Halcro. Many thanks for the heartfelt review and for drawing our attention to this cartridge. I've been following Dietrich with great interest for several years ever since purchasing a UNI Protractor which is still my go to alignment device. Inspired by what I've heard and looking for the sort of open and live sound you describe I've plonked down the $ for a Palladian and look forward to sharing my results in a month or so. I also suspect I'll be adding one of Dietrich tonearms to my rig in the future as well
The Palladian-A step beyond
The new cartridge from Acoustical Systems may finally be the LOMC to fully realise the theoretical advantages of the genus.
And convince those long-suffering audiophiles to whom the 'modern' MC presentation has been anathema to 'live sound'....that the realism of vintage LOMCs like the SPUs and FR-7 series has finally been recaptured 👀
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And convince those long-suffering audiophiles to whom the 'modern' MC presentation has been anathema to 'live sound'....that the realism of vintage LOMCs like the SPUs and FR-7 series has finally been recaptured 👀
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Showing 16 responses by folkfreak
sampsa55 I never understood why someone might prefer a "revealing" component? Is the objective to find flaws in recordings & other gear or to enjoy music? My experience with improving the resolution/transparency of my setup has been that far from making poorer recordings less enjoyable the removal of noise allows one to enjoy the intent of the performance and listen through the limitations of the recording. For example discovering how much subtlety and detail there is in mono recordings, or hearing all of the little adjustments being put in by a rhythm guitarist for example Resolution and transparency (as opposed to tipped up 'detail') are always and in all cases preferable in my experience Anyway I'm told it should be 2-3 weeks to my Palladian and I may have the US Distributor round to install it, will keep us all posted |
markmendenhall In USA $10,445 and distributed by Rutherford Audio In Europe EUR 8,899 and available from dealers such as Bel HiFi (you'll need to Google it as AGon will not let me post a link, sorry) Hope this helps |
As previously noted I ordered a Palladian a few weeks back based on the experiences @halcro and others posted. It was hand delivered by Norm from Rutherford Audio last night and I installed it this morning. Installation is very easy given the very visible cantilever and number of parallel surfaces, as well as the multiple screw threads. One caveat is that it is quite a "flat" cartridge body (i.e. shorter distance vertically from stylus to top of body) hence for those with the tonearm at its extreme low of travel you may need a spacer (I am virtually bottoming out my tonearm and cannot lower it any more). For initial listening azimuth was set at level, SRA with he body horizontal (maybe halcro you can advise on how best to measure SRA given this stylus profile). 1/73g and load at 200 ohms With the caveat that this is based only on the first few hours this does appear to be something special. What strikes me most is the fine detail on supporting instruments, for example individual strings on a finger picked guitar, or the details in a background (well buried in the mix) bass line. Relative to the Air Tight PC1 it replaced (which I really liked) it is less romantic in the bass, I suspect actually more accurate but also that the bass will open up with more hours. But overall it's the extreme sense of natural detail enabling you to wander around in the mix that is the overriding characteristic to me. I'll report back in more detail once I've gotten more hours but so far I would strongly recommend checking this cartridge out |
To those expressing concern about Dietrich I can only relay my own experience. I purchased a UNI Protractor via AudioGon maybe 6 years ago, sure it took some time to ship but not surprising for a custom product. Since then Dietrich has replied very quickly to all my emails querying questions on the use of this itemt I recently purchased a Palladian via the US Distributor -- since then I've been in touch with Dietrich and he is making a custom shim just for me to address an issue with how my arm is mounted, note that this was not something I asked for but it was something he offered to do All in all this is world class service and service commensurate with purchasing these sort of items from an artisan manufacturer. |
If you want to really get into dark music then you need to listen to nothing but traditional folk songs from the British isles -- it’s not a real song unless you have at least one murder, a suicide and a haunting! Anyway back to the topic of this thread -- with 15 hours on the Palladian know I continue to be having loads of fun. One of the really great things is how well it separates out multiple lines of instruments from one another -- A1 Track 1 from "La Tarentule" Atrium Musicae de Madrid (Speakers Corner HM 379) is a torture track of wheezing and squeaking wooden flutes, vihuelas etc -- actually 32 different instruments on one cut (not all at the same time luckily) -- with the Palladian you can tell them all apart which is quite astonishing Dynamics are also astounding -- the Maskaela "Coal Train cut was a great example this morning, now matter how it drives the Palladian keeps pace Anyway really encourages a great variety -- my listening this morning included
Anyway great fun, and isn’t that one of the reasons we like to change things now and again, to rediscover our collections? |
@halcro "how is the bass". I've not found it to change much over time but it has consistently been very well integrated and as deep as the content on the recording. The PC1 has a lower mid bass bump that gives the impression of more bass but in reality imposes a tone that blurs the differences between instruments. Case in point on early Genesis the PC1 blurs the sound of the bass guitar and the bass pedal. With the Palladian when a bass pedal enters it is completely distinct, not only in frequency but also the tone and shape. So in summary many will think the Palladian is a tad bass shy but the reality is it gives you what is one the recording. With very loud forward bass such as a Holly Cole "Jersey Girl" it is well defined and detailed while not impinging on the rest of the mix. This track can sound overloaded if you have bass resonances somewhere in your system one other observation is that the Palladian doesn't sugar coat anything. If the instrument sounds rough or edgy (like much of the Tarantelle record I referenced earlier) then that is what you'll get. Finally the ability to swing sudden dynamics is top rate, take the sudden "cuckooo" in the first Tarantelle band, it'll have you jumping out of your seat |
@ct0517 if you like Mary Chapin I hope you got her latest "The Things That We Are Made Of" on Vinyl -- well worth it for "Note on a Windshield" alone. My favorite of her LPs is "Come On, Come On" which is rare as hens teeth on vinyl but well worth tracking down @geoch -- bass pedal on "Cinema Show" even more distinct! My Q3s do a fair job of getting it out but I'm sure I'm not getting that trouser flapping effect I could do with even bigger speakers |
@ct0517 more interesting Mary Chapin facts and LPs/CDs to look up if you don't already have them Firstly did you know that "Stones in the Road" was written for and first recorded by Joan Baez -- available on LP too on her "Play me Backwards" disc? And here's a great version of them singing it together Which is very reminiscent of the version form MCC's live CD "Party Doll" which I use as a test track for live sounding band play Among Mary Chapin's other CD only releases my favorite is "Between Here and Gone" with "Goodnight America" an excellent test of a system's ability to cope with a well produced but busy mix and "Grand Central Station" just a deeply moving song .... |
@acman3 lets just say a few of the regulars were indulging in some rather off topic historical/political badinage- nothing that bad and quite interesting and well informed but clearly not to the moderators taste back to the Palladian I'm looking forward to having a chance to remount mine with the spacer so I can go "below horizontal" - methinks that s way even better sound lies. The spacer should be in my mailbox tomorrow |
Well I have my free screws - and very nicely presented they are. My wife was just about to try to put them on her ears as jewelry 🙈 As as to the special built for me shim it's still en route somewhere between Bundespost and USPS. I will mount the screws on Friday and report back on this next step on our adventure |
Finally to report on my new screws -- as mentioned they come nicely presented, two pairs one shorter set and one longer. Each with a small plastic type washer. The shorter pair were an exact swap for the brass screws that had come with my Palladian. One difference is that the Timet screws are allen key mounted while the brass used a screwdriver -- generally the former is to be preferred if for no other reason than minimizing the chance of the screwdriver slipping and causing who knows what damage 😏 The Timet 1100 screws are a little lighter than the brass so VTF needs to be reset (about a .15g change, so quite a lot) With it all set up on to listening and yes they do make a substantial improvement -- probably the best way to describe it is that there is less smear -- transients are cleaner and more distinct (by which I mean different sorts of things, different metals or metals vs woods, sound more distinct from one another) and the absence of ringing on the decay of things is very striking -- this then uncovers all sorts of extra details (breathwork, hidden backing vocal lines etc) that the ringing and smears had masked So if I had to guess I'd assume that the Timet material stores less energy than brass or alternatives and this is the reason for the benefit. Note that in my installation this is not a matter of being able to simply tighten the cartridge down more -- as my headshell is some sort of composite material you cannot actually over tighten without deforming it All in all the new screws are a must have with the Palladian (and I think now ship with it?) -- as to whether they'd offer equal benefits from other cartridges who knows -- maybe I'll take the two longer spares I have and see if I can mount them on my Miyajima Zero Mono on my #2 arm -- will report back on what I find ps still no spacer, when I get that I will remount my arm, may even be able to eliminate my sub-arm board completely and thus obviate need for spacer but so far teh Palladian sounds great running horizontal |
@thuchan congrats on the SPJ arm -- I always lusted after the SPJ LaLuce Centoventi that Brooks Berdan had -- perhaps one day I'll be able to pick one up My tonearm is a composite I'm afraid but even so the effect of the Ti screws is apparent. Unfortunately I'll not be able to try them on my other arm as the Miyajima cartridges require extra long screws that go all the way through the body Still waiting on the shim 😕 but will report on that when/if it arrives ps I just added the EnigmaAcoustics Sopranino supertweeter to my system -- very synergistic with the Palladian, the high end extension and clarity the cartridge brings works well with the supertweeter -- interesting how bass sounds become deeper, clearer and better defined once you have better control of the leading edge of the sound |
@thuchan interesting you found that with the PHTs. I had much the same experience when I tried it on my old AirTight PC-1. Minimal if any effect and tended to blur and diffuse the sound in a negative way. I use several dozen HFTs in my listening room but for me the PHT was a dud. I still have one on my Miyajima Zero and maybe a good time for me to reevaluate |