are thinking to tri-amp with a SS in the HF range.

All those goes against continuity that's the foundation in MUSIC other than the bass range.

Only saying.

R.

@mijostyn : "  My mind changes all the time ...."

Well almost everything is changing each second including our mind but this is not the issue due that if our mibnd is changing all the time then the audio reproduction  home world will be  a disaster/nigthmare.

Our targets needs to be really specific, clear/pristine  and the way each one of us try to achieve all those targets is other and different subject.

In my case and through the time my targets were up-grading with necessary modifications " here and there " but my main targets dis not changes in its essence in the fundamental way. Of course that as we learned and through the years along new audio " technologies-improvements " and " new " know-how each time the audio system targets are near to be achieved till you decide ( I or we ) that it's time to in true enjoy the MUSIC as never before.

That's why I don't buy new top cartridges and when I started to live wirth the Essential 3180 I rediscovery my cartridges and thak's to my friends I listened almost all the today top cartridges ( not the Atlas Lambda Sl , yet ). My system is rigth on in the targets. For how long?, I don't know but my today listen sessions are " out of this audio world " where eacjh past up-graded to amps/speakers still surprise me.

I don't know how to explain when you are THERE because it's something that you have to experienced to know what THERE means and tghrough your posts maybe you are near but certainly not THERE yet and that's why you follow spending money in audio items trying to be THERE.  

I know from your posts that you still have a long road and " fun"/$ " looking for THERE.

I was like you unstable but today I enjopy my stability better than ever. No VIV no Dava and the like for me.

I have to say that till today I never listened any vintage/today MM/MILOMC cartridge that truly sounds really bad but what changed through the time is that today several LPs sounds not very good and the issue is that the LPs that were or had excellent mastering job performs excellent too and if I remember was @mlavigne who posted the critical importance of mastering but not in threads where all we know the importance of the recording mastering but in a thread where a gentleman wanted to know which " characteristics " look for for high quality listen levels. I participated in that thread and if I remember you did it too but only he touched in specigic the " magig " of recording mastering. The difference in my system is not low, recordings with good mastering listened way way better something that in the past was not at today high levels.

R.

@mijostyn  :  " compulsive disorder? ",  I don't know about mulveling in this regards but you are not be with your self telling that because you know and I know that that is not your real trouble but not easy to accept the reality.

You are deep way deep in your digital/LP discovering and fine for you. Cartridges can't solve it and that minute Lyra deviation means almost nothing because before you beeen aware of that the Atlas Lambda SL was your top of satisfaction. Again " trouble " belongs to some of the links in your room/system chain.

Anyway, that is you and obviously that you have the last word about. No problem.

R.

Dear @mijostyn : In many of your posts you showed that like objectivity as with the Channel D specs and in some other ways not only in your systems but other external audio items electronics or cartridges however it’s weird that with The Voice you not only do not cares about specs but you love it the cartridge ( Yes I already listened and is a nice item but nothing more than that. ) when this cartridge has was limited frequency range ( similar to the Hyperion. ) with a frequency range swing deviation between 20hz to 20khz of 2db ( Yes Ortofon has in the HF on purpose a little deviation but is on porpose. ).

That you like it so much only confirm our really high tolerance to almost any kind of distortions including you.

Through the time you showed yoo an unstability with different cartridges you own and now you said that will put on sale your Lyra Atlas when you posted here that was the best you ever heard and yes we know that does not exist the perfect cartridge. That unstability with your cartridges could came not because the cartridges but for something or some links in your room/system chain.

Maybe you have several other explanations or reasons. Btw, the game of Dynavector was and is cartridges/tonearm and in the past SUTs but not elctronics.

RT.

Dear @rvpiano  : 13 years ago all the Clearaudio MM cartridges were made by Audio Technica and the Virtuoso ( that I owned ) cartridge motor was the humble one by the AT 95 and improved under Clearaudio needs.

This was my review of the Virtuoso:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/review-clearaudio-virtuoso-wood-cartridge

Maybe what you need is to match ( as mulveling said. ) with a different tonearm the other alternative is that you need a really accurated set up especially in the VTA because the Virtuoso is extremely sensitive to minute VTA changes.

The other issue is that the retip was made by SoundSmith and maybe with ruby cantilever and this kind of material is not very good on that place where even hardened aluminum is a superior choice.

Before you spend more money try some cartridge set up modifications not only VTA but vtf and azymuth too and try to mantain clean the stylus tip and obviously your LPs.

R.

Dear @mulveling : I hope this time you can give me some explanation.

" I always roll phono stages / arms / etc when trying to optimally match a new cartridge.. "

Certainly I understand try to match the tonearm/cartridge combinations and even a SUT ( I did it in the past till I found out the top Denon SUT that I changed only when the cartridge need it higher gain. ) but to change electronics ( as in this case the phono stage ) just to match the cartridge let me to ask: why? .

Thank's in advance and kind regards,

R.

Dear @mulveling :  "  I think it’s a side effect of suboptimal setup or system balance. We don’t deserve to torture ourselves just because a new component "should" be better! "

Other than cartridge/tonearm rigth set up the system balance it coverts in something as synergy that as mijos said is only that one link is covering/hiden other system link " errors ".

My take by first hand experiences tells me that if I introduce a true better new system link in the system we have we should be perfectly aware on it. This " perfectly aware " could be have its precense in different ways: could be that the system quality level performance was improved through what we listen in our sessions but could happens too that some or several of our LPs suddenly started to sound not very good because the new system link can shows us that those LPs that we though were very good recordings are not really good recordings for different reasons ( recording mistakes, not good recording mastering and the like ) but at the same time the LPs that sounded very good now sound excellent.

Yes, the new link altered the system balance and now " unfortunatelly " we are aware aof those LPs not very good ( as in the past ) kind of sound. In the other side a true better system link can shows hiden system " errors " and this new link function as a tool to make a system check-up..

Like it or not ( your " torture " ) a new true better system link that we just changed  is for us a system " discovery "/recordings in many ways.

Each one of us try to have a system balance that goes with our MUSIC/sound priorities. Try to look for a live MUSIC performance could be a really good target even by you that are " oriented "/accustom to what you like. Today after all those 5 years with Koetsu you are looking to change that " but like all Koetsus it leans very heavily to warm and full-bodied side of the spectrum  "..

I owned several Koetsu cartridges and the first one that really made " honor " to MUSIC reproduction was when appeared the Platinum one and my KRSP performs way different to the other pre-Platinum cartridges where that " heavely to warm " goes way lower but as my system gone and goes improving that " warm " just almost disappeared and I have a long listening session at my place with the Blue Lace.

Comparing your experiences with my experiences tells me that not necessary that that " warm " came mainly by the Koetsu but inside and around your system.

Now, I love the Colibri and when runs good  runs in an exceptional way and yes a little better than Koetsu and with excellent midrange. Remember that the midrange mainly depends of how good the system handled the bass range, it's here where we can or not have an excellent mid-range. Now, Koetsu and the Colibri are different performers and no till today does not exist the perfect cartridge in an universal sense because the objectivity need it for always losted against each one of us taste/subjectivity. That's why I said that could be a good target that our room/system have an approach of the live MUSIC balance and cartridges by it self just can't do it. Maybe some of us have to change ( we normally just don't want it . Nothing wrong with that. ) our MUSIC " approach " and if we don't do it will be really dificult to live in totally satisfaction with our room/system enjoying it as never before.

Yes, it is really hard to make a " radical " changes about but we have to try if we feel we need it to improve our MUSIC reproduction enjoyment.

R.