btw, it’s possible to split hairs and also respect listening perspectives. but here it does not commonly happen. the hair splitting gets focused on attacking the listening opinion credibility, especially at higher priced gear. the balance is a forum culture question.
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.
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I don't post often... but I do enjoy reading your posts, hearing about your thoughts, insights, and experiences with all kinds of different equipment, systems, etc. I value your presence here as many others do as well. Please don't leave us.... otherwise, what is the point of us staying here too. Wishing you all the very best! Don |
Dear @mikelavigne : Where really started this " unfortunated " hot discussion?
For me started when you share your opinion /first hand experiences with the Dava cartridge :
" DaVa is electric! alive! nothing lean, or or clinical. projects lots of energy. harmonically rich timbre and textures. robust bass. " Next to your post @mijostyn posted:
" Another point that I would like to make is that you have to be very suspicious of any component that stands out sonically in dramatic fashion. It is likely to be very colored, not realistic but surrealistic. "
from there the gentleman that post that you can click the " ignore " button posted:
" adding the wires needed to power the field coil. They would have to stiffen up the arm since they would have to travel past/thru its bearings. That would introduce a variable ...."
after that I posted ( ( other that my cantilever-less mistake posts. ) :
" All what surrounds the DaVa including your personal experienced opinion makes me to think for sure ( even that I did not listen to it. ) that that cartridge has to many " errors " around . Come on Mike, I can’t find out any where the basic cartridge specs. Have you? could you share with all of us? " followed by:
" and ask Darius for the cartridge specs. All in these forum and in all internet forums want to know about. So and as always your help and advise is welcomed for the audio community every where. "
followed by:
" I was reading word by word of my posts referenced to you and in no one I posted nothing against or qquestioning you what you like it because it’s a personal opinion your opinion of what YOU like and no one can question it. Even my first post was a " congratulations " for the two new cartridges for the OP and even that I questioned rhe DaVa cartridge and explained the why’s ( btw, a DaVa owner posted that the SS power supply is better and that opinion goes against your friend that said tubes ps is better. ) about I gave its welcome to our high end community. I’m still looking else where for its specs with no luck yet. It’s weird that even Agoners in this thread not cared about especially with a " new kid of the ... ".
then you posted ( btw, in between all these important posts were the digital vs analog endless discussion and R2R too. ) :
" i listen to Dizzy Gillespie’s Big 4 lp pressing on the DaVa Reference cartridge. then listen to a digital transfer. with the Lp Dizzy’s trumpet hits 95 watt peaks on my dart 468 monoblocks. at the same SPL’s the digital hits 45 watt peaks. the DaVa also sounds more real and life like....but that is subjective, the peak watts are an objective measurement of signal energy. i can cite many similar occurrences. btw; the DaVa also surpasses other cartridges too, but not nearly by as much. just more energy. i love digital. but it cannot do some things analog can do. it smears peaks "
I gave you this answer:
" That’s can confirm what I said about " higher distortions " during LP tracking. That signal energy with the cartridge came with way higher distortions NOT musical information and distortons counts for those higher SPL high peacks. Yes, you love those distortions ( even you posted before an in ironic or not so ironic way that " like the distortions ". I could add that any one of us like some kind of distortions because nothing is perfect and we love our each ones choosed trade-offs. ). From there you conclude that digital " smears peacks " and truly your conclusion makes no sense . "
Why I posted " makes no sense " : because had not a true foundation but only a cartridge design ERRORS.
your post and mine came before Darius disclosed the specs that confirm those distortions but not exactly by cartridge tracking but for even a more severe real fact: a 6db cartridge FR deviation..
After all those in my research I found out the facts you posted in wbf and that any one can read. The facts that you posted showed your preference for that " long road to San Francisco " with all those " cables/joints between the tonearm output through the line level input in the Dartzeel. I posted that that " long road..." is the wrong road/path for the cartridge signal and gave you all the evidence and true facts why the better cartridge path is a direct one cable from the tonearm output to the phonolinepreamp Dartzeel input. In this sole issue I did not question you why you prefer the " long road " to the direct signal path and I add that at least ( as with the Dava cartridge ) ask for the that tube inverse RIAA eq. deviaiton alond the measures that support the spec and the noise level of that unit and I’m sure that even today you don’t have yet in hand those information as no one other owners of the same unit: this is not your fault and I did not blame you for that but a deep critic to the manufactures irresponsability about: same as Darius and LFD cables manufacturer. What of all those information posted here is disrespectful with you or what you like? The heavy and hot disagreement belongs to a different common sense level between you and me: long road vs short path. That’s it and of course Dava high deviation. As any discussion here there is no winner or beated gentleman but all of us are winners because some of us confirmed through the discussion each one experiences and others because learned about unknow audio products or audio subjects. Don’t you think? R.
Btw, I never listened the Dava or those SUTs or that tube RIAA eq. but I do listened the Dartzeel and and the Evolution middle line speaker that shares the same ribbon and ceramic drivers that your top of the line model.
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@frogman , The problem with your statement is that there are millions of music lovers who "honor" the music by listening to it on systems that many of us would find mediocre. Music is no less valuable to them than it is to any of us. We chose to engage ourselves in the additional hobby of system building. Are we honoring the music to a greater extent by building the better sounding systems than someone who can not afford the expense? @mikelavigne , Those who know me well know that I place minimal weight on what anybody says anything sounds like. The reason I do this is not to minimize someone's opinion or to critique their listening ability. It is because I have no framework for evaluating what it is they are trying to convey. I have no idea what anybody else is listening to and any comment on sound quality has to be taken in conjunction with what that person is use to listening to. The quality of a person's equipment is no indicator either. |
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