What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?

@dover sample variation probably goes a long way explaining your experience as the Colibris are more prone to this phenomenon that any other cartridge I can think of. As you know they’re also very picky about their companionship. By this I mean tonearm and phono device, not you of course 😋

@mikelavigne the name change actually did involve a design change as well. Ortofon’s chief designer is on record explaining about the new suspension of the MC Diamond, using nanotubes or something. In a video interview with Fremer (part of his coverage of the Munich event) he boasts about the enormous improvements or words to that effect. He also says they felt a desire to change the suspension because some owners had experienced tracking issues with the discontinued Anna and Anna Diamond.

I’m one such owner and my regular Anna sounded gorgeous but was by far the worst tracker I ever owned. I bought it used and therefore couldn’t be sure what caused the tracking problems. A factory rebuild didn’t solve the issue, so I resent it and after almost a year (!) of waiting they returned it with the new nano suspension installed. Thankfully this has improved the tracking somewhat, although it still doesn’t track everything. FWIW, sonically I don’t hear any difference with the old Anna, but perhaps things will improve after the suspension has settled.

@mijostyn you almost sound like the Ortofon distributor. Their first line of defense was ‘blame it on the set up’. Yeah right, I’ve got 40 cartridges, including ancient ones like Ortofon MC30 and real set up prima donnas like Ikeda 9 or VdH Colibri. None of these exhibit the tracking limitations of the Anna. I know the specs, but they count for nothing. I’ve tried Anna in 5 different tonearms and the issues are consistent in all cases. As said, the new suspension improves things a little, but it still can’t track some of my torture tracks. Perhaps you own the Philips recording of Messiaen’s Quatuor Pour La Fin Du Temps by Reinbert de Leeuw and collegues. It contains some extremely fierce piano and clarinet crescendo’s that all my cartridges can handle, although in a few cases with some distortion. Except for the updated Anna, who still jumps out of these grooves. I hope for you that the new MC Diamond will prove to be a better tracker. 

@mijostyn this just goes to show that reviews don’t tell you anything. It’s a different story when the Ortofon chief designer reluctantly goes on camera mentioning occasional tracking problems with Anna. This is what I experienced and to some extend still experience even after two repair / upgrade trips to Ortofon, taking the better part of a year and costing €3500. Let’s just say I’ve had better customer journeys.

Sonically the Anna is one of the best cartridges I’ve experienced, but unfortunately the tracking capabilities are just mediocre. After all the trouble I’ve decided to accept this, but the Anna spec sheet is optimistic to say the least.

@reimarc there are several different approaches to this ‘direct coupled’ theme of bringing the coils as close to the stylus as possible. I don’t have personal experience with the AT ART1000, but I am very familiar with the Victor MC L1000, which is considered to be the ‘inspiration’ for the design of the ART1000. Another approach was the original cantileverless version of the Ikeda 9 series. These cartridges share a common trait, which can be described - not surprisingly - as a very direct and dynamic presentation of the music. Large dynamic swings in the music are explosive, but also micro dynamics are more prominent than usual. These characteristics make these systems stand out from the crowd, but whether you like this depends on your own priorities as well as the capabilities of your system to handle it. But under the right circumstances these systems certainly have the capacity to become your ‘goosebump machine’.

However, as a species the direct couple designs are now almost extinct. Even the venerable Decca London has recently been discontinued. As far as I’m aware that only leaves the ART1000. I’m not sure the Szar DST is still being made, but based on some reports its construction and quality control should give you some cause for concern.

@dover as you know I greatly appreciate your expert opinion, but this needs to be corrected. As far as I know VdHul never used platinum magnets. However, he did use platinums coil wire for the Colibri. To the best of my knowledge he’s been the only cartridge designer who ever used this metal for coil wires. It seems particularly difficult to work with and when his supply of sufficient quality wire ran out, it was over. I have one of the last samples of the Colibri XPW African Blackwood, which I treasure. The word ‘coarse’ is about the last I would think of when describing the sound of this cartridge.

In contrast to the ever spiralling cost of phono cartridges competing for the ‘world’s best’ nomination, I noticed an ad on eBay about a ‘new’ cartridge called Fidelix MC-F1000 direct coupled MC at an ‘introduction price’ of €3,5k. In today’s high end audio universe this is now considered mid price.

As the model number and description suggest, this is a redesign of the classic Victor MC-L1000. The biggest technical difference with the Victor is the much lower source impedance of 6 ohms compared to the Victor’s 22 ohms, suggesting fewer coil windings and/or stronger magnets. At this price it could be a real giant killer. I own and cherish a Victor MC-L1000, which can still keep up with current top systems.