Just wanted to put in my two cents,after a long break.I now have very good experience with this design,in my own set-up.I hope I can put a little different spin on things,though it's still an enthusuastic review,of sorts.I believe I may have to "eat some crow",as I am beginning to really get a handle on why I had been a touch uncomfortable listening to some of my orchestral discs,as compared to how these exact lp's sound at some friends' homes.Piccolos anyone?
Firstly everything I state is just my dumb opinion,and taste,in my OWN set-up.I still have lots to learn,and have no problems admitting it,but I am quite surprised in that something I have always known keeps getting reinforced.That is every time I improve on the weaknesses in my system(I really was thinking I had just about abolished them all,..almost),something else either pops up,or comes into the picture more-so than before.This is a little frustrating,but definitely part of the "high end".Should one care to stay abreast of "high res" sound.
MY previous Temper-V was a fabulous cartridge.Yet I was constantly toying with the different voicing parameters of my tonearm(2.2),to get the most out of different discs.I was really good at changing the overall character to match some lp's.Not all though.
I LOVE dramatic and ecclectic modern classical stuff,from the likes of Elliot Carter to Jacob Druckman or John Cage.Many other modernists,but I still listen alot to standard Classical and Jazz etc.
I believe(in my case)that one reason why I was so prompted to move towards modernistic classical/ecclectic stuff is because there are very many "short duration bursts of energy" in many compositions,which though I liked it,and found it quite dramatic,it was far easier for my arm/cartridge to navigate without resonance kreeping in.Those dramatic durations of musical energy did not seem to last long enough for any reticent flavor to occur...I got used to it,and liked it!..My friend Sid(who previuosly had the Air Tangent)did orchestral fare with a bloomier voice.Not tube vs solid state bloom.Resonant characteristics were at play here,and the more experience I got,the more I began to realize this.It took my getting an Orpheus,in my own setup to awaken,finally.It is quite revealing,and that is a huge understatement!
The high pressure constants of typical classical orchestral fare,especially long crescendos,on some discs, bothered me(when running my Temper-V),in my own rig at times!Especially when comparing the exact discs at my friend's who had a fabulous linear tracking arm(the GREAT Air Tangent).I knew his set-up exactly as well as my own.
Then one other friend who has a very similar system as myself,also Temper-V fronted,moved to the Orpheus(which I set up on his 2.2,and heard an immediate improvement)and then to a Phantom.He later got Magico Minis but I knew his overall presentation very well.
So,back to me(sorry if I am getting boring)....the Orpheus is everything(everything really good)that previous owners have stated.It does not blow away the Temper-V,but surely is a class above.Does "everything" better!!Not "new" news!!...This on my 2.2,which I am(here's where I have to be honest with myself)currently using.
What I DO love (here is where I really needed to hear it in my own system)is how it "expands and contracts" on those short duration bursts of energy,encoded on my favorite modernistic lp's.I never had this kind of "scare factor" with my previous "three" different Temper series designs.Compared to the Tempers I had this expansion would be like blowing up a balloon and decompressing,very quickly.The Orpheus(if one can imagine)expands far faster,and "gets bigger".Then it decompresses to "nothingness",like lightning!Compared to what I was using before.
So far so good,but.....though the orchestral music I play is far better reproduced than before,I am beginning to see how I may have been rationalizing(hey,I couldn't hear it as much as now)the slight reticence that was reproduced "along with the music",on my 2.2!A very slight resonant quality that seemed to add a "life" of it's own to much of my modern lp's,and steal away some harmonic warmth.It made me think I was getting more detail,but it was false!Yet,it was exactly that bloomy sensation my linear arm friend got SO right that I lusted for(he has a Titan, btw),and now my friend who moved away from the 2.2,also gets this tonality almost as well.I say almost,because you cannot believe how good that Air Tangent was!!I still think the 2.2 is a fabulous product,but with the apparent new wave of cartridges pushing the envelope,it may not match some of these designs in terms of being sure you have gotten everything from them...Good rationalization?..Satisfies me!
So just having listened for about four hours,and loving my new "O" sound,I think I have to give up on my never ending fotzing around routine,with my current arm.
I believe that if I am to get the max out of my new cartridge,it will need some additional help.
The cartridge is THAT good.Apparently it has exposed an area of weakness I thought I had a handle on.
I WAS WRONG AGAIN!......So why am I so happy???
BTW,really sory for the long rant,I am working on that sort of thing.
