Synergy

a self constrained “ better match “ = synergy….

My own system has been unchanging for quite a few years, there is a lot going on within it that justifies this. Nearly every purchase made now is of a Bespoke Produced device, the only unchanged Item that is a Brand is a PW Transport, other Brands are modified and much used is commission built.  

In the past year+ the system has commenced to be packed away, in preparation for a substantial revamp of the home. All Packs are in the listening room, so it is not quite the same space I designed, but CD at present can still be used.

I am now toying with not buying in Temporary Accommodation but putting something together that meets the needs, with the intention this will become the listening space for my main system and something less intrusive is used in the house. There is a lot of materials available to me for free or Transport Cost only to help with this as a plan.

Most of my musical encounters are now had within the homes of others, and most get togethers do have a theme and agenda, for a proportion of the time allocation, with about 25% being solely for musical encounters or new musical encounters.

@mulveling The Hana Umami Blue is now on my radar to have a demo’ of along with the Verismo. I have been kindly offered a demi’ of the Verismo by a Gon Member in the UK, who also has an Ortofon Anna and A95. This is an invite I wish to revisit during 2024.

Ortofon through a subsidiary, are Market Leaders in Damper Technology, there is a huge resource for R&D into this area, as they are producing small parts for the medical industry. The Verismo has a Damper material that has been produced through this new market activity.

In my view, there might be a time when Ortofon become far advanced to their competitors when it comes to Damping Materials selection / options because this in house resource and ongoing R&D.

@pindac  Yes, Hana Blue is of great interest to me too! I (usually) love the midrange of Japanese makes. And thinking back, I haven't tried an alnico-based one (like Blue) before. The Blue's motor looks quite like a fancied-up Sumiko (Excel makes both), but then I haven't tried those either. Was VERY close to buying a Blue during the holiday sale but didn't push through (a RARE display of restraint on my part).

Ortofon's tech is indeed impressive, and their super compact MC motor with coils mounted inside a small neodymium magnet (ever since the Jubilee MC model) is quite unique and fascinating. It hasn't quite pulled together both the technical acuity and emotional musicality for me, but they're definitely getting better with time so I certainly don't write them off. Windfeld Ti and A90 both flirted with winning me over. I also like their rebuild policy and that they're not completely dependent on a single ageing cartridge master!

@mulveling 

I was looking at the Van den Hul. They have a very high compliance which I think may have been your problem. I have the Hyperion MR coming which is replacing the Platinum Signature which was very nice , but a bit too polite for me. I'm about to sell the Atlas, another long unfortunate story. So, I was looking at Van den Hul, the MSL Ultra Eminent EX, the Kuzma Car 50 and the EMT Novel Gold. I'm leaning towards the Ultra Eminent EX as it's 0.6 ohm impedance makes it a great match for my current mode phono stage and the build quality of MSL cartridges is excellent. The preamp I have coming has a high output phono stage in it designed by Dynavector. I will collect a few high output cartridges. The Soundsmith Voice will be one of them, the Nagaoka MP500 another and the third is open for argument. I am not sure about the Verismo for you. If it is anything like the MC Diamond it will be a great classical cartridge with loads of detail and a fine image but a bit shy in bass and slam. I'm keeping the Diamond because it does string quartets better than any cartridge I have ever owned. 

@mijostyn  I recently had an MSL Eminent Ex (briefly) and it was nice but just not for me. Somewhat echoing your Platinum experience, it was too polite and a bit boring. I was ready to continue trying other models in their line, but this put me off. I always roll phono stages / arms / etc when trying to optimally match a new cartridge, and got some combos which injected a bit of much needed life (best was Hagerman Trumpet Reference with the build-in JFET MC stage), but it still wasn't enough in the end. 

I got the MSL because I like my AirTight PC-7 so much, and thought I should try MSL's own line. And though there's similarity in the midrange, it ends there - the PC-7 is vastly more energetic, detailed, and fun to listen with (at times bordering on a bit too bright). The PC-7 has a more traditional coil arrangement (0.6mV at 7 ohms) and boron cantilever - not sure which of those makes the bigger difference. 7 ohms, though much higher than the MSL, is still sufficiently low for any reasonable SUT matching.  

The Van den Huls are fun (after break in), you should try one :) 
The high compliance was not an issue. I've added VPI arms here (both kinds of Fatboys, metal unipivots, and dual pivot) with sufficiently low mass (10g - 11g) to accommodate. The Colibri simply wasn't usable on ANY arm until the suspension broke in some. Then it went through an additional ~16 hours of being a sibilant nightmare mess (it's rare I have issue with sibilance). THEN it sounded great. Crimson XGW Strad was rough at the start too, but not nearly as bad. Frog Gold never had problems w/ tracking or sibilance from the start, but just sounded plain mediocre until it got around 30 hours (now I really like it too). 

I just picked up the brand new Hagerman Piccolo Zero to (finally) play with current injection instead of a SUT or JFET voltage stage. Worked GREAT with my Koetsu Blue Lace last night. I like it a lot. Not sure it will work as well with the Van den Hul (they seem to use a lot of coil for a given output) but I'll try there next. 

@mulveling  I know the Sumiko Pearwood very well, I have heard the Cart' used on all TT Drives, but mainly BD's. 

I have heard it mounted on a SME V/12 and 2 x Origin live TA's I missed it on the upper in range OL as a 12".

Most recently it was demo'd on a Vertier TT > TA.

On all occasions the Pearwood sang in a way that was very very appealing, as a Cart' with a Wood Body, it certainly keeps itself up the ladder and avoids the label of full bodied. A underpinning of a Rich Tone will be more accurate as a description.