Time for a new cartridge

Dear @chasda  : This is the one for you:

https://www.hanacartridges.com/products/hana-umami-blue

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/hana-umami-blue-phono-cartridge/

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

Have you considered trading in the DDT against a VdH Frog?

@noromance +1 VDH Frog

Have a look see at Charisma Audio. I have their Signature One MC and love everything about it.

www.charismaaudio.com/?page_id=92

Miyajima Destiny

For $2795 you get a cartridge eq combo  that will transform  your system!

DS Audio E-3 with its EQ unit.

I agree ^

https://ds-audio-w.biz/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/HFN-Oct-DS-Audio-DS-E3_Reprint-LOW.pdf

Another vote for the Umami Blue. Check the many reviews, including on Youtube with Absolute Sound.

I have your same turntable and really enjoy the Lyra Delos.  I think it's great value for the money.

Hello

I just bought  an open box Lyra Kleos SL

deeply discounted  from Music Direct 

last month and now there’s an open box Lyra Kleos you could get 

for the budget amount you mentioned 

It retails for ove $4k or so and Brian could get you 20%!off  current price of $2900 I believe   
Really killer sounding cart   Good for 3,000 hours with the right tracking and clean records  

good luck Willy-T

Hana Umami Blue. Luxman LMC-5. DS Audio E-3 woth preamp. All are the same price. A friend and well-respected turntable designer/manufacturer who also sells the Hana line recently switched over to the DS in his personal reference system. He tells me it's much better than other traditional cartridges.

Longtime VPI Classic user.

Your setup is nice. Based on the limitations of the arm I wouldn’t look past anything in the price point of the Audio Technica ART 9 series.

ART 20 maybe won’t be fully appreciated?

VPI users seem give Lyra Delos the thumbs up?

Presently using a Kiseki Blue.

Musical Fidelity Nu Vista Vinyl- interesting model.

I took me some time to find a cart i liked as much as my VDH. There is something about the VDH stylus profile that’s special IMO. I've had mine rebuilt at VDH twice now. But i found a lightly used Sumiko Pear wood celebration 2 that fills in quite nicely with all the detail I'm used to from the VDH cart but with a bit more warmth in the midrange.

Dear @drvinyl01   : The poblem with that DS Audio cartridge isthat around 8khz and up its frequency response has a deviation af 6db-8db that is to high and where you can hear.

Nothing is just perfect in analog audioand that is the negative trade-off you " pay " for.

@willy-t ​​@chasda   :  Yes the Lyra Kleos is a cartridge winner and at very good low price for it.

R.

I would definitely check out new London Decca Super Gold. I think $2800 USD. But I would check it works with your arm. I have a SG with a VPI Classic III arm and it did not work well - but I got a new arm :-) not planned for but what the heck - its only money :-)

www.londondecca.com - they just started re-manufacturing them in London and shipping to the US. Support is incredible and sound is the same.

Because you are using a unipivot arm you will want to go with a high compliance cartridge such as another Van den Hul or a Lyra. Lyra specifically recommends against unipivot arms.  Soundsmith makes some of their cartridges in high compliance versions and they are great cartridges. You certainly want something that tracks at less than 2 grams. You really want to get a better arm at some point.

@rauliruegas Which DS Audio Cartridge do you currently own and actively listen to at the moment to come to such a conclusion? The DS Audio cartridges draw out more information making your source much clearer which might reveal flaws in some systems. Hence the frequency you hear isn't caused by the cartridge. Because I don't hear it in mine nor in any other set ups of friends that have one.

I would still send your cartridge to VdH but ALSO try something else. My recommendation is a Vas Nova and you can upgrade the standard to better cantilever and stylus if you desire. Harry from VPI recommends.

@drvinyl01 

Yeah. That sounds fishy and I've not read that about the deviation in any review I've read.

Esp not with the Grand Master cartridge.

Thank you all for your responses. After taking all your suggestions into account, I'm first going to send my cartridge back to VDH for a rebuild. I have a vintage Denon with an Ortofon Bronze as my back up. While that's going on, I'm going to do some shopping with some of your suggestions. After all, it's always good to have options. Thanks for your feedback.

Send it to Soundsmith for evaluation....He'll bring it back

If your Cart's 'ZING' floats your boat.

Then why look elsewhere, it might just need to be reintroduced through a additional attention.

The Cart' can be inspected for suitability for being overhauled.

A Typical Overhaul inclusive of shipping is usually under $500

At 1000 hours of replays as a predicted life before the 'ZING' issue manifests once more, the replays will be approx' $00.50c per hour.

50c a Replay is to myself Bargainsville.

Seems attractive compared to entering the unknown at a replay cost of appro' $3.00 per hour.  

+1 for;

 Vas Nova and you can upgrade the standard to better cantilever and stylus if you desire. Harry from VPI recommends. Also EMT makes phenomenal carts.

Dear @drvynil01  @vynilshadow:

The cartridge was designed at very precise market prce point as the manufacturer entry level model and that's why the Eq. uses op-amps instead of discrete design.You can't ask for more:

https://daviddenyerpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/hfn-oct-ds-audio-ds-e3_reprint.pdf

R.

vinylshadow you was who posted that link and even that you say:  I have not read about the deviation ..."   go figure  !

R.

I might be too late to this discussion. If not, however, I would like to draw your attention to the Miyaji MEMS cartridge by the Japanese designer H. Sawada (his company is called ARSound) of Hamamatsu. During my last trip to Japan in April, Mr. Sawada invited me to his home to listen to this remarkable cartridge. I liked it so much that I bought it on the spot. I have written about it on Audiogon here: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/recommend-an-mc-cartridge/post?postid=2707495

here is the website of the US importer with more information: https://gestalthifi.com/arsound/

In short: if you are still undecided about your next cartridge, this might be your end game! I myself see it that way, listening to it every day and retrieving "new" musical information from my old records all the time: it's a revelation [and you don't need any phono stage or step-up transformer: the 250 mV output (!!) goes directly into the MM or DAC input of your preamp: as the transduction mechanism operates w/o translating stylus vibration into an electric signal and is amplitude-proportional, RIAA decoding by a phono stage is no longer needed for ground-shaking bass.]

@reimarc that cart looks amazing, I really like the idea. How has it been working for you? There is no pricing on it, what does it retail for?

You said, it goes right into a normal pre-amp input? So no phono stage at all?

Dear @reimarc : " The sound pressure transmitted to the microphone by the shape of the sound pipe is equalized, and the test record is adjusted and aged so that the frequency response from 20Hz to 20KHz is almost flat.. " 

The signal is equalized to conform the inverse RIAA eq.. The cartridge is an amplitude transducer instead velocity one cartridges. Like the strain gauge and that’s why you can’t use through a phono stage just as the strain gauge design.

Now is flat 20hz to 20khz and which is the response from: 12hz to 35khz and beyond these " figures "? because that frequency range came from the manufacturer/designer aand is weird that he does not measured or at least a comment about, only saying.

I experienced 2-3 times with the SG by SSmith and well is a different kind of sound that was not exactly what I was looking for and maybe the MEMScould be.

" retrieving "new" musical information from my old records all the time..."

I wonder how many different eq.has the unit or if no matter what the response is always almost exactly to the inverse RIAA eq. ( flat ).

R.

Dear @mswale,

I don’t know what the cartridge system (i.e. cartridge plus power source for the condenser mikes), goes for in the US. You might want to contact the importer. While in Japan, Sawada-san sold me his personal unit from his turntable for ¥500,000 ($3,343). I guess, it would be about $5,000 stateside.

How has it been working for me? Well, after first installation, I noticed pretty pronounced "rumble" leaving my subs (Linkwitz 521.4 actives) "pumping". I had my old and trusted KAB "Great Sounds Escorts" in-line rumble filter at hand, and after installing it between the MEMS power base and my preamp, the "rumbling" completely disappeared, yet leaving me with profound, well-delineated and extra-dry bass, the way I like it (I hate "boom"). Otherwise the cartridge has been amazing, especially in the treble, where it is crystal clear without the slightest "screeching". Until then I used the new ART-1000 cartridge from AT, because I always wanted to listen to a Neumann design, where the coil is mounted directly above the stylus, eliminating any potential distortions from the cantilever movement (cf.: https://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-157-0). That cartridge was really convincing in its "punch" and vividness, making me sell my beloved Benz Micro LPS-Ebony. I have not yet made a direct comparison between the MEMS and the ART-1000: this will happen when the new head shell for my ViV tonearm arrives next week (btw: best tonearm ever!). For now, at least to my ears, the MEMS sounds completely "absent" from the music, and yet produces a wide-open sound stage, while the ART-1000 - also with huge soundstage - seems to add some sparkle and "oomph". As a scientist, I prefer the un-altered presentation of the MEMS.

Dear @rauliruegas ,

Thanks for your detailed, albeit somewhat technical, comment.

Yes, I saw the frequency response of the MEMS cartridge on the website, and also as an attachment of a personal eMail from Sawada-san. That mail came as response to my question about the ubiquitous RIAA equalization before the master pressing. As you reasoned correctly, Sawada-san pointed out the amplitude transduction vs. the usual velocity/voltage mechanism, which will still produce accurate bass no matter what RIAA equilibration had been used after the recording. But you also argued correctly that there is indeed increasing instability below 20 Hz (as the frequency response clearly shows). As I pointed out above in my response to @mswale, in my case this manifested itself in strong rumble-pumping of my subs. Yet, after installing the phenomenal KAB rumble filter before my preamp, my bass is now super accurate, and dry, even with the organ-fff of Bach's Toccata from the incredible new soundtrack of Walt Disney's "Fantasia" (which makes my whole room and my chest vibrate with the MEMS in place, btw.). So, yes, you are correct that there might be some correction needed, depending on your other components. Interestingly, though: at Sawada-san's home there was no rumble filter: he had his Esoteric TT standing on a solid block of concrete and used high-sensitivity ancient horn speakers ("Voice of the Theatre") plus a Corona plasma tweeter both fed from an Accuphase integrated. To my ears, though, his system sounded "vintage" in the mid-range, if you know what I mean. I much more prefer what I have here at my house (the Corona, however, was amazing!!!)..

For what it’s worth I use a soundsmith paua and also have the musical fidelity nu vista vinyl pre and they sing.

I have tried almost every good cartridge in $5000 price and I prefer the EMT HSD 006. For just about $2000, it is an insane value and kicks ass of many top dollar carts. Huge dynamic range, flat neutral sound with just the right amount of warmth we expect analog to carry. Resolution is world class. Personally I used the EMT JSD Black which costs $3500. But even the HSD 006 gets 90% of JSD. I wont worry if I had the HSD instead of JSD. I am not sure why this cart doesn’t come up in discussions here

I have a Benz H2.0 that I will be putting up for sale.
It’s been refurbished and retipped by VDH and has had little to no use since. 
 

I'm also thinking of selling a Koetsu rosewood signature. 
 

Contact me directly if you think these might work for you. 

Dear @reimarc  :  Good to confirm and good that you are satisfied.

The ART 1000 is very good performer that I listened. I owned the Victor L1000 that's similar to the Neumann one and the Art and very good performer too.

R.

Listen to Dr.Vinyl and give DS Audio an audition. I own a DS Audio entry level DS1 on my vintage Kenwood KD-650. Superb.

I have heard the DS Audio Grand Master on a very expensive system on a few occasions and have not been impressed.

On the first occasion the Grandmaster was immediately followed in use by a New Design rebuilt Cart' with very little hours of usage.

I and some of the attendees were quick to point out their impression with the rebuilt Cart'. After the demo', some attendees were giving a private personal appraisal where the rebuilt Cart' was being referred to as excellent and much better than the Grandmaster.

I was also instrumental in the encouraging the owner of the Grandmaster, to be  buying into a New Design of Generator for it, which I never got to listen to as of yet.

I've had the vdH MC ONE Special for 13+ years (replaced it with identical at the beginning of the pandemic because refurbing wasn't practical) and think it is a great value and sounds very musical - dynamic, detailed, but not at all harsh. Stylus lasts extremely long due to its shape which is a big plus. VPI is the distributor and also sells them direct.

Can listen for hours without any fatigue. Not familiar with the DDII special, but I assume it is an older entry level cartridge.