Hi Fleib, The No.2 and No.3 stylus are OEM styli still available from WilliamThacker with the 2 being elliptical and the 3 being Shibata. What puzzles me is why Signet would go to the trouble of elaborate screen-printing on the top of each cartridge body designating either TK-7E, 7Ea, 7SU and 7LCa when apparently they all share the same body and generator? A change of styli thus changing a 7E to a 7SU and a 7Ea to a 7LCa? Surely they could more easily have printed these designations on the swiveling stylus protector of each assembly much like Fidelity Research did with their FR-5 and FR-5E?
Dear Raul, Your enthusiastic review of the Clearaudio Virtuoso certainly is tempting me to give it a try? It is encouraging to find that manufacturers are finally offering top flight MMs at reasonable prices instead of the constant stream of LOMCs at ever more stratospheric prices.......although J.Carr seems to be bucking this trend by introducing LOMCs for Lyra, at 'down to earth' prices.
Incidentally, Michael Fremer is promising to do a review of multiple MM cartridges currently available. Hopefully the Virtuoso will be amongst them? |
Greetings Professor, I had no idea that Poet Laureate was also attached to your Doctorate? Please tell me that it took no time at all for these verses to formulate in your mind. So much time away from music would be a pity...or did you compose whilst listening? :^) Forgive me.....an Acutex cartridge awaits :^) |
Hi Lew, Yes......I finally managed to find a Victor TT-101 in mint condition and it just 'slips' into the same position in place of the TT-81. TT-101I am currently speechless about what I am suddenly hearing. You can see photos updated on my Systems page attached here. |
Dear Raul, If you can.....and you have a remote armpod :^)....it is really worth a try. It's really the additional information being recovered from the grooves which allows me to adjust VTA and VTF with grater accuracy. |
Dear Professor, Brilliant....I chime. My daughter however opines Where the hell are the bloody rhymes!? :^) Cheers Henry |
Perhaps, having multiple tables, he is an analog agnostic? Or maybe even a polytheist! I like that David. Both sound plausible to me :^) |
Does anyone experience some channel imbalance with their Acutex 420 from Italy? I'm definitely getting more output from the left channel which is hard to correct even with the Balance switch on the pre-amp? |
Hi Raul, 60K Ohms resistance and 70 uF + cable. Also find that 2.0 Gm slightly better than 2.2gm and slightly positive VTA. Regards Henry |
Dear Raul, I'm also back to 2.2 Gm and neutral VTA....tonearm level. Every change requires a change :^) |
Dear Raul, With the insertion of the new Victor TT-101 DD turntable which has elevated the performance to levels unimaginable before.........I have dropped the resistance on the Virtuoso Ebony to 47K Ohms. If you can try it, may be better? Regards Henry |
And if one is really obsessive about connectors, what about those additional connectors at the rear of the typical removable headshell? If you use a Pmount with a removable headshell, you typically have connectors: (1) cartridge body to Pmount, (2)Pmount to headshell wires, (3)headshell wires to rear of headshell, (4)rear of headshell to contacts at end of the tonearm wand, not to mention (5)DIN plug if you use removable tonearm ICs, and (6) RCA jacks. It's a real wonder that any decent sound gets through all that crap. It's a valid point Lew and one I have agonized over. However as an old friend of mine said recently....."I've been young and I've been old.....and young is better". Having had multiple modern arms with point to point uninterrupted wiring and many vintage arms with removable headshells and din plugs......I can report that some vintage tonearms (despite the added contacts)..... sound better than the modern ones. Now tell us about the phono stage you use and the connections back to the Pre-amp? :^) |
Banquo, I actually bought those silver headshell leads from 2Juki believing them to be genuine but unfortunately three of the clips 'separated' quite easily from their soldered connections when I attempted to fit them to the cartridge pins. I returned them to 2Juki accusing him of selling me 'fakes' to which he replied....."please don't accuse me of that"......and thankfully refunded my payment. I don't seem to have a lot of luck with some vendors in Hong Kong? Tommy of Topclass is always reliable.......thanks Thuchan :^) |
Dear Professor, I have still to receive my 420STR but I agree with you on the 315. I really had to give up on mine. I DO think my sample might be faulty as the left channel dominates the right no matter what I do with balance or azimuth? The 312 is a 'keeper' however :^) Shootout is proceeding with the Clearaudio Virtuoso and the Signet TK-7LCa......interesting! |
Hi Don, I, like you, Timeltel and Audiofeil ......do enjoy the Signet TK-7SU. If you are ever lucky enough to hear the elusive TK-7LCa........you may find you have reached the mountain top? :^) The Acutex 420 which you soon will have....should please you immensely. Cheers Henry |
Dear Professor and Danny, The 'key' to your timely advice........was 'anti-skate'! I normally utilise minimal anti-skate on all my arms but for some reason.......perhaps because it uses 'dynamic' (spring-loaded) anti-skate.....the Micro Seiki MA-505 has always sounded 'tilted' to the left channel on most of my cartridges. By winding the anti-skate to its maximum and moving the lateral balance weight to the outer extreme......and yes Professor....re-adjusting the azimuth so that the level of the cartridge body marks a perfect horizon to the record.......you have helped me cure the problem :^) Many thanks once again. And thank you again Danny for this Italian 'discovery'. The bargain of the month indeed! Regards Henry |
Hi Dave, You sure got lucky and I'm jealous :-) I run mine between 1.0-1.2Gm VTF and very slightly positive VTA (pivot up a smidgeon). It also may benefit from slightly higher resistance than 47K Ohms.....I run mine at 60K Ohms and approx 120uF capacitance. Hope you continue to enjoy it. It is rather a special cartridge IMHO. Cheers Henry |
After much listening on a variety of arms, I believe the Clearaudio Virtuoso has the edge on the Acutex 420. In fact, there is a lot of truth to Raul's original review on this Ebony cartridge....not to mention Nandric's 'special'? The only weakness I can find with the Virtuoso.....is a limited width to the soundstage (they don't stretch beyond the centrelines of my speakers). However Timeltel.....if you find one for $400-$500.....I would class it as an excellent buy :-) |
Hi Lew, It's not the MCs per se which are causing more stylus drag.....but any low compliance cartridge. My theory being that the low compliance does not allow the cantilever to 'bend' easily around the groove 'barrier' whereas the high compliance bends more readily thus avoiding the 'drag' process more readily? However......as LOMCs are generally low compliance and MMs high......the effects are heard with the MCs most people are using? YMMV of course :^) |
For the last 10 years I have been bothered by the 'distortions' I was perceiving with low compliance LOMC cartridges on heavily modulated grooves especially in the upper frequencies. When I returned to high compliance MM cartridges due to this thread of Raul's.....There was a heavenly freedom from these particular distortions which lead me to believe that MM cartridges were inherently better and more 'linear' than LOMCs? And I now have a collection of over 20 of the most marvellous cartridges....most of them MMs. With the insertion of the Victor TT-81 direct drive turntable and recently the supreme TT-101...... I have discovered that what I thought of, as 'LOMC distortion' on highly modulated vinyl grooves.......was nothing more than 'stylus drag'? With the recently purchased Sutherland Timeline laser weight available for $400 from Elusive Disc......one can clearly see the effects of 'stylus drag' on heavily modulated vinyl grooves. Reading what happens to the stylus as it hits these grooves almost at right angles to the direction of travel.......I thought to myself, that high-compliance cantilevers would 'bend' more easily and navigate the change of direction whereas low-compliance cantilevers would stubbornly keep trying to force their way 'through' the groove and thus slow down more? With a superb DD turntable which is quartz-locked and servo-controlled and is able to micro-adjust speed in a forward and backward direction......the problems of stylus drag disappear. And this is exactly what has happened. There is zero stylus drag with the Victor TT-101 even with the most heavily modulated passages (as clearly shown on the Timeline).....and now....when I play any of my LOMC low-compliance cartridges......I hear absolutely no high frequency distortion anymore. I am now listening to these cartridges (FR-7f, DV-1s, Universe) on the TT-101 with new respect for the qualities of LOMCs. May I return to the 'dark side' :^) |
Dear Fleib, It is not friction which is causing 'stylus drag' but groove modulation. Here is an excerpt from an article by Peter Moncreif published in the IAR Automodulation Distortion
The turntable designer might instead try to deliberately use a very weak motor, with very weak kicks. But that still doesn't solve the above compromise dilemma (he'd still have to move to a lighter platter, if he wants reasonable startup times). And it also creates a new problem, relating to automodulation distortion. What's this new distortion? Turntables get slowed down by outside forces, such as the drag of the stylus in the groove. This drag changes as the groove angle changes with large amplitude music signals. The more that the stylus is yanked side to side by a larger groove excursion representing a louder music signal or transient, the more its passage is impeded in the direction along the linear vector of the groove travel representing the time axis. What's doing the impeding? The turntable is moving the groove under the stylus in a linear direction along the time axis. If there's zero music signal amplitude, the groove is relatively straight, and the groove walls are parallel to this direction of travel, and so these groove walls offer minimal resistance to the stylus gliding past them. But when there's large signal amplitude, then the groove swings wildly from side to side, so the groove walls are more nearly perpendicular to the ultimate direction of the stylus' travel, which is the time axis direction. Thus, the stylus slams into the nearly perpendicular groove wall, which naturally offers more impediment to its travel in the time axis direction. Think of it as the difference between gliding along on an ice rink, parallel to its surface, versus slamming into an ice wall perpendicular to your direction of travel. Pretty dramatic difference, right? What happens when the stylus slams into the groove wall? Who gives way? Well, the stylus might be smaller than the groove wall, but he's a sturdy little bugger, being made of diamond and being anchored firmly to the pickup arm fixed on the plinth. So he hardly budges longitudinally, in the time axis direction (although he's free to swing from side to side, to track groove modulations). Instead, it's the groove wall that yields. Its soft vinyl gets momentarily deformed. As the compressed vinyl reacts to and springs back from this deformation, some of the energy gets transformed into heat, while another part causes the groove wall to partially shudder to a stop, i.e. to slow down. Thus, the groove wall slamming into the immovable stylus, at a nearly perpendicular angle to the groove's time axis motion, causes the groove wall itself to recoil from this collision and slow down in its motion along the time axis direction. When the groove slows down, of course the whole record slows down and the whole turntable platter slows down. In sum, when the music gets loud, the larger side to side groove modulations become more nearly perpendicular to the stylus' steady travel along the time axis direction of the groove. The groove wall has acquired a vector component that effectively collides with the stylus, instead of gliding along parallel to it. Along this time axis direction, the stylus position is fixed, so it is the groove wall that loses in this collision, and the groove (hence turntable) slows down in the time axis direction. This means, quite simply, that loud music slows down your turntable. If you'd like to read the whole article, there is a link on my Systems Page. Regards Henry |
Griffithds, That article was like a thunderbolt to me when I read it. Glad you also appreciated it?
Thanks Fleib for the compliment. Your thoughts on cartridges, together with David's.......have been invaluable to me.
Dear Lew, Well said. I believe Raul stated that it was his high-compliance Technics EPC100Mk4 which was able to successfully track the cannon shots on the Telarc 1812 Overture? It would be interesting to know if any low-compliance cartridge has ever achieved that feat? |
Interesting Link Professor, on bearing friction. It shows Teres.......believing in 'stylus drag' before he could accurately prove it exists via the Timeline? Many pertinent comments there possibly requiring amendments to views held by some only 2 years ago? Cheers |
Let's not become hysterical about Raul's honest evaluation of the Acutex 420. FWIW......I happen to agree with a much of Raul's statement. Raul doesn't like the Signet TK3, 5 or 7 series of cartridges and in these cases....I disagree with him :^) I initially liked the sound of the 420 and made the mistake of reaching that conclusion whilst one of my Halcro DM-58 monoblocks was being repaired and I had my 30 year old Perraux 1850 back-up amp in place. The 420 is a cheap cartridge which does some things well but is certainly not in my top 10 favourite cartridges? I currently have the rare and elusive Signet MR-5.0 lc installed in the Micro MA-505s playing the Victor TT-101 with the Halcros in full operation.........and I am bewitched and entranced. The Acutex 420 is not really in the same ballpark.......but then again......not many cartridges I have heard, are. :^) |
Dear Raul, Nothing ever goes wrong with the DM-58 monoblocks except for their stupid 'air-switch' to turn it on. Instead of a normal on/off switch that millions of electronic items have successfully used for decades, Halcro decided to develop a shmantzy 'air-switch' which turns on the electronics by air pressure up a plastic tube? This is the Achilles heal of the amps as they put in a resistor which controls this and sometimes it became too hot and the amp 'switched' itself off? Resistor and transistor all upgraded under warranty.....but now it appears that during manufacture........to slide the air-tube up through the electronics....the assemblers used a grease which after 5 years......apparently clogged the tube so that the air could not reach the electronic on/off switch? Grease in now cleared out :^) Sometimes being too clever is just dumb? |
Greetings Rnadell, I have 6 of the Yamamoto HS-1as which is simply my favourite headshell except with wood-bodied cartridges. Having the cartridge leads hard-wired to the shell removes another 'connection' point in the analogue chain and the wiring provided.....is thick and of the highest quality. The headshell slots I believe are the same as for the HS-1a? My only caveat with this headshell is do NOT buy from the HongKong seller 2Juki as they are cheap Chinese copies. Buy only from Japan. If you are buying from a private seller......caveat emptor? |
Hi Danny, You're correct in that for me...the Signet TK-7 series seems to get most things right in my system. The TK-7E with the No.2 stylus certainly impressed whilst I agree with Audiofeil that with the No.3 stylus (converting it to the TK-7SU).......the performance achieved even more refinement. It was however only after transplanting an AT-155Lc stylus into a TK-7Ea (on the advice of the Professor..Timeltel).....thus converting the cartridge into a TK-7LCa......that the Holy Grail was reached? :^) This ultimate level of the TK-7 series is, however, almost indistinguishable from the performance achieved with the Signet MR-5.0lc. This rare, almost unspoken about......Maximum Resolution series of Signet cartridges.......is a revelation. Interestingly though.....as Raul has expressed recently......increasing the performance of one's audio system in other areas......may require certain re-evaluations of conclusions previously reached? For instance.........I have now controlled the power to my turntables and preamp with the Shindo Mr T, have removed one motor from the drive on my Raven AC-3 thus converting it to a Raven AC-2 (after testing the speed accuracy with the aid of the Timeline). I also have replaced my Cardas Hexlink5 IC with the Cardas Clear Interconnects in XLR fully balanced mode from Halcro DM10 to DM58 Monoblocks. I am currently listening to the Fidelity Research FR-7f LOMC cartridge on the FR-66s fixed to the Raven AC-2 and the sound is quite a revelation? :^) Even in direct comparison to my two favourite Signets on the Victor TT-101? At these levels of performance.......the 'absolute sound' can shift from day to day, but in the end.....without being persnickety......one can be truly happy with all the iterations of the Signet TK-7 series? Your advice on the Akai RS series of stylus replacements is valuable and I shall certainly make a note of trying them in the future? Cheers Henry |
Hi Don, I have both the TK-5Ea and the TK-5/155Lc and whilst the line contact stylus offers a slight improvement over the elliptical.....it is not a giant leap. It is not however, a TK-7LCa? I find it hard to believe that the generators of the 3, 5 and 7 series could be identical as there would be no logical reason to have different series? The Professor may clear this up but we will have to wait as his laptop has imploded and he is currently 'off-line' :^( Cheers Henry |
Welcome back Professor. You were missed :-( Computer 'crashes' make one feel so vulnerable and isolated these days? One tip for you now that you have moved to a 'better' platform....Mac....is to buy a Time Machine back-up. They are the size of a hand-held calculator and only cost a couple of hundred dollars? Every 10 days, it reminds you to plug it into a USB Port and will completely 'back-up' your entire Macbook Pro. Not only will this give you peace of mind for the retention of all your data.....but it makes transferring all this data to another device in the future.....an absolute breeze :-)
I trust you were able to fill in your time 'off-line' adequately?.....perhaps playing with some new collectible watch or having some tooth surgery performed?.....then again I hear the local post office puts on some great entertainment at this time of year?
The chief question during your absence was........are the generators within the TK-3, 5 and 7 series Signets....identical? In other words.....will a TK-5/155Lc be the same as a TK-7LCa? My ears tell me a definite 'No'.....but if the generators are the same.....why not? Good to read your modulated wording once again. Take care Henry |
Blues Professor? 45 years ago.....inspired by the early roots of the Rolling Stones......I formed a blues band which played the music of Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, Big Bill Broonzy, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, John Lee Hooker, Mississippi John Hurt, Ray Charles and even Nina Simone. We were the first 'authentic' blues band in Sydney and played professionally 3 nights a week at a small wine bar :^) I've recently 'discovered' Elmore James and Son House. If I could only master the blues harp like Little Walter......I would be a happy camper? |
Hi Raul, I have an album pressed in Australia by Image Records called Anthology of the Blues:- the Legend of Elmore James....bought 2nd hand 10 years ago (original Kent 9001 from 1969) He was most influential in the invention of 'slide' guitar and played alongside Robert Johnson at times. He influenced Jimmy Hendrix and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones as well as Frank Zappa. On the Beatle's song 'For You Blue' while John Lennon plays slide guitar....George Harrison says "Elmore James got nothin on this baby" |
I have four 155Lc stylii. One for the AT-155Lc, one for the TK-3/155Lc, one for the TK-5/155Lc and one for the TK-7/155Lc. One can never have enough of those wonderful stylii :^) |
Hi Don, Damm, I hope I'm not going to have to buy another 155LC to go on the TK7Ea? Yes you will :^) As good as the TK-5/155Lc is......and it is........the TK-7LCa is simply better. As far as I'm concerned......perhaps the best so far? The good news is........the 155Lc stylus assembly is easy enough to remove from the TK-5 and transplant to the the TK-7Ea. Happy listening. Henry |
Hi Ben, A heart-felt and most appreciated post from you. I too feel amongst new and close friends through A'Gon ......and this thread in particular. I have learned more about audio in the last five years from all the contributors here......than I did in the previous 30 years. Happy New Year and only the best for everyone. Henry |
Hi Don, If you send me your Email, I will send the P77 documents. Regards Henry |
Welcome back T_bone, I hope the move went well? What a shame you can't listen vinyl......especially after just receiving your Beat turntable? That surely must be frustrating? Will send you the Garrott brochures today.
I too am wondering when Raul will be prepared to release his views on the LOMC cartridge which has become his reference? Funny you should ask about my views on MCs since I have had my TT-101.......because over the holidays......I have been listening largely to the Dynavector XV-1s on the FR-64s arm on the Victor as well as the FR7f on the FR-66s arm on the Raven AC-2 (markedly improved on speed stability over the 3 motor version). This is really one of the greatest advantages of having two turntables with multiple arms............one can maximise the performance of cartridges because of the instant comparisons available? So yes.......my views on top LOMC cartridges has mellowed to include 'respect' and appreciation for some of their abilities.........however......when compared to the cost differential of a dozen of my most valued MM cartridges.......it is still a fanciful equation?
I'm glad you enjoyed the Moncrief article. It certainly enlightened me with its cogent and logical explanations. Good to have you have you back :^) Cheers Henry |
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Lew, Apology accepted :^) Raul.....can you elaborate on the reasons for this long hiatus in your 'listening' ability? |
Greetings Danny,
The only reason I ventured into Mr T territory.........was that the electrical supply for my street was being upgraded....a process which lasted nearly 6 weeks.....and every day they were working on the cables......the sound from my TT-101 was unbearable?! (It didn't seem to affect the Raven AC-2 so much due perhaps to its own power supply for its speed regulator?) The Shindo Mr T power conditioner fixed this problem (but of course the street power supply was finished 3 days after Mr T arrived :-() I now have both turntables and the Halcro Preamp running off Mt T and have no issues with 'variable' sound :-) Recommended if one suffers these issues?
There have been many surprises in my re-evaluation of cartridges Danny.....and I have been feeling slightly sheepish about 'hearing' things so clearly now....which evaded me entirely before? There are many cartridges which now have slipped down the rankings whilst some (including my three LOMCs)......have risen significantly. This seems to be the result of the noise-floor having dropped spectacularly due to the Cardas Clear cabling.....especially the Interconnects which are now running in balanced XLR configuration?
The top MM cartridges like the Professor's beloved Signet TK-7LCa and the Empire DIII/Gold have reinforced their status (although their strengths....and weaknesses....have been highlighted by the increased performances being extracted from the DV-1s, FR-7f and UNIverse. Most of the other MMs in my collection are displaying weaknesses of which I was unaware in my System's previous iteration? Is this a good thing or not?? Definitely good!! I can't seem to stop listening these days.....especially to one particular cartridge on one particular arm on one particular turntable. That's why this process is so long :-) Cheers Henry |
Ahh Nikola, How I enjoy your sardonic sense of humour :^) Your posts......and philosophical torture tests....have kept me smiling in bed on my iPad. You exaggerate the costs of the Cardas Clear by a factor of two........and there are much more expensive cables in the market place. After 30 years with my Cardas Hexlink.......I think I have amortised the costs fairly well? I am not necessarily advising everyone to 'upgrade' their cables to achieve less distortion, lower noise floor and greater transparency..........I'm merely struggling to re-assess all my favourite records and discovering value in records I rarely played. The differences between cartridges I have found.........are not comparable to the fundamental transformation able to wrought by such items as cables? Ideas such as this.....can indeed be a danger to your wealth?! As always |
Montepilot, What phono stage are you using with the MMs and the MC cartridge? I have found that many of the 'modern' phono stages include a MM capability as an afterthought.......if it is included at all? The quality of the phono stage for a MM/MI cartridge is just as important as for a LOMC.....in fact MMs are far more sensitive to loading and capacitance than most MCs in my experience. |
Hi Montepilot,
Congratulations on your system. It certainly is of the highest calibre and able to illuminate the qualities of all your cartridges.
What you hear....you hear. And you are certainly in the majority of high-end analogue listeners in your preferences. This in itself makes me doubt my hearing ability or the resolving power of my own system....but in the end....it's only about what we each individually hear and like?
To echo Danny's sentiment......I'm glad you have found your audio Nirvana.
Henry |
I theorize that the sense of increased detail with LOMC cartridges is due to their lesser ability to re-create the harmonic envelope of a voice or instrument, compared to the best of the MM or MI types. I agree.......and please don't discuss my toilet water :^( |
Dear Nandric, I can actually understand your response :^)....and it gives me some solace just as Dgarretson's Thoreau quote does. By the way Dgarretson.......a wonderful selection of equipment in your system. I'm impressed :^) |
terms like "smooth" and "romantic" are usually problematic... They have a strong tendency towards subjectivism.... and as a result can mean something different to each and every person. For the last four or five months…..I have been re-evaluating all my cartridges due to the increased resolution of my system, and have been wrestling with both the ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ differences I am hearing between them all. As Nikola pointed out……..I am in a small minority of audiophiles with the ability to instantly switch between 24 different cartridges, six different arms and two different turntables. The permutations and combinations are daunting but…….never one to shirk my duties…….I attacked in a way that would do credit to Hannibal :-) The largest ‘subjective’ differences were those between the LOMCs and the MMs. For the first 15 years of my involvement in audio……I had one arm with one MM cartridge at a time (albeit five different models). For the next 15 years….I had one arm with one LOMC at a time (albeit nine different models) whilst for the last 4 years…..I’ve had a multitude of arms and cartridges on two turntables. It was Raul…and this thread which ‘turned’ me back to the MM cartridges which I had ditched so blithely under the influence of the audio press so long ago. I have been a ‘convert’ ever since. But why are we ‘here’….in the minority? Why do all the high-end reviewers and audiophiles and cartridge manufacturers (with a notable exception)…..prefer LOMCs almost ‘to a man’? Why do I hear differently to them….or they to me? This is what I have been wrestling with for months! The interesting phenomena I have found….is the ‘order’ and ‘speed’ of the ‘cartridge-switching’ experiment? When I change from a MM cartridge to a LOMC……I am immediately ‘impressed’. There seems to be a ‘tightening’ of the sound and rhythm. There seems to be a greater solidity to the bass performance and sometimes…..a feeling of extended upper-frequency response? If I were to draw my conclusions at this initial point……I would come out in favour of the LOMC cartridge. But a strange effect takes place over the next few days. I begin to hear a ‘flatness’ to the soundstage which wasn’t there with the MMs? What appeared to be a greater solidity in the bass turns into a ‘sharper’ hit but without the substance of the ‘real thing’ and without the ‘roundness’ of the MM presentation. What appeared to be a greater upper-frequency detail retrieval is in fact no such thing. It seems to be a removal of the ‘air’ and ‘shimmer’ around the notes which then emphasizes their fundamental frequencies whilst removing some of the harmonics? But the greatest disappointment seeps into my consciousness. The midrange….the n’a plus rien, the raison d’etre, the soul, the heart of all music……is deficient. Without the depth and physicality of the midrange heard through the best MM cartridges…..the presentation of the LOMCs becomes a shallow pastiche of analytical cornucopia intended to convince by deception? Swap immediately back to a MM cartridge…..and there is no ‘immediate’ feeling of superiority. This is the riddle! It takes ‘time’ to appreciate the ‘truth’ to the performance of the MMs whilst the ‘reverse’ substitution to LOMCs…appears ‘impressive’. Anyway…..this is one small man’s ‘take’ on the subject? As always…..YMMV! Henry |
It's interesting that Lew brings up the subject of 'valves' and 'transistors' in this discussion on MM and MC cartridges? I have heard a lot of the best SS amplification (both preamps and power amps) including Gryphon, MBL, Soulution, Plinius, Mark Levinson, Boulder and of course Halcro......and none of them IMHO.... has ever approached the transparency and three-dimensional believability of the best 'tubes'. Despite the higher distortions inherent in a 'tube' circuitry.......there is a 'magic' there, which no amount of denial from Raul can dissolve? The two regrets in my audio life is that I cannot find a valve power amp to drive my speakers satisfactorily......and that I no longer have a valve preamp in my system!
What I hear between the presentation of LOMCs and MMs is very similar to what I hear between SS and Valves. MMs provide a 'magic' naturalness which so far......seems to elude MCs? |
Dear Professor, Peter Ledermann is the 'exception' I mentioned in current cartridge designers and from all reports from my trusted sources......the cartridges he produces (including the Strain Gauge) are not to be sneezed at? With the bamboo cantilever.......he gives a lifetime stylus replacement. Has he got it in for Axel??? Regards Henry |
David, I applaud your contribution to the task of attempting a definition (or glossary) of audio terms via some technical specifications. This seems to go some way to helping Nikola in his quest? What is evident however......is that your glossary appears to be related to 'measurement'? Now we all know that one amplifier.......let's say......can measure identically to another in terms of 'frequency response'.......yet the two can sound quite differently? The perennial problem we have had in audio.......which has not changed perceptively in 100 years.......is that basically what we can measure, does not often correlate to what we hear or how, what we hear, affects our emotions? This has bred the validation of a 'subjective' audio press initiated by the first Stereophile and The Absolute Sound 'underground' magazines. How do you imagine that status quo to have changed? Cheers Henry |
Lew, I believe one can obtain a legal prescription if glaucoma is your complaint? I suspect Peter Tosh was instrumental in this amendment to the Laws of the State? |
Dear Raul, I have two cartridges coming back from Axel:- FR-7f & Clearaudio Virtuoso......both with the 'Nandric' approved nude Line Contact stylus in aluminium cantilever. Should they prove to be as good as everyone says........I am intending to send him one of my Garrott P77 cartridges. The only change the Garrott Bros made to the original A&R P77 cartridge....was the stylus so I anticipate that Axel can do even better? |
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