What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?

I have a short audition recently with the DS Audio Grand Master pairing with the SAT arm and Airforce Zero turntable, and consider this one of the best analogue set up I have ever heard. Of course, I couldn’t tell which component had the greatest contribution to the great performance!

I’ve tried a number of carts and so far my Soundsmith Hyperion II sounds the best. 

How would you characterize the Hyperion? Analytical, lush, ???

Thanks!

@thekong There are much improved generators available today, that are encouraged to be produced and are being produced for DS Audio Optical Cart's.

I have heard a Top of the Range DS Audio Cart' in use, but not heard one in use with an alternative generator design as of yet.

I have encouraged a friend who owns a Grand Master to adopt one the New Design Generators, of which they now own and are using.

I will at some point get the opportunity to experience the pairing in use.

It would be great if it proved to be one more encounter, where the experience is indelible for its attraction. 

@atmasphere , I think there is a lot more to it than sound quality. 45% of album sales are to people 18 to 35 years of age, people at the beginning of their careers who can ill afford expensive turntable gear. Records make great collectibles. You get a much nicer token of the artist than a digital file. You get nothing streaming. Lets not talk about CDs. Men in particular instinctively like machines and tools almost absent in the digital world.

There is no best cartridge. The sound quality of records is so variable you could not discern a best cartridge through them. Anybody going to change cartridges with each record? You also have to take into consideration the tonearm and phono stage but, there is no best "system" for the same reason.  

I agree with Mijo that there can be no single “best” cartridge, for both objective and subjective reasons, and have said so. So too have many others. And yet this thread goes on,… and on.

Obviously this is an impossible question to answer in absolute terms. None of us have heard all the possible contenders.  But...In your opinion, what is the best cartridge you have heard?'  That can be answered. 

I have recently started using a SS Hyperion II. In one of Peter's lectures he talks about cartridges sampling the record groove as the stylus bounces from wall to wall. He claims that his designs stay in contact with the groove more of the time. I now understand what he is saying. With the benefit of hind sight ( hind hearing), every system I have listened to sounds like the stylus is scratching its way thru the grooves, shaking as it progresses. The Hyperion sounds like it is lubricated and just slides smoothly along. This characteristic is at first disarming and then so darn, obviously right. This is definitely not to say that it smooths out the sound. It has micro definition in spades, little details are revealed in all their thrilling glory. It also scares you with how dynamic it is, how present it is and how it conveys the emotion engraved in the record. Goose bumps, tears, smiles, joy. To me this is why we play this game.

Another test is how different do various records sound from others. Here again the Hyperion excels. One record can sound shrill and brash another dull and muffled. This strongly implies that it is getting out of the way and reveling honestly what is on the record. 

It tracks superbly.  

The best cart I have ever heard, 

Cheers

@richardkrebs Thank you for your review of the Hyperion.

@aj523  Why do you like yours? How would you characterize the sound? Comparison? Thanks!

@terry9 

The Hyperion description from @richardkrebs is similar to what I've heard.

The SS strain gauge cartridges take it up another notch.

From the Paua up the SS are superb on classical.

Not the best cartridge I've heard - but very good. I've heard quicker, more dynamic, more resolving.

On the other hand I have heard some of the current top of the line contenders that have obvious flaws in my view.  The SS are like Spendor speakers - they just get out of the way and let you listen in to the music. Beautifully balanced.

Tracking is very much a function of arm cartridge matching and set up as it is the actual cartridge. The fact that SS can tailor the cartridge to your arm is a bonus.

@dover  Thank you very much! I'm looking to get another cartridge to complement my diamond Koetsu. Front runners at the moment are Grado and DaVa. What ARE the best cartridges you have heard, and why?

I know that's a lot to ask, so please don't bother if you're busy.

My DIY air bearing tonearm is pretty flexible - wands are easily replaceable and can be made to fit the cartridge.

now an 8 month wait for a DaVa, wait getting longer all the time. and as it’s sold direct it’s a steal at the price. best approach is to order one, then when it comes in, easy to sell it to those on the wait list, if it does not float your boat.....or you like something better.

i find the DaVa the perfect compliment to my diamond tipped Etsuro Gold.

Dear @richardkrebs  : Good that you have a new cartridge that fulfill your priorities.

Those priorities are mainly the ones that bias each one of us preferences to say: " this is the best cartridge I heard ".

SS manufacturer is very good for marketing and in my opinion what you are listening has a direct relationship with the new cartridge body design that promotes lower internal resonances/vibrations/distortions but that that " fact " could be says that the cartridge stylus it's more time in contact with each groove I think it's not true till the manufacturer can prove it.

Cartridge body shape is an important issue for any cartridge, we can see that importance not only with your cartridge but other cartridges as the A95, the Verissimo and others. The Colibri avoid that issue just several years ago with it's body-less design.

""  it tracks superbly . " again that's your bias because the cartridge compliance is 10cu that's  almost " marginally " for  grooves tracking.

As you and other side it's an almost impossible question to answer, there are to many paramerts involved in each cartridge that contributes to its quality performance and additional are our priorities.

Btw,   " Front runners at the moment are Grado and DaVa...""

in good shape @terry9  , that Dava FR is around 6db out of a " decent " cartridge FR. The Hyperion is only 2db. Obviously that you have your own priorities and thta's what I'm saying.

R.

Earlier Rauliuegas dreamt

that DAVA canteleverless,now

he dreams that DAVA has 6 db

unlinearity.All this info is fake.

What is this man’spurpose?

@dover , I listened extensively to Soundsmith's Strain Gauge cartridge with records I know intimately. It has excellent transient response and a very vivid signature partially because it is too bright. It's tracking ability does not come close to that of the Hyperion. I decided not to get one. The Hyperion is a cartridge I could live with and may in time get one. The cartridges I own indicate what I think is best. The MSL Signature Platinum, The Lyra Atlas Lambda SL and the Ortofon MC Diamond. 

@osada22 , the DAVA is a poorly constructed, ill thought out, piece of junk. I would never let one get near my turntable. @rauliruegas's purpose is to warn people away from the DAVA and he is right.

careful never to listen to a DaVa. you might then choke on those words, which could be fatal. don’t say i never warned you.

btw; owned an Ortofon MC Diamond, along with a couple of MC Anna’s and A90’s. all fine cartridges not quite in the DaVa’s league. i sold my MC Anna and Clearaudio GFS, when i got my first standard Etsuro Gold and compared those three. the Etsuro Gold was another level in realism. but in the MC Anna price range it was a winner. a very fine cartridge.

since the DaVa is sold direct without any middle men or distribution (so far), the value equation is remarkable. 

Dear @osada22 : No, I’m not dreaming nothing your statement is wrong because was you who posted in other thread the Dava FR where it shows those 6db deviation.Fr whatever reason you don’t show yet the cartridge compliance that any owner andpotencial customers must know to calculate the resonance frequency with their tonearm they already own. Even that M.Lavigne does not cares about that spec is a must to have.

Yes, I agree with @mijostyn .

Btw, @mikelavigne today no one and I mean it can trust only in that " listen " that is only subjectivity. We need to be very carefully about and try to analyze the item surrounded facts/characteristics in an objective way. Ears can foolish not only you but any one else including me. Dava did it with you and here two other gentlemans opinions on this specific issue in this thread:

@boothroyd  : "  You make many valid points about subjective & objective balance for a “World’s Best” title .."

@jasonbourne52  : " This is a case where the "golden ears" crowd’s subjective impressions leads to erroneous conclusions! "

R.

@rauliruegas  wrote "Btw, today no one and I mean it can trust only in that " listen " that is only subjectivity. We need to be very carefully about and try to analyze the item surrounded facts/characteristics in an objective way. Ears can foolish not only you but any one else including me. Dava did it with you and here two other gentlemans opinions on this specific issue in this thread"

Our listening pleasure is a subjective experience. I am unsure what philosophical underpinnings you propose to justify telling someone their subjective experience is less valid than yours. I’m all for measuring what can be measured, and claims like ’my power cord will make your music 10% better’ that are used to sell nonsense to fools are to be regarded as worthless. But if you tell me you prefer a Guarneri over a Strad, a Fender over a Gibson, how can I say you are wrong just because I have a different taste?

The most any of us can say in response to the question that started this benighted thread is that ’x is the cartridge that pleases me the most of all those that I have heard.’ That is a statement that stands no matter how anything measures.

@rauliruegas

in my decades of activity i have yet to meet an audiophile, any audiophile, who does anything but listen to gear to make decisions. whether it’s gear, or pressings, or digital files or whatever....we listen. and to interact, we have to respect listening perceptions. otherwise, chaos...or even worse..... ASR.

i’m sure such people exist, but i have no desire to meet one or to hang with them.

and Raul, you did not build your system or choose recordings by measurements.

so why, as long time respectable friends, do you continue to torment me with all this baloney about distortions and measurements? why? certainly all reproduced music contains distortions, it’s never perfect. never will be. so what?

you don’t believe that crap.

i tell you what i hear, and please tell me what you hear. but enough already with all the noise. it’s just a waste of time. i respect you and am interested in what you hear.

@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?

Dear @dogberry  : This was my answer to you about my opinion and other gentlemans opinion:

"" 

 " And really, can anyone say they know what is best in anyone else's world? "

No one can because is something personal/subjective. What we all can is to give opinions/advise on some diffderent audio items in other audiophile room/system as alternatives bt at the end the system owner has the privilege to goes with its own decision.  ""

You just posted:

" I am unsure what philosophical underpinnings you propose to justify telling someone their subjective experience is less valid than yours.  "

I did not, that could be a misunderstood or a bad explanation from my part. Btw, I can tell you that my " subjective " opinion is weigthed by " objectivity " too, not only subjective.

Btw, in this thread I posted to M Lavigne:

""" qquestioning you what you like it because it’s a personal opinion your opinion of what YOU like and no one can question it. """

and that's a reality, I'm not questioning @mikelavigne . I'm questioning the Dava and by coincidence Mike is an owner.

R.

@rauliruegas

you either you respect listening opinions, or you do not respect listening opinions. you don't need to agree. tell us about your listening opinions.

all the other is noise and nonsense..

@mijostyn 

I listened extensively to Soundsmith's Strain Gauge cartridge with records I know intimately. It has excellent transient response and a very vivid signature partially because it is too bright. It's tracking ability does not come close to that of the Hyperion. 

Well there you go.

I listened to the Soundsmith Strain Gauge cartridge set up by Peter personally, using his own phono stage in a friends system. Spent the evening listening - would never have described it as bright ( and I cant stand unnaturally bright or grainy top end ). Perhaps the brightness was related to your tracking issues.

Have you had your hearing checked for Hyperacusis lately ? Given your stated desire to listen regularly at over 100db perhaps the ears are not in great shape.

“There is this thing called listening” - mikelavigne

So simple, so basic and so true.

How ironic (and absurd) the notion that the final judgment of what equipment is best in the context of a given system, in a given room, should be made by anything other than LISTENING. Last time I checked the purpose of an audio system is listening (to music). The idea that lowest possible measured (measurable) distortion necessarily makes a piece of equipment sonically superior is equally absurd. How many examples of equipment with great measurements that sounded mediocre, even poor, have we all experienced?

Just what is it about those who rely so much on measurements that drives them to denigrate the experience of those who base their final judgment on listening? I have to think that the reason is simply insecurity in their own ability to listen critically. So, those who claim to hear what they themselves can’t hear must be deluded “golden ears”; or, are “biased” and just “used to” a certain (distorted) sound.

As is the case with many issues outside of audiophilia, those who make the most noise are often the least reliable source of truth.

Anyone remember Justin Wilson?  He was an old Cajun that had an entertaining cooking show on TV some years ago. 
 

After preparing an elaborate Cajun dish, he was asked…”Justin, what kind of wine would you recommend with that?”  
 

His infamous answer…”the kind you like”.

@mikelavigne , I hate to tell you this but you never owned an MC Diamond.  They were just released. I have one of the very first ones in the country and it isn't even in my hands yet. 

With the availability of rare earth magnets, strangling a cartridge with field coils is a silly proposition and as I said before, what you think it sounds like means absolutely zero to me. I would never buy one or even look at it because it is a Rube Goldberg device. You are absolutely entitled to enjoy yours.

@rsf507 , You bet. The Platinum Signature is a little Jewel. It has the tiniest stylus I have ever seen. It is typical of the best cartridges. Nothing stands out immediately. You have to listen to a few albums you know to get the lay of the land. It is balanced, detailed, dynamic and the bass in transimpedance mode is the best I have ever heard. ( I have not listened to the Lyra or the Ortofon yet. They are payed for but not yet in my hands.) The tracking has been flawless. When I have all three cartridges I will make digital files of them playing the same material and put them on line. I expect they will sound very similar. 

@dover , I auditioned the strain gauge at Peter's listening room. He spent two hours with me. I really wanted to like the strain gauge but it was just too sharp on female voices and violins for my taste. The Hyperion is more to my liking. From the Voice upwards Peter makes a great cartridges. You can't go wrong with any of them. The Strain gauge is a unique outlier but it is not an easy nut to crack. My sense is that Peter like's the challenge. He also admits and will tell you that the Hyperion can handle over twice the velocity the strain gauge can tolerate. 

I listen at 95 dB to material that warrants it. That is quite a bit softer than 100 dB.

My hearing, like anyone my age is slightly rolled off on top. I compensate by boosting the treble from 12 kHz up at 6 dB/oct.  

Well, then that should make the Dava, with its purported 6db HF rise, the perfect cartridge for you 😊.

((Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

Ortofon Anna Diamond = Ortofon MC Diamond

Anna Netrebko became persona non grata....

Russian Ukraine Politics required renaming......to side-step conflict.

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  😄

@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 !

For anyone that has heard the MSL cartridges can you describe the differences between each model? I've only heard the Sig Gold and it certainly took my breath away. My dealer is new to the line and can't honestly tell me what I might expect from other models. Thanks for any insight.

@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.  

I auditioned the strain gauge at Peter's listening room. He spent two hours with me. I really wanted to like the strain gauge but it was just too sharp on female voices and violins for my taste.

@mijostyn To my understanding the Soundsmith Strain Gauge will need some EQ that isn't supplied by the manufacturer. Without that EQ an un-equalized strain gauge will have an EQ error due to that flat spot in the RIAA pre-emphasis curve. So it would cause the cartridge to sound bright.

Dear @frogman : " How many examples of equipment with great measurements that sounded mediocre, even poor, have we all experienced? "

your statement was something that happened several years ago but not today, could be everywhere an item that fullfil what you said but you can be sure that’s an exception.

I have first hand experiences about measurements and learned what to look for through them and which ones are really important. I learned all those when we manufactured a phonolinepreamp and this was over 10 years ago and even that that phonolinepreamp inside the owners systems today is still competitive and it still is my phonolinepreamp reference that has some modifications over the originals units.

In those times we fixed the main targets at different levels of the design and builded needs. We makes several mesuremenst with our tools about and other measurements were made by others because we did not own the Audio Precision as the one used by J.Atkinson in STRPH and guess what: the unit measured really good and excellent in some parameters before we listened to it and when we did it the unit was " rigth on targets " and I can tell you that we were and are extremely demanding MUSIC lovers/audiophiles. At the end we only had to fine tunning it with almost no severe active/passive parts changes.

With out those kind of first hand experiences you can’t understand the today measures importance and how read those measures and what are telling you.

The amps I own were modified and were measured and are excellent even today and the same I can tell with my speakers and speaker crossover modified too and my tonearm is like the phonolinepreamp " made in home " and excellent too ..Those adjectives were shared by audio friends to me.

As I said my subjectivity is well weigthed by objectivity and enjot a lot the MUSIC putting at minimum developed distortions/colorations and yes my real reference is live MUSIC seated at near field position.

You can be sure that the MUSIC " color " you like it is not exactly what likes M Lavigne, me or any other gentleman. What you can be sure too is that I always try to finish a dialogue when the other gentleman tells me: " I like it " end of the history because no one can't questioning that personal preference but what I can do is to analyze the overall scenario/context room/system from where is developed that " I like it ".

R.

really the MC Century, Anna Diamond, and MC Diamond are really all equivalent.

all three excellent cartridges. maybe nuanced differences at most.

the MC Century was a limited volume, so they had to bring out the Anna D., then war, thus the MC Diamond. three versions of the same thing.

@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.

@atmasphere ,yes, that is the cause of the brightness and I could EQ that easily in the digital realm but the real deal breaker for me was the strain gauge's tracking ability. Peter thinks he has got it as good as he can and feels it is acceptable. Generally I will only look at cartridges that can do 80um or better at 315Hz. Miss-tracking is very annoying. Miss-track a record once and it is permanently damaged.

@edgewear , Ortofon is very conservative with it's ratings and list's the MC Diamonds tracking ability at 315 Hz as 80um which is excellent and should easily handle any record. The Replicant 100 and GygerS styluses are the two most severe styluses out there and really have to be spot on in the groove. If you are still miss-tracking it is either a set up problem or just as likely something else you are hearing like phono stage clipping. 

When I have mine in hand I will run it through the torture course and report back what it can do. Yours should do the same.  

An interesting aside when it comes to styluses. The line contact stylus of the MSL Platinum Signature is really quite special. Unlike other line contact styluses I have looked at, the tip of the MSL stylus is broadly radiused. It's azimuth can actually be off a few degrees and the tracking would not be affected at all. Channel separation would still suffer but not tracking or record wear. I have not had the chance to look at an Air Tight stylus but given the same designer I suspect it is similar. The Air Tights were very popular for a while but it seems you hardly hear about them any more. I do think the Opus 1 is overpriced so, fewer people are willing to shell out for it.

It is also interesting to note that in spite of it's rather high voltage output the Platinum Signature's gain is about 5 dB higher in transimpedance mode than in voltage mode. It is also as dynamic as any high output cartridge I have heard in transimpedance mode. What is just as special and the one area where this set up excels over any other I have used in my system is bass definition. Marcus Miller's bass now has almost the same gruf timbre it had at the Blue Note a month ago. I still think the bass could be better but I still have improvements to make in my subwoofer system. 

@mijostyn 

The MSL's super-high ratio of output voltage to coil impedance seems to be unlike anything else out there. In fact there's nothing even close (besides Air Tight). Definitely intriguing - must be some super efficient combination of armature and magnet structure? 

The low 15kHz channel separation spec on Ortofon's MC Diamond is interesting - and it's not just the Anna that they've spec'd higher. 20dB is not impressive. Even much lower line cartridges like Kontrapunkts have been spec'd higher! Probably some of the vintage models too. Possibly an admission that measurements take a backseat to subjective sound quality?

@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. 

@mulveling , Mr Matsudaira calls it SH-uX, a high flux-high permeability armature material. I have no idea what this means but his cartridges are renown for high output voltages in spite of having very low internal impedances. All I can say for sure is that he makes a beautifully crafted, great sounding cartridge that anyone can buy with confidence. 

As for the MC Diamond's spec, who knows? Maybe it's a typo or the humidity was really high the day they did the testing. Ortofon is very conservative with their specs. On their web site the MC Diamond's channel balance is within 0.5 dB and separation at 15 kHz 20 db , at 1kHz 25 dB.  I would bet at 1kHz it will be more like 35 dB. I will measure it for sure. Whatever the old Anna Diamond was universally liked and Ortofon rarely goes backwards. The Verismo is robably a better value. 

I've lusted a bit after the Hyperion from SS, and have a Sussurro MkII which is the cartridge just below the Hyperion in that product line. I find it like the Grado Statement 3 - honest, thorough but unexciting. I won't bore everyone again by recounting my purchases of all the MI carts I could find when looking for a replacement for my Deccas. I'm coming to the conclusion that the involvement/excitement that comes from the Deccas is either a very discreet but addictive distortion they impose on the music, or maybe some subtle improvement in timing and responsiveness that makes them seem so real. I doubt if such can be measured, but my ear discerns it.

The cantileverless technology of the Deccas is about to become extinct as John Wright retires with no successor, and the company that made the armatures is no more. I'm hopeful the reduced moving mass designs relying on a strain gauge or an optical detector will simulate the agility, responsiveness and liveliness of the Deccas.

the real deal breaker for me was the strain gauge's tracking ability. Peter thinks he has got it as good as he can and feels it is acceptable. Generally I will only look at cartridges that can do 80um or better at 315Hz. Miss-tracking is very annoying. Miss-track a record once and it is permanently damaged.

@mijostyn LPs can survive mistracking and I agree mistracking is very annoying. I'm torn over the Soundsmith thing, since on the one hand I've heard it track extremely well (IOW not a concern at all); its clearly tonearm dependent as are all cartridges.

So I suspect he didn't have it set up on the ideal arm when you heard it, which strikes me as a bit odd. I'm not going to speculate further...

mulveling wrote:

"Even much lower line cartridges like Kontrapunkts..."

Careful, lad, I'm listening to a 500 hour Kontrapunkt C and thinking it is uncomfortably close to what I like about the London Decca Reference. That alone makes me think Ortofon have some idea of what they are about. Unlike some cartridge manufacturers. The Kontrapunkt C is akin to the Cadenza Black in modern speak.

"Even much lower line cartridges like Kontrapunkts..."

Careful, lad, I’m listening to a 500 hour Kontrapunkt C and thinking it is uncomfortably close to what I like about the London Decca Reference. That alone makes me think Ortofon have some idea of what they are about. Unlike some cartridge manufacturers. The Kontrapunkt C is akin to the Cadenza Black in modern speak.

I actually owned a Kontrapunkt c, and am sorry I sold it. Loved that cartridge. It’s analogous to Cadenza Bronze in the modern line - which I also have - and in many ways I think the Kontra c was more fun (though they’re a lot alike). Even preferred the "c" over its big brother Jubilee, which was predecessor to the Cadenza Black. The Jubilee was a bit sterile. The Kontra c and Bronze have a warmth and body that seems to be missing to various degrees from the upper line (Jubilee, Windfeld, Windfeld Ti). A90 is my favorite Ortofon so far, though.

The Verismo is robably a better value. 

As Freud would say

Nice catch.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.