Optimal loading for the Orpheus

Dear Hickory: +++++ " I am upgrading from the Temper V to the Orpheus... " +++++

well I respect your opinion but I don't think that is an upgrading, IMHO ( I know very well both cartridges ) it is more a cartridge change for something different that it is not necessary an upgrade or better quality performance.

The V is/was a low rated cartridge that IMHO and in the right tonearm is a great performer with a better tonal balance and natural response than the O. Of course this is only a subjective opinion.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Hickory - the Tantalums I'm using are AudioNote, definitely not bright. I've heard folks speak well of the Shinkoh Tantalums but I haven't heard those or the Kiwame. I concur with your comment on the Caddock if you're referring to a MK132 or TF020, though there are lots of different kinds of Caddocks - RalphK has an Orphues and he recommended the Caddock MM (fat body, gold leads), but I haven't been able to locate them.

I had the Temper W in my system for a month or so - a delightful cartridge. Imo, the Orpheus is an upgarde from from the W. I hear the O as more neutral (W is warmer), with 'deeper' tonality, and better top end extension. Could someone comment on the sonics of the Temper W vs the Temper V to help me gauge Raul's comment?

Tim

Raul,what cartridge(s) would you say is an upgrade from the Temper V

I don't see why (and apparently neither does Mr. Yoshioka) with today's very powerful magnets that there's any advantage to making a lo-output MC cartridge (meaning anything less than .4 mV.)

When magnets were weaker and you needed more coil windings (than you do today) to produce output, settling for really lo-output in order to reduce coil weight and increase transient response made some sense. But even then, there were trade-offs. Hi-gain phono preamps and/or step-up transformers were needed to boost the weak signal; and both of those devices defeated the benefit of the lighter coil assembly's better transients, to some degree.

It didn't surprise me, therefore, that with the introduction of the Orpheus, Yoshioka-san has abandoned the very lo-output model. Why bother? With the coil literally immersed in a "bath" of magnetic flux provided by the ring magnet design, a coil that produces .4mV (actually .65 mV using the CBS standard) won't need as many windings as in times past!

To answer Tim's question, I don't recall reading any direct comparisons of the Temper V vs. W with all else being equal. I would guess any perceived difference would be due more to having to drive the phono preamp harder with the V in order to match the volume to the W ;-)
.

Dear OEM: MC: Allaerts MC2 Finish ( but you need a very good Phonolinepreamp with enough active high gain ( no step-up transformer ), Dyna XV-1, Ortofon MC 7500, Van denHul Colibri ( the very low output models ) and MM: Nagaoka MP-50, B&O MMC1/2, Audio technica ATML 170/180, Grado The Amber Tribute, Astatic MF-100.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.