I suspect that CAs recommendation of 2.4g VTF was to obtain 90 micron tracking. The range starts at 1.8g. Although not stated, I assume cu is still 15.
I believe CA might have made their older MMs an instant classic. Stronger magnets is probably worse, not better. Distortion might increase.
When I first posted here, my initial 5 or 6 posts were "subject to approval". After that, they just went on. My last post was once again moderated. Maybe if we stop discussing, it will go away? Regards, |
Hi Thuchan, The Shure ML140HE is a true contender.......if you can ever find one? They may be scarcer than the Signet TK-7CLa models......or so the Professor thinks? |
Dear Henry, I got some kind of explanation from the moderator with the general statement that we all are suspects because of some 'inappropriate comments'. I, as a modest Serbian warrior thought that the moderator is only interested in me because of my 'microphone' insinuations. This alas is not the case but my Serbian assumption that someone among us is a traitor is still relevant. If you remember the Arche thread ( Daniels look a like headshell) you get the picture. My inventive 'iron horse versus locomotive' example got lost because some traitor complained about someone and this thread was closed much to my regret. But despite of this unfortunate event I got my Arche for free. Your 'inapproptiate comments' are those which you made in the Glanz thread induced by envy because you dont own any of the Galnz carts. Not to mention the Glanz 5 which only Dgob and I own while the one of Dgob is defective.Alas? Regarding this thread I like to mention that I also own the Virtuoso with an boron cantilever and super elliptical stylus which at present cost 359 Euro by Alex. According to Raul those with 'exotic' cantilever are even better.One can own the best or at least the most expensive tonearm but without the 'best cart ever' it is like the best Porsche without the motor.
Regards,
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Dear Halcro: Of course that I try it. I use on the 8000 and 506 SAEC's Baerwald alignment.
That Clearaudio is still a winner and hard to beat performer. Yes, don't touched any more or can lose its " magic ". I don't think this could happen but I know where you " are " because that happened to me more than once and I was fear even to breathe too deep!.
Good for you.
Regards and enjoy the music, R. |
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For those interested, there is currently an Audio Technica ATML-170 OCC for sale on eBay UK.
As always... |
At last we have something 'that's right' but what it is, is anybody's quess? I thought that only Syntax is used to use such a cryptic way to express himself. |
Yesterday I attempted to post some further conjecture about the degradation of CA MMs, how higher output and increased impedance is worse with greater distortion, and how increased wood mass was prob responsible for overdamped sound and increased VTF to maintain 90 micron tracking. I guess that was too controversial. Perhaps it's my mention of AT as being the OEM (an obvious fact) that relegated my post to obscurity? This is disturbing. On another note, happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate today. Regards, |
I also tried posting 24 hours ago suggesting a Shure cartridge to Thuchan......but that one has disappeared into the ether after being 'held' by the Moderators? Land of the Free indeed? |
Now that THAT post appears to have 'slipped ' through......the Shure ML140HE is a real contender. Trouble is.....it's as scarce as the Signet TK-7LCa according to the Professor. |
Regards, Halcro: There was some discussion of the ML140 HE in this thread several years ago, tone arm compatibility is a definite factor in extracting the potential of this cart. A HE stylus on a beryllium thin wall tube, transient response is excellent.
Perhaps of general interest (since Thuchan has brought up Shure carts), Some cut/paste from the cart designer, Les Watts:
"The V15 III was an excellent cartridge. I ran one for years. I personally preferred it over the IV, but that's just me. It was designed by my predesesor. About the Beryllium...let me explain. The holy grail with things like carts and speakers is the transverse speed of sound of the material. It's a measure of specific stiffness. In the III and the IV in order to get a low mass the cantilever first non rigid body resonance had to be in the audio range. In the III that made for a small sag and peak. In the IV it made for a lesser sag and two peaks. They were all well controlled. But Beryllium... with it's speed of sound between two and three times higher than aluminum allowed us to get that cantelever resonance well out of the audio range without compromising mass. A high moving mass will just rip apart record groove modulation. Another part is the geometry of the cantelever. Materials like boron and diamond have a speed of sound similar to Beryllium, but it's not so easy to make a geometry like the microwall tube so you can take advantage of the properties. An airplane could be made of the very best high strength aerospace alloys, but if it were a solid piece it would never get off the ground. That's the problem with many boron and ruby carts.
(A)nd about 80% of a cartridges sound is determined by the stylus. the IV had beryllium in it too....in the form of a short rod filling the hollow aluminum stepped shank right at the magnet. A Microwall Be cantilever will be a dark steel brown/gray color. The only ratshack I recall with one is the v-15rs. It had the cantilever of my ml140HE, but an older type magnetic structure. It was as good as a V. BTW the IV shank was I think the most complicated and expensive one we ever did."
The ML140HE:
"All I can say is that I tried to make the ML series the best i could. I wanted to make it the best ever. I was pretty new there, and was assigned to do a second tier beryllium line. I sure didn't get to tell the marketing people what to do. They came up with stuff like "parafold biflux" and such. There are things they would not let me do, but I wasn't ordered to design to a specific performance level...just a specific cost level. I was free to get as much performance as I could, but restricted to half the cost.I was also ordered to have a very different look, and told to get in the industrial design artists in on it early. I personally wanted lower sprung mass, so no metal body parts other than shielding, core , winding, and pins. I made the magnetic circuit lighter, and everything smaller. I made a new bearing system, which was 90% of the work. If there was any real compromise I had to make, i guess it was the HE stone. I was happy with the tip geometry but not the mass. So I tried to dump (moving) mass elsewhere.
There's one thing we wanted to do that was deemed impractical. We used x-ray window material for the cantilevers. It came in two thicknesses: 0.5 mil and 0.3 mil. ---We used the 0.5 mil for all production---, but made 0.3 mil MLs and 5s in the lab. I took the 0.3 stuff and mounted a stone with the clylindrical shank portion carefully cut off, using the diamond cleaving technique jewellers use. The tiny bit left was butt glued onto the cantilever. You could hardly even see it. It was so fragile as to be almost impossible to put on a record by hand. The slightest dust fiber would render it unuseable, since the stone only protruded a few thousands below the cantilever paddle. A smaller magnet was used too. So output was low. It had a crazy high resonance frequency.
But if the record was perfectly flat and clean, it could track pretty much any commercial pressing at 0.1g , not including dynamic stabilizer force.
But I agree it was impractical. I used these on my personal home system at a higher tracking force though.
I suppose I come off as being biased. I guess. I generally like my stuff. I'll agree to one thing...ML is the worlds ugliest cartridge."
Les L M Watts Technology
Rare, Henry? The styli can be still be found, priced from anywhere between $50 (from someone who doesn't know what they have) to $499. Finding the generator is the thing. In comparison the TK7LCa is a common cart and I've never seen one of the Signets with a four-digit serial number.
About the ML140 HE stylus- there is also a ML120 HE, the original was also equipped with a be. cantilever but with a less well polished stylus. The cost/performance ratio was so heavily weighed in favor of the 120 that savvy buyers purchased the 120 rather than the more expensive MASCAR polished 140. Marketing noticed the sales disparity and production was directed to change the 120 cantilever to aluminum. I've both, the 120 (with a red, rather than white dot on the grip), although a nice assembly does not compare well to the 140/be stylus.
Long post, excuse one last observation: The ML140/Ultra 300/Ultra 400 cantilevers are reputed to be interchangeable, have never (Thuchan) read a disparaging comment on any of the above.
Henry: read your comments on the Glanz thread & laughed, I suspect it was your wish that the lucky owners of the carts would have their (umm) "Glanz" fall off that finds you now in the position of meeting the Greek's recommendation of "In moderation, everything".
Peace, |
Dear Professor (Timeltel), Thanks for the wonderful information on the Shure cartridges. Interesting comment about the ML140HE being fussy about arm matching? In my system.....it loses all its magic in both my SAEC arms whilst revelling in the high-mass FR tonearms.
So....."may your Glanz drop off"....undid me, you think? I complained to the Moderators yesterday threatening to take my insults elsewhere? It seems to have worked? Regards Henry |
"...ML is the worlds ugliest cartridge."
If form follows function, then I think the ML140HE is one of the most beautiful cartridges I've ever seen!
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Regards, Halcro: Henry, your insults are superb. The forum, and particularly this thread would suffer without them, more so than with. :)
"Syntax" made a comment several years ago, he found the ML140 HE was very good on the AT 1010 arm, a Signet TK10-11 suffered on the same arm. I've been looking for the AT arm since. Another scarce item, could Nikola's passion for tonearms be contagious?.
Shure's HE is a Shibata variant. Following a Thanksgiving feast, too lazy right now to look it up but IIRC, 1.5 x 45uM. I have it for the V15-111, IV and V as well as the ML140 HE, a very balanced sounding stylus profile capable of good weight in the bass, commendable hf extension and no ragged edges in the mids.
I'm working with a Pio. PC-330 cart at the time, a 0.5mil conical on titanium. This cart was sent by a gracious fellow forumer. Another gentleman provided a compatible replacement stylus for the PC-770EX. This is a fine nude elliptical on al. Quad capable, 10-60khz! At 2.5mv output, fast transients & quiet in the groove. Not an exceedingly wide soundstage but very good channel balance, excellent depth & imaging, dynamics can be startling. A Shibata (also 10-60K response) for the PC (Pioneer cart)-1000C is available. Line contact or Shibata profiles are attractive to my ear & I'm hot on the trail for the PN-1000C stylus. There is also a PN(Pioneer Needle)-550, ellipt. on beryllium. By the time I'm through exploring the available styli for this quite competent generator I may have as much tied up in a "gimme" cart as any in the stable.
What a bunch of enablers (and I can't thank them enough)!
Peace, |
Dear Professor, Those times of Les Watts are over. The cart producers at present have the same choice as the 'colours' of Ford then: 'you can get any providing it is black'. There are only few cantilevers/styli manufacturer left. This means monopoly position. Axel complained to me about the Japanese one-sided price increase with 100%. They don't even bother to answer Axel's and my questions about the micro ridge stylus and ruby or sapphire cantilevers. One can see the same boron cantilever/ micro ridge stylus by Lukatchek LP S and Carr's Atlas. I am also sorry to tell you that the AT 1010 tonearm was the biggest suprise and disappointment to me of all tonearms I owned. As if already then made in China. . An good example to illustrate this hazy warning: 'the looks can be deceptive'.
Kind regards, |
Regards, Nandric: For the relatively unrecognized Pio. cart mentioned above, there are about ten styli available, a mix & match of conical, elliptical & Shibata on al., titanium and beryllium. Pick just about any AT or Signet, options abound. Mainstream Shure carts like the V-15 series? Again, stereo or mono, 33.3 or 78 rpm, conical, ellipt., HE, ML & cantilever builds are yet another elective. ADC? Covered. Pfansteil, Goldring, EVG, JICO, Nagaoaka, Ortofon, even Radio Shack is expanding their catalog. I think the point might be made that with MM/MI (etc) carts, that even though the original styli are becoming both more scarce and costly, the options are available. Peter Lederman will provide a respectable line contact on ruby for a nom. $250, nude ellipt. on al for less. An entirely different case with MC carts. With these the owner is indeed at the tender mercy (?) of the retipper. No association & no personal experience but getting good feedback: http://www.phonocartridgeretipping.com/index.htmlAny "color"you want, any color at all! Peace, |
If form follows function, then I think the ML140HE is one of the most beautiful cartridges I've ever seen! This is a clear case of BEAUTY being in the eyes of the beholder? |
Halcro, it seems to me that the paint on the internal of the product is not only protecting patent copying of the unit. It might also be damping the circuits thereby lowering the noise floor of the unit very considerably. Wish many manufacturers will do that to protect their intellectual audio achievements. Nice pictures. |
Thanks Halcro - If you removed the stylus guard, it would be a lot more attractive to me than my V15Vxmr. Not into the gold bling though. If the marketeers got hold of it it would be the Shure Stealth 140 with proprietory resonance controlled body designed by the top engineers at MIT. |
Thanks Audpulse. I agree that the paint over the Halcro DM10 circuit boards affords protection against possible corrosion...as well as helping with damping as you point out? Just makes for difficulty in others being able to work on the electronics in case of any fault? |
Just heard back from the Moderators. Apparently it was not I who was being 'moderated'..........but the whole MM Thread thanks to the appearance of an 'intruder' a few weeks ago? I guess we can be thankful that they 'monitor' the thread....rather than just shut it down? |
Professor, Thanks for showing us that other retipping/repair service in the UK, the other being the Nortwest Analogue. I have played 125 LPs (app. 83 hours) with my original beryllium/Shibata ATN20SS replacement stylus and the sound is still quite sibilant and too peaky with my TERMINATOR T3Pro, as other T3Pro owners don´t have annoying sibilance with their AT20SS, as far as I know. This may very well due to already from new slightly twisted cantilever. Oh yes, stylii we buy from sellers are mass production and not always perfect. God bless all the retippers. I´m glad that my ACUTEX LPM315 STR III (long nose) with original cantilever/Shibata doesn´t need repair and doesn´t suffer from sibilance. |
Harold, I doubt that the sibilance is related to the imperfect cantilever alignment. |
Halcro,
When the moderators say "intruder", are they refering to a virus/trojan, spam, or something on that line? Regards, Don |
Harold, I doubt that Lewm is correct. |
Hi Tom, "www.phonocartridgeretipping.com/index.html"
I have just received a LOMC cartridge that has been repaired (suspension refreshed), by this retipper. He goes by the name of Andy and I can conferm that he does excellent work. My Blue Oasis (cartridge be Sao Winn of Winn strain-gauge fame), had become rather bright sounding. I suspected hardining of the damper. The following quote is from the reply I received from Andy " I presume you will need it's damper and coil readjustment, -- (here, coil means the thin wire holding cantilever, so that cantilever stays straight with flexible movement, your Benz Micro repaired in Germany had this problem). Presuming diamond tip is still in good condition, the repair cost is $100 + 10 (return shipping)."
The repair turned out to be just as he had suspected, and the cost was as the estimated. Excellent work and the cartridge sounds exactly as I remember it when it was performing at 100%. Turn around time was 22 days to my mailbox. He is only a couple of hundred miles from where I live so he will become my go to retipper. Funny how alot of these retippers have a watch/clock repair backround. Highly recommended! Regards, Don |
Dear Don, Glad to hear there is a good repair service in your neighbourhood. I can at last use an intermediary without any added cost because my comrade lives there. I got a similar 'explanation' from the moderator as Henry: 'some members left inappropriate comments' and because of them the whole thread is suspect. Something like 'someone has stolen my bike' and because 'someone' is not a name with refering function anybody in the MM group is a suspect My quess is that the 'intruder' you are referring to 'intruded' in the moderators competence and this caused mederators interest in the possible conspirators.
Regards, |
Lewn & Storyboy, Thanks for your comments. You are probably right: there´s something wrong with the suspension of the cantilever or/and the stylus itself. Or inside the cart. Sibilance & over brightness should had settled at lower hours I think. Griffithds, Glad to hear your repair service was successful. I will send my cart to Andy in near future. |
Hi Don, As Nikola says.......the 'intruder'....or 'troll'.....turned our thread into personal attacks on one or more people we know. They were inappropriate and offensive posts which have since been notable by their absence. |
Dear Henry, I am sorry but what you think 'Nikola says' is not what he actually stated. I noticed, more in particular in the Balkan, that people know exactly to what the quantifiers like 'all', 'noone', 'some', etc, refer. So as a good and patriotic Serbian I am supposed to kill all the Croats without exception. And if my bike is stolen than, obviously, some Croat is involved. Now if the moderator has seen whatever 'inappropriate conduct' such conduct can't be done by an indeterminate person (some, all, etc . are like variables=x). Well we all have our forum names so the writer of this 'offensive post' must also have one. Then there is no such a thing as 'collective guilt'. So, to my mind, the moderator was disturbed by the critic in our forum about the moderators conduct and wanted to check what the responce of others to this critic was. That is why your and my post neededto be 'moderated' even if we both are not seen as 'suspects' at all. As the moderator put it in his answer to my remarks: 'it is difficult to explain'...It usualy is if one wants to hide his real reasons.
Regards,
|
Halcro, handsome pictures
Could anyone have an answer why a cartridge that worked fine prior to switching then stored away still mounted to the head shell only to have the right channel not working upon re-installing to a tone arm. Substituting the Empire 40003d gold with another cartridge confirmed the problem is in the Empire cartridge. ? the right channel punks out while in a headshell box, this is strange. |
Obviously, story boy and I cannot both be correct. His only comment was that i am wrong. I do not see why a deviated cantilever would cause sibilance. I would rather expect it to cause distortions of other types, in one channel vs the other, or a channel imbalance, or both. I have no idea what sb really thinks. |
In shore,
I wonder if when you mount the cartridge into the suspect headshell, you are (unknowingly), twisting the cartridge body and making some kind of ground effect inside of the cartridge body? Have you tried the cartridge in some other headshell? Regards, Don |
If the cantilever's azimuth is twisted, i.e. not 90 degrees, then a more complicated diamond profile may indeed show peculiar mistracking distortions, sibilance being #1. If it is leaning left or right of the center line, it may also experience non-linearities, especially if when in position, some part of the assembly is touching something it is not suppose to.
Close examination with a magnifier is recommended. |
Hi Don I usally have a delicate touch with such fragile things and treat installs like I.m handling explosives .I'll take a closer look and try your suggestions. |
Hi All,
For those championing the Acutex 420 STR, I have just received an unexpected cartridge back from Axel. I say 'unexpected' because I had given him it as a gift following a few revamps and my continued dissatisfaction with elements of its performance.
Unsolicited, I receive this new manifestation and on playing it I am surprised. He has (from what is immediately and visibly obvious) changed the entire stylus and cantilever. Early days but 'very' promising. As with many things on our revolving world, maybe worthy of reconsideration: although obviously no longer a standard 420.
As always... |
Thanks In_shore. In regard to your 'lost' channel.......I also had exactly such a problem with one of my FR-S4 headshells. After storing it for some time with a mounted cartridge.......the right channel went missing on re-insertion. I thought it was a headshell problem and had it replaced. Long story short.......it turned out that the contact points of the headshell were not making full contact with the arm 'points'. Really tightening the collar on the arm solved the contact problem and voila.......two channel listening was re-instated. Good luck. |
Regards, In_Shore: A pencil eraser is both abrasive and gentle enough to remove oxidation from headshell contacts, cartridge out-pins & etc without damaging plating.
Peace, |
In-Shore,
Something esle you just might check. I have just discovered one of my arm wands has a loose wire at the junction of the female clip/pin location. I discovered it doing just what you had described. Reinstalling a arm wand with a known working cartridge that was previously attached, only of find out that one chanel was dead. Mine was the blue wire (left ground), from the arm wand. Did a continuity test (of the arm wires), and discovered it. Gently twisted and pushed it back into the clip and all is now fine. Regards, Don |
Halcro,. Griffithds and Timeltel Thank you. The right channel is back. |
Dear Halcro and Timetel, thanks for the hints and very good background information on the Shures. I am now back at home waiting for my Shures being delivered (V15VxMR, V15III-HE, V15VMR etc.), including some NOS replacement styli, also the VNVxMR). Some people say these are carts for the upper entry level, how do you assess these? |
Regards, Thuchan: One wishing to assess Shure carts has their work cut out for them, VTA and Loading are "all over the map". A Gramophone review, June 1984 of the ML140HE:  "Overall sound quality had a transparent brightness which immediately lifted this cartridge into the upper hi=fi bracket. ---"The effect was of smoothness in the middle register with bass clearly extending down to the audible limits.---"With a capacitance loading of around 150pF, the response is of ruler flatness, sloping very gently by a mere 1dB @ 20kHz--- (T)his smoothness extends to well above 30kHz." Also noted was a "Sharp rise time, absence of unwanted resonance". Shures' recommended ML140 HE Cap. is 250pF. An experienced reviewer (John Borwick) with the gear to accurately measure response found differently. Possibly an input from their marketing people, intended to make the cart more attractive to "home stereo" owners who either didn't care to, or have the facilities to make loading adjustments? The V15 gained its moniker from an early recognition of the advantages of standardization of cantilever tracking angle. In this instance 15* from which the V15 series gained its identification. As RF interference is eliminated at loading above 400pF, your V15-111 was designed for suggested loading at 400-600pF. A slightly tail-down VTA should be tried. An early offering of carts with laminated plates, the mounting shroud was extended in depth as a measure of controlling resonance. The HE stylus response is rich in the mids. Solid bass & nicely resolving in the hfs, avoiding the somewhat forwardness of the upper range some observe with either the elliptical or ML styli. The al cantilever effects a midrange warmth and lively bass. Legendary tracker, listening to "Gaucho" with mine now, you may suspect I enjoy the V15-111/HE? The M75, M91, M95 & M97 progressed with the V15 carts, configured from flat to pentagonal casings. "Junior" V15's, styli are frequently interchangeable within the "family", sometimes requiring a consideration of "plastic surgery". The M97xE to V15xMR is an example. The V15-IV, a love-hate cart, a possibly "un-Shure" first step into "neutrality", let us know your impression? The V15-V, IIRC there were thirteen options, styli, damper brush & P-mount. Well regarded cart, the 300/400 Ultra, ML120/140HE & M97E/ML/HE were siblings. Running out of ink, early Shures are moderately capacitance insensitive. Bumped up into the 400-600pF range in the mid/late 70s & back into the 200-300pF range in the '80s. VTA needs attention. US mfg. styli are of good quality, some later imports are of suspected QC deficiencies. There is also a M24H, hyperbolic nude, 20-50kHz response. Shure's only (AFAIK) cart specifically designated for CD-4 play, an attractive 3.0mv output & 510 ohm output impedance . One offered now, someone reading this really needs this cart. ;) Here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Shure-M24H-Wide-Range-Dynetic-Cartridge-Stylus-New-Sealed-in-Box-NOS-/321029684535?pt=US_Record_Player_Turntable_Parts&hash=item4abedc3d37NOS styli also available, same search. No association with either. Am casually looking for an Ultra 500, reports from owners are of the "from my cold, dead hands" category. Peace, |
Dear Harold-not-the-barrel: The At-20SS never was an " easy girl ". Not only needs 40-50 hours of playback from new to begin to shows what kind of real quality performance level has, even after this playback time we have to re-set our original set up taking more care on the " right " VTA/SRA.
According with my experiences with the AT-20SS when the cartridge already settle down it is truly amzing performer. Now, I had trouble with the cartridge when I tested with a second stylus replacement that I bought as a NOS one but latter on I conclude was not excatly the original 20SS stylus replacement. Exist several samples of these " NOS " 20SS stylus replacements that are not original. One of the troubles I had was precisely what you are experienced with your sample.
Dgarretson owns this cartridge and he owns the same tonearm you own and if I remember he does not has that kind of trouble.
I could assume that your sample is out of specs and in specific with the stylus and probably suspension. The 20SS is a winner as a tracker ( one of the best out there. ) and seems to me the cartridge is showing a tracking problem because a self problem or tonearm/cartridge mistracking.
Regards and enjoy the music, R. |
Dear SB, You wrote, "If the cantilever's azimuth is twisted, i.e. not 90 degrees, then a more complicated diamond profile may indeed show peculiar mistracking distortions, sibilance being #1."
I don't know if I agree with your assumption that sibilance would be the #1 result of a cantilever that is "twisted" wrt azimuth, but when Harold thus described his cantilever, I assumed he meant deviated to the left or right with respect to the long axis of the cartridge body, which has nothing to do with azimuth. In either case, I would expect the resulting distortions, even sibilance, to be asymmetrically expressed in one channel vs the other, assuming the internal mechanism of the cartridge is properly aligned. Has anyone asked Harold about VTA? Too high VTA can exaggerate treble and generate sibilance, as well.
What's remarkable to me is that almost none of our cartridges is "perfect" in construction, nearly none could withstand a careful inspection under a microscope, yet the great majority of them sound just fine to most listeners, shows us we are not so perspicacious as we like to think we are. |
Professors, fans & those who are planning to buy a used AT20SLa/SS, My new ATN20SS´s cantilever is deviated to the left with respect to the long axis of the cart body and the fulcrum of the 64 mm long pivot is lowered for 4 mm (3.5 degrees´ negative VTA). Sibilance and over brightness is equal in both channels still. It seems that at least two other owners of the AT20, Raul and a friend of mine have had similar twisted cantilevers. But only mine sounds sibilant and peaky. Otherwise, even at this point it really is a superb tracker and very nuanced & musical, so I have "seen" glimpses of Nirvana. Oh, I must listen to "Shine of Brightly" by Procol Harum soon, with the ACUTEX LPM315 III STR that I´m currently enjoying ! . |
Dear Harold-not-the-barrel : Playing with different load impedance/capacitance values could help a little about. It is dificult to know exactly what is happening down there which factors are contributing to that sibilant problem.
Regards and enjoy the music, R. |
Regards Raul, My preamp´s lowest capacitance value is 130 pF + 20 pF / 30 pF, Tomahawk´s uninterrupted silver shielded signal path straight to phono RCAs may very well provide less than 30 pF, so the total value is between 150 pF and 160 pF I think. I can use only the 47 kOhm impedance value but I will ask my hi-fi specialist to add a 100 kOhm option in near future. Also the wiring from preamp to power amps are silver + the GENELEC S30 studio monitors I´m using are both unforgiving so if such imperfections as sibilance are issues they instantly become unbearable. My friend who also uses TERMINATOR describes his AT20´s treble smooth as silk. The very rigid flat aluminium profile Tomahawk wand has this ability to distinguish good cartridges from lesser ones IME. The other carts I play don´t suond sibilant. Of course, some vinyls are more sibilant than others, but usually the first editions/originals don´t suffer from annouying sibilance. For example, all the Castle Classic reissue vinyls I have heard are sibilant: Uriah Heep, Colosseum II, Nazareth, Utopia. And near all the Earmark reissues are torture to hear with Tomahawk. |
Harold - could you please define what you mean by sibilance. I had a friend called Sybil and she accentuated her SS's but never mistracked or sounded harsh. |
Hi Harold, you obviously have a defective stylus. There is a remote possibility that the cart is defective or has something loose, but it's doubtful. The ATN20SS was not exactly mass produced. Beryllium is brittle, so it's not something to mess with trying to straighten. What you're describing is often an azimuth problem or chipped or cracked diamond. Have you looked at it under magnification? Perhaps you can return the stylus?
I have no idea where you bought the cart/stylus, but it's obviously defective, and perhaps counterfeit or a defective return, being resold. I suspect one major stylus shop in NY to be selling counterfeit beryllium or boron styli, but I don't think they have the 20SS. Hope this comes to a satisfactory conclusion, it's a great cart. Regards, |
Regards Dover, Fleib & fans, Sibilance is a too much accentuated S phoneme and sounds unnatural and usually harsh. For example: Played with my other cartridges Greg Lake´s voice on an original "Pictutes at an Exhibition" live album (German Island 1971) is refined and also very powerful, whereas his singing on other reissue ELP albums I have are sibilant to various extents with the Tomahawk wand. "Lucky Man" on the Italian Earmark reissue is torture to listen. On the other hand, sibilance/over brightness is an error in recording or/and cutting process of the vinyl record. That´s why some reissues are inferior to first editions because quality requirements in the production are not so
I bought my AT20SLa second hand from an eBayer knowing he wouldn´t accept return. The stylus, likely counterfeit/after market in Raul´s opinion, sounded very sibilant and way too harsh to listen, so a few weeks later adviced by Raul I bought this new original replacement stylus from a famous professional US seller. The cantilever was slightly twisted from new, I admit I should had returned it right away. But the sound was much better now. I agree there is a possibility that the cart itself is defective or has something loose, maybe dropped to hard floor. Beryllium is brittle indeed, so it's not something to mess with trying to straighten for a common man like me. I will send the whole package to Andy in the UK. What I´m describing is often an azimuth problem or chipped or cracked diamond. Wish I had a real microscope... Oh dear, I must buy one very soon. It seems that my cart is defective, and perhaps a counterfeit or a defective return, being resold.
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