I was loading both cartridges at approx. 33K Ohms with zero added Capacitance.....
Hear my Cartridges....🎶
Many Forums have a 'Show your Turntables' Thread or 'Show your Cartridges' Thread but that's just 'eye-candy'.... These days, it's possible to see and HEAR your turntables/arms and cartridges via YouTube videos.
Peter Breuninger does it on his AV Showrooms Site and Michael Fremer does it with high-res digital files made from his analogue front ends.
Now Fremer claims that the 'sound' on his high-res digital files captures the complex, ephemeral nuances and differences that he hears directly from the analogue equipment in his room.
That may well be....when he plays it through the rest of his high-end setup 😎
But when I play his files through my humble iMac speakers or even worse.....my iPad speakers.....they sound no more convincing than the YouTube videos produced by Breuninger.
Of course YouTube videos struggle to capture 'soundstage' (side to side and front to back) and obviously can't reproduce the effects of the lowest octaves out of subwoofers.....but.....they can sometimes give a reasonably accurate IMPRESSION of the overall sound of a system.
With that in mind.....see if any of you can distinguish the differences between some of my vintage (and modern) cartridges.
VICTOR X1
This cartridge is the pinnacle of the Victor MM designs and has a Shibata stylus on a beryllium cantilever. Almost impossible to find these days with its original Victor stylus assembly but if you are lucky enough to do so.....be prepared to pay over US$1000.....🤪
VICTOR 4MD-X1
This cartridge is down the ladder from the X1 but still has a Shibata stylus (don't know if the cantilever is beryllium?)
This cartridge was designed for 4-Channel reproduction and so has a wide frequency response 10Hz-60KHz.
Easier to find than the X1 but a lot cheaper (I got this one for US$130).
AUDIO TECHNICA AT ML180 OCC
Top of the line MM cartridge from Audio Technica with Microline Stylus on Gold-Plated Boron Tube cantilever.
Expensive if you can find one....think US$1000.
I will be interested if people can hear any differences in these three vintage MM cartridges....
Then I might post some vintage MMs against vintage and MODERN LOMC cartridges.....🤗
Peter Breuninger does it on his AV Showrooms Site and Michael Fremer does it with high-res digital files made from his analogue front ends.
Now Fremer claims that the 'sound' on his high-res digital files captures the complex, ephemeral nuances and differences that he hears directly from the analogue equipment in his room.
That may well be....when he plays it through the rest of his high-end setup 😎
But when I play his files through my humble iMac speakers or even worse.....my iPad speakers.....they sound no more convincing than the YouTube videos produced by Breuninger.
Of course YouTube videos struggle to capture 'soundstage' (side to side and front to back) and obviously can't reproduce the effects of the lowest octaves out of subwoofers.....but.....they can sometimes give a reasonably accurate IMPRESSION of the overall sound of a system.
With that in mind.....see if any of you can distinguish the differences between some of my vintage (and modern) cartridges.
VICTOR X1
This cartridge is the pinnacle of the Victor MM designs and has a Shibata stylus on a beryllium cantilever. Almost impossible to find these days with its original Victor stylus assembly but if you are lucky enough to do so.....be prepared to pay over US$1000.....🤪
VICTOR 4MD-X1
This cartridge is down the ladder from the X1 but still has a Shibata stylus (don't know if the cantilever is beryllium?)
This cartridge was designed for 4-Channel reproduction and so has a wide frequency response 10Hz-60KHz.
Easier to find than the X1 but a lot cheaper (I got this one for US$130).
AUDIO TECHNICA AT ML180 OCC
Top of the line MM cartridge from Audio Technica with Microline Stylus on Gold-Plated Boron Tube cantilever.
Expensive if you can find one....think US$1000.
I will be interested if people can hear any differences in these three vintage MM cartridges....
Then I might post some vintage MMs against vintage and MODERN LOMC cartridges.....🤗
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- 628 posts total
Excellent, those are appropriate values. Actually I knew you are aware of correct (lower) values... We discussed this many years ago in the infamous MM thread and that caused some stir for some people as it just recently had become a hype using very high impedance values : ) Hypes come and hypes go... Great times. Thanks again for confirmation. |
Thanks Jeff...😃 I’ve heard nothing but good reports about the SPU A95 and it’s high on my list of ’to try’ cartridges...... I think the TK7SU sounded pretty good on one of my comparisons..... I hope you heard it? Would welcome some feedback or thoughts from you on any others of these cartridge comparisons....👍 Kind Regards Henry |
For over 10 years I've been a big fan of the Japanese Victor Company and their design engineering 'know-how' in the 'Golden Age' of analogue. It started when I bought one of their vintage TT-81 DD Turntables followed by their top-of-the-line TT-101 Motor Unit shortly afterwards. I now have probably a dozen of their cartridges (THE BEST) and every product of their's that I've tried has been worthy. For over two years I have been looking for a good example of their X-1 MM Cartridge with its original stylus/cantilever assembly and finally found one (with a bonus SPARE replacement stylus). I couldn't believe my luck when just a few weeks ago....an original Victor X-1II Cartridge came up for auction and when I received it....its condition was almost MINT! I now had the Victor TOP THREE- X-1, X-1II and X-1IIE.... Frogman seemed to be impressed with the sound of the Victors he heard in my previous comparisons.....and he wondered which was the best of the three...? Perhaps he can now tell us.....? 🤗 VICTOR X-1 MM Cartridge Mounted in DV-507/II ToneArm on solid Bronze ArmPod surrounding Vintage Victor TT-101 DD Turntable VICTOR X-1II MM Cartridge Mounted in DV-507/II ToneArm on solid Bronze ArmPod surrounding Vintage Victor TT-101 DD Turntable VICTOR X-1IIE MM Cartridge Mounted in DV-507/II ToneArm on solid Bronze ArmPod surrounding Vintage Victor TT-101 DD Turntable |
- 628 posts total