What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?
I believe that a cartridge and a speaker, by far, contribute the most to SQ.
The two transducers in a system.
I bit the bulllet and bought a Lyra Atlas SL for $13K for my Woodsong Garrard 301 with Triplanar SE arm. I use a full function Atma-Sphere MP-1 preamp. My $60K front end. It is certainly, by far, the best I have owned. I read so many comments exclaiming that Lyra as among the best. I had to wait 6 months to get it. But the improvement over my excellent $3K Mayijima Shilabi was spectacular-putting it mildly.
I recently heard a demo of much more pricy system using a $25K cartridge. Seemed to be the most expensive cartridge made. Don’t recall the name.
For sure, the amount of detail was something I never heard. To hear a timpani sound like the real thing was incredible. And so much more!
This got me thinking of what could be possible with a different kind of cartridge than a moving coil. That is, a moving iron.
I have heard so much about the late Decca London Reference. A MI and a very different take from a MC. Could it be better? The World’s Best? No longer made.
However Grado has been making MI cartridges for decades. Even though they hold the patent for the MC. Recently, Grado came out with their assault on “The World’s Best”. At least their best effort. At $12K the Epoch 3. I bought one and have been using it now for about two weeks replacing my Lyra. There is no question that the Atlas SL is a fabulous cartridge. But the Epoch is even better. Overall, it’s SQ is the closest to real I have heard. To begin, putting the stylus down on the run in grove there is dead silence. As well as the groves between cuts. This silence is indicative of the purity of the music content. Everything I have read about it is true. IME, the comment of one reviewer, “The World’s Best”, may be true.
@ghdprentice thanks for the breakdown. Based on your stated qualifications it would appear that you are in a position to know. No argument from me. I only wondered when I think of the time factor. Iow every record ever made *could* still be played ( if not physically damaged ) so as much as 100 years of serving music. I guess the digital era has saved us an order of magnitude of money and environmental impact. ;)
|
Regarding field coil ps variables @atmasphere has posted in the topic. Maybe he can help us here ( yet again ) |
Your Atlas *if* dialed in right is a pretty special cart. Yet for some people the worlds best might be an original white bakelite Neumann DST from 60 years ago. For another whatever Audio Exotics has at the top of the price list :) Certainly carts with high quality gold or platinum windings might be interesting. I picked Aidas and Tedeska to sell in my portfolio because, while not inexpensive, I felt the value is high.
Enjoy |
@rauliruegas you have made a comparison of dsp for visual and dsp for audio as if they correlate directly in terms of their perceptibility. Do you know this to be the case? ( earlier you mentioned not being very familiar with audio recording, so it caused me to wonder.) |
Are you certain of this math? I'm not, curious is all.... |
I am curious what your preferences / biases are when evaluating design and manufacturing quality from 'afar'? ( since this will be based not on listening or a physical examination).
Thanks
|
@mijostyn your list makes sense to me. Representing two cartridge brands that use non metallic bodies informs me differently on that topic but I do see your point. On the topic of 'cottage industry' perhaps our definitions differ. I would put Lyra and SoundSmith in the cottage category. In fact I am not sure anyone making lomc isn't except Ortofon, Audio Technica and Excel. Maybe not even them .... What is the definition? Owning the supply chain and processing material from raw? |
@rauliruegas did you personally measure in your system, see in person, or listen to a DaVa reference ? For your information I will share my opinion with you when you share yours ( actual not theoretical ) one too. Deal? |
@pindac why are you ’wed to Ortofon'? If the following is true ( your statement ) then any cart having a few of the basic ingredients might be fine?
|
@reimarc perhaps stating the obvious but you may want to keep your current Benz LPS long enough to hear the new preamp- keeping variables limited :) A gon member @gakerty switched from a Benz LPS to the Aidas Gala Gold and was quite happy with the upgrade. Perhaps pm him for some thoughts? Disclosure: I am the distributor for Aidas |
So you never heard or touched the ART 1000? Yet:
You know about the tracking ability of this cartridge based only on the printed CU spec? |
@rauliruegas No problem, I don't expect tracking issues based on the technical match or reputation. I, however, would not proclaim a cartridge to be an excellent tracker based only on 'paper specs' either... |
