Turntable upgrade recommendations: SME vs AMG vs Technics vs other

@rauliruegas, I had noticed that the pricing of the Verismo with diamond cantilever is about the same as the regular MC Anna with boron, so that is indeed a positive step in contrast to the mostly upward trend in high end audio pricing.

Have you heard it yet? If so, how does it compare sonically to MC Anna and A95? I have both and sonically these are pretty far apart in character, despite similar motor, cantilever/stylus and SLM titanium body. The A95 is very fast and neutral, while Anna sound more voluptuous and colourful. Sonically they seem to reflect their ‘body shapes’, which might suggest the Verismo should be somewhere in between, adopting the strengths of both models with the added advantage (presumably) of a diamond cantilever. Does that make sense?

@rauliruegas, what new characteristics do you attribute to the MC Verismo? All the things described in the link are tried and tested Ortofon technologies that are already used in MC Anna, Windfeld Ti and A95. On the basis of this the Verismo can be seen as an A95 with a skirt or as a less bulbous Anna in a tight fitting evening dress. The diamond cantilever is also the same as in Anna Diamond. As such it nicely fits a niche within the Ortofon range, especially as A95 is no longer available. So I’m interested to learn what is so special about Verismo?

@rauliruegas, with dozens of mc’s in my possession I have promised myself ( and my wife): no more cartridges. So I will not hear the Verismo in my own system, but I will get a chance to hear it at a local retailer I’ve known for many years. I will bring my own A95 and Anna and we’ll do a comparison in a controlled environment. The system used will likely be SME 15 table with V tonearm, Gryphon amplification and Harbeth 40 series speakers. Or something else they carry on a similar level. If and when that happens I’ll report our findings.

@lewm, I might bring along the MC2000 (and perhaps the MC7500) as well for an interesting historic perspective. Comparing new and vintage cartridges in my own system over the years has confirmed the impression that no major sonic breakthroughs have been accomplished over the last 30-40 years of cartridge design. Not by Ortofon and not by others. But I’ll admit, prices did go through the roof.

Lewm, while I have nowhere near the scope of experience as Raul, or any personal experience with those 10k+ cartridges, I do own a number of modern (near) top performers like Ortofon A95 and Anna, Transfiguration Proteus, Accuphase AC-6 (same as MSL) and vdHul Colibri XPW. Without reservation these are truly great cartridges, but not in a different league than Miyabi Standard, Ikeda 9 Rex or AT1000mc, to name but a few. I seriously doubt that would be the case with those cartridges that break the 10k barrier.

@mijostyn, the MSL cartridges are also based on similar design principles of very low impedance and relatively high output. There’s no doubt these are great systems, but the Signature Platinum and even Ultra Eminent are in a different price league at 10k and 7k respectively. 

Lewm, with the Proteus now out of production, you might focus on Mutech instead. While I haven’t heard it, the design brief is very similar and designer Kanda San supposedly had close ties with Transfiguration before it folded. In fact the body of the Mutech Kanda and Transfiguration Orpheus are identical. If I’m not mistaken the pricing of the Mutech Hayabusa (export model) is still around the 4K mark. Not cheap(skate), but quite reasonable in today’s market of ‘trophies for the rich’.