Hi Mike, I afraid that you are wrong, the spec. of the Mc Diamond is slightly different from the Anna Diamond! If we only go by the measurements, the Anna Diamond is actually the better of the two 😄
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.
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@mikelavigne , The MC Diamond has incorporated several improvements from the Verismo the Anna Diamond did not have. It is not the same cartridge. Yes, they did change the name because of Russian aggression as if that has anything to do with an opera singer. The Russians are wonderful people with a unique culture. It is the remaining Soviets that are Fed up. I could understand if the cartridge was named The Stalin. |
@mijostyn , can the MC Diamond really be considered as an improvement over the Anna Diamond when the measurements are worst? Just go look up their Channel Separation at 15kHz and Frequency Response figures ! |
@thekong , it is unusual for Ortofon to go backwards. They are also extremely conservative with their specs. At any rate I will find out shortly. @rsf507 , I have only heard my Platinum Signature. The hearsay is that the Gold is slightly warmer than the Platinum. The Platinum should track better but again that is an assumption. What I can say for sure is the quality of construction is absolutely top notch. The diamond is perfectly clear, beautifully polished ( I have a Wallyscope) and tiny. It is 1/2 the size of Soundsmith's OLC stylus which is already quite small. When you play a record it looks like the cantilever is sitting right on the record. These are very low impedance cartridges best used with a transimpedance phono stage even though they have very acceptable output. There is definitely more gain in transimpedance mode and the bass has better definition. |
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