I believe it is impossible for most of us to make a totally subjective judgement after we have just spent a great deal of money on a new addition to the audio system. Just the fact that you've made the financial commitment will bias you to fall in love with the new at the expense of the old. I try to withhold judgement until several months and many hours of listening are under my belt. As to cartridges, I am absolutely convinced based on my own recent experiences that many relatively cheap MM or MI cartridges can more than compete with many very expensive MCs. On the other side of the coin, surely you did not expect that sonic quality would be directly proportional to the ratio of the price you paid for cartridge A to cartridge B (or insert other component in this equation). That never happens.
Turning lead into gold ?
Ok I'll admit a lot of stuff we read about makes this claim,but how often are we less than satisfied by the results?
I'd make a wild guess and say that most of the time what we hope will make a huge improvement to our sound,never does ,or at least not to the extent we wished for.
Perhaps that's because most of us are not privileged to do a review of the gear in question with components that can reveal such improvements.
To put it simpler,move up to a better turntable, such as the SME10, Sme V arm,and pop in a brand new pricey cartridge and audio nirvana should be a given.
And I would agree, I've just done that.
Moved up to the SME10,SME V combo.
Not the brand new pricey cartridge however.
Where things have taken a turn is that while waitng for my new upgraded cartridge to arrive,I've had to sink a few levels low and resort to an old, well worn Grado Platinum.
This I thought would be like putting re-treads on a Porsche, and about as foolish as one can get.
Who has ever read any review of an arm or turntable where the reviewer ever used anything but the very best most pricey cartridge available?
Mikey are ya lisning?
But hey when you can eat steak everyday of the week, why settle for a hot dog if you don't have to?
So by all accounts the component in review has a best case scenario for a great review.
Most times this is the case, but some stellar casts of all star performers have been turkeys at the box office ,we've all been privy to these.
But I digress.
What I found out when I had to use the old Grado, was that, I didn't think the sound was bad at all.
It was much better than I had expected, and the new cartridge for 6 times the price should be a game changer, or it better be.
Surprisingly, I never heard in past tables and arms how good that Grado was.
It was always an entry level item, a step along the way,to a much better sounding one.
Or so I always thought.
I now have a new found respect for this old cartridge, and also for how great the Sme combo is.
So the whole point of this is to not just pass some time on a rainy day, like I'm doing with the SME/Grado combo.
It's to point out that the measure of greatness isn't just when all the moons align in perfect sync.
It's when you can add something less than stellar to an all star cast and not feel any less impressed by the performance.
Will the new MC cartridge outperform the Grado?
My guess is yes,and I'll be impressed,but that's just what the reviewers would tell you also, so no news there.
What impresses me most about the SME combo is not that it will make a two grand cartridge sound good, but that it has made a well worn $300.00 one sound so good.
Lead into gold?
I'd make a wild guess and say that most of the time what we hope will make a huge improvement to our sound,never does ,or at least not to the extent we wished for.
Perhaps that's because most of us are not privileged to do a review of the gear in question with components that can reveal such improvements.
To put it simpler,move up to a better turntable, such as the SME10, Sme V arm,and pop in a brand new pricey cartridge and audio nirvana should be a given.
And I would agree, I've just done that.
Moved up to the SME10,SME V combo.
Not the brand new pricey cartridge however.
Where things have taken a turn is that while waitng for my new upgraded cartridge to arrive,I've had to sink a few levels low and resort to an old, well worn Grado Platinum.
This I thought would be like putting re-treads on a Porsche, and about as foolish as one can get.
Who has ever read any review of an arm or turntable where the reviewer ever used anything but the very best most pricey cartridge available?
Mikey are ya lisning?
But hey when you can eat steak everyday of the week, why settle for a hot dog if you don't have to?
So by all accounts the component in review has a best case scenario for a great review.
Most times this is the case, but some stellar casts of all star performers have been turkeys at the box office ,we've all been privy to these.
But I digress.
What I found out when I had to use the old Grado, was that, I didn't think the sound was bad at all.
It was much better than I had expected, and the new cartridge for 6 times the price should be a game changer, or it better be.
Surprisingly, I never heard in past tables and arms how good that Grado was.
It was always an entry level item, a step along the way,to a much better sounding one.
Or so I always thought.
I now have a new found respect for this old cartridge, and also for how great the Sme combo is.
So the whole point of this is to not just pass some time on a rainy day, like I'm doing with the SME/Grado combo.
It's to point out that the measure of greatness isn't just when all the moons align in perfect sync.
It's when you can add something less than stellar to an all star cast and not feel any less impressed by the performance.
Will the new MC cartridge outperform the Grado?
My guess is yes,and I'll be impressed,but that's just what the reviewers would tell you also, so no news there.
What impresses me most about the SME combo is not that it will make a two grand cartridge sound good, but that it has made a well worn $300.00 one sound so good.
Lead into gold?