What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?

@mikelavigne 

..but most of the best phono preamps are not true balanced designs, which is another issue.

This is the key issue.  As ralph points out just using an XLR means nothing and in order to take advantage of a balanced interface one must adhere to AES48.  Just because a XLR connector has the ability to be wired to that standard does not mean that everything that it is plugged into also adheres to that standard.  If one aspect of the standard is not met, the whole concept collapses.

@dover 

A moving coil cartridge is an inherently symmetrical device ( coil and 2 tails ).

A MC step up transformer provides an inherently symmetrical input ( coil and 2 tails).

Therefore why would you use an asymmetrical cable where the +ve and -ve sides are different in this application. It makes no sense.

This is an instance where the necessary aspects of the AES48 can exist at the source and the load but in order to operate 'properly' the interface cabling must also be done to the standard (twisted pair with a shield) and I have only experienced a few cases where using this interface worked the same or better than the 'conventional' method.   In all of the cases that worked, the tonearm was specifically (re)wired for this purpose.   With a SUT the RCA cable interface is fine for running the AES standard since the shield can simply be joined externally to the tonearm/table and SUT grounds making sure the primary of the SUT has no ground reference.  In fact at no point in the AES48 is an XLR connector called out, it just happens to be the industry accepted connector.  

dave

@dogberry 

I expect we all know that volume influences how we perceive sound, and are aware of the warning that a constant desire to turn the volume up indicates there is something inadequate in the sound chain.

That one is new to me and in fact I have found just the opposite to be true.  When a system excels I find that the levels can get to the point where you don't realize how loud it is until you try to have a conversation over the music.  Since this is about cartridges, Lets assume we have two level matched cartridges with one showing slightly more tracing distortion than the other.  Many people will find the one with more distortion sounds louder and more detailed while the lower distortion one sounds dark and closed in.  However if you bump the level of the 'murky' cartridge a dB or two then suddenly it excels and reveals the flaws of its higher distortion brethren.

dave

@mijostyn 

In order to fool the human ear you only need a 0.3 dB difference in volume.

do you have a reference on this?  I know the origin of the decibel scale is based on 1dB being the smallest difference in level detectable by the average person.  In system I find a overall level change of 1dB to be quite subtle and that is the topic at hand.  When dealing with specific frequency ranges (crossovers) smaller changes are audible if you know what to listen for and when it comes to soundstage a 1dB change in one channel (ie balance) also is easy to hear.  It has also been argued that the entire concept of level matching and ABX testing is pointless since due to comb filtering, small changes in listening position can dominate the listening experience. (i can't dig up my reference article on this one so a pointer will save a lot of google work) 

dave

@dover 

I use the word symmetrical deliberately rather than the word balanced.

Ahhh... point taken.  If the SUT were truly symmetrical as you state then one could reverse the polarity of the primary and net the exact same frequency response at the secondary.  Some SUT's behave better than others in this manner but one polarity will always measure 'different' than the other.  As for the cartridge we already have the interesting wrinkle that by necessity the L & R coils are out of polarity with each other so this is a much grayer area.  In both cases I would expect these to be far easier to observe phenomena than the behavior of a symmetrical vs. asymmetrical cable.  It is important to note that jut because phenomena are measurable in the real or theoretical world doesn't equate to them being meaningful.

dave

@frogman 

I know and am confident in what I hear.

well put!  I often find that those who rely heavily on the objective are incapable / uncomfortable forming a consistent subjective opinion.  I am by no means suggesting that the objective has no place in audio.  I feel that the best use of theory and measurement is to help explain what we actually like rather than as a tool to dictate what we should like.

dave