What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?
I believe that a cartridge and a speaker, by far, contribute the most to SQ.
The two transducers in a system.
I bit the bulllet and bought a Lyra Atlas SL for $13K for my Woodsong Garrard 301 with Triplanar SE arm. I use a full function Atma-Sphere MP-1 preamp. My $60K front end. It is certainly, by far, the best I have owned. I read so many comments exclaiming that Lyra as among the best. I had to wait 6 months to get it. But the improvement over my excellent $3K Mayijima Shilabi was spectacular-putting it mildly.
I recently heard a demo of much more pricy system using a $25K cartridge. Seemed to be the most expensive cartridge made. Don’t recall the name.
For sure, the amount of detail was something I never heard. To hear a timpani sound like the real thing was incredible. And so much more!
This got me thinking of what could be possible with a different kind of cartridge than a moving coil. That is, a moving iron.
I have heard so much about the late Decca London Reference. A MI and a very different take from a MC. Could it be better? The World’s Best? No longer made.
However Grado has been making MI cartridges for decades. Even though they hold the patent for the MC. Recently, Grado came out with their assault on “The World’s Best”. At least their best effort. At $12K the Epoch 3. I bought one and have been using it now for about two weeks replacing my Lyra. There is no question that the Atlas SL is a fabulous cartridge. But the Epoch is even better. Overall, it’s SQ is the closest to real I have heard. To begin, putting the stylus down on the run in grove there is dead silence. As well as the groves between cuts. This silence is indicative of the purity of the music content. Everything I have read about it is true. IME, the comment of one reviewer, “The World’s Best”, may be true.
@edgewear , wow, lay of the defensive stuff. Your Anna has been through the ringer and I would think you would want to know if it was performing normally. Not one review I read of the Anna Diamond mentioned tracking problems. But, I have purchased clinker cartridges before, just not $10,000 ones😬 |
@atmasphere , It was mounted in a Schroder Reference. I did not hear it miss track. Nothing we played was that challenging. Peter himself admits the cartridge can't handle the highest velocities but he also says the cartridge is particularly kind to the grooves playing lacquers repeatedly without hurting them. I should also add there is the factor of buying a dedicated interface making it a system unto itself. Whatever the reason my instinct decided not to go with it. I also had a bad experience with Sao Win's cartridge back in the early 80's but I think I factored that out of my decision making. |
@mijostyn this just goes to show that reviews don’t tell you anything. It’s a different story when the Ortofon chief designer reluctantly goes on camera mentioning occasional tracking problems with Anna. This is what I experienced and to some extend still experience even after two repair / upgrade trips to Ortofon, taking the better part of a year and costing €3500. Let’s just say I’ve had better customer journeys. Sonically the Anna is one of the best cartridges I’ve experienced, but unfortunately the tracking capabilities are just mediocre. After all the trouble I’ve decided to accept this, but the Anna spec sheet is optimistic to say the least. |
Dear @mikelavigne : " " tell us about your listening opinions. all the other is noise and nonsense. "
If you ask for the " best cartridge " I already posted twice my opinion and about the Dava I never listen to it. As you could think by my posts I’m wondering from whre that " I like it " in your posts came in . Mike for so many years that I can’t remember we were and are audio friends where normally we are in agreement, not always but at least 85% of the time and I’m really worried that this time we are in absolut disagreement inside a hot dialogue in a way critic/important audio issues. Due to all those and like I just posted to frogman:
" 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 ".
Things are that I did it and I’m not telling I’m rigth and only will describe some " facts " that I found out and along your self special MUSIC reproduction priorities/preferences could explain some " things ". I have to tell you that this is the same " road "/proccess that I follow with any other audiophile trying to understand their opinions on first hand audio subject experiences but been you I take care very carefully my " research ".
The premises that founds my proccess are ( everything the same. ): - the shortest signal path the better - the lower/less joints and connectors the better. Joints is a non desirable interruption to the signal flows. - with phono stages: the inverse RIAA eq. lower FR deviation the better. - whit phono stages: the lower noise level the better as the widest FR bandwindth. - the lower output impedance the better - specs are important and if shows measurements the better. - any additional " item " to a direct path of the signal means signal degradation.
Other than that premises/targets for me only could means: lost of signal integrity and added modulations: this modulations means " distortions, noise, colorations. " All those is what I try to follow in my room/system too. This is me.
Well these is what I found out that surrounds the cartridge signal under discussion:
In your system you have the analog rig that fullfil in excellent conditions my targets that are different from yours as mines are different from other gentlemans too. Each one of us are unique in those regards. However you choosed and like a lot this one:
the cartridge signal travels inside the tonearm wires as is in any tonearm and at the tonearm output that signal is connected to an " enhancer/dongle " with one female/male connectors and joints at either extreme ( 12 " in length . ). From here the signal goes to the IC phono cable that according with the LFD designer/manufacturer inside are:
" The cable is a twisted pair and not a coaxial cable with outer screen however it pretty unconventional cable in that the hot and cold conductors are different to each other unlike conventional cables, in that the hot and cold conductors formed from either silver copper, amorphous, and pure solid silver ribbons basically there are six different materials for the hot and cold conductors. The rings are for mechanical dampening and do not carry any networks. The plugs are all custom made for each particular cable and compliment the sonic characteristic of each cable design. A combination of different numbers and sizes of conductors enabled the sound to be enhanced significantly over the use of single conductors ( HE DIT NOT SHOWS IN ANY WAY FROM WHERE CAME THAT LAST STATEMENT ENHANCED SUPERIORITY TO ONE SINGLE CONDUCTOR. ). Some of the LFD cables incorporate enhancers internally, and sometimes use different conductors between enhancers . " he continue: " which is designed to improve the sound..... One major improvement that is achieved by the enhancer is the significant reduction of grain. " IMHO DOES NOT EXIST ANY SINGLE SIGNAL " ENHANCER " DUE THAT ANY ADDITIONAL ITEM TO THE SIGNAL PATH DEVELOSP MODULATIONS THAT GOES AGAINST WHAT IS IN THE LP GROOVES. In the other side he said reduction of grain with out explain how that could happens with out signal lost how that dongle can distinguish between signal musical information and grain ! ! ? ?.
Yes, does not exist any single spec/measure information for the cable or for the dongle. An audiophile asked him: " "" That is how does one arrive at the choice of various thicknesses? Why does the negative have so much more wire than the positive? What are the capacitance measurements pre and post dongle insertion? What materials are preferred and why? What governs choice of dongle length? Does the dongle preserve shielding if the preceding interconnects are also shielded? What is the inductance pre / post dongle insertion? Is the dongle behaving as a filter - if so what frequencies is it acting on? Is a dongle universal or only suited to specific components for which it is designed electrically? "
The manufacturer response was: " The proof comes from the listening " and they made " thousands of listening sessions.
In this first cable/dongle where the signal pass through exist at least 9 joints against normally 4 joints in any other IC cable.
Well the signal path continue is travel and is connected to a Phono Corrector by EMIA that’s a tube unit with a inverse RIAA eq. designed with silver inductors instead capacitors. The input signal instead the input connector stays soldered directly to the circuit board adds more joints using a cable in between. Can we ask for RIAA specs or noise level , etc, etc.? yes we can but does not exist information about. Now and through a different cable the signal goes to a SUT with silver transformers to achieve the necessary gain to be handled for a line preamp. This is what the designr posted somewhere: "" nickel output transformers with over a mile of silver in them. "
Yes, the cartridge signal travels for a way long path.
From the SUT the signal goes through a LFD cable to the line preamp where that cartridge signal ends this totuose path. This linepreamp is part of the Dartzeel you own and where you have all specs we need and where we can see inside the unit that the designer , as other today top electronics designers/manufacturrs, choosed SMD devices for a way short signal path. What am I using in my system? exactly the same you can do because your Dartzeel is a high gain active phonolinepreamp: CONNECT THE CARTRIDGE SIGNAL USING ONLY ONE IC CABLE nothing added to preserve the cartridge signal integrity at to stays nearer and truer to the recording. Well that’s my targets and the way I listen cartridges in my system.
Maybe as you said what I posted has no sense for you but only for me. I still am your audio friend trying to help even that you don’t asked for.
R.
|
