$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

Moreover, it has been my experience that when passive preamps have been used (or no preamp at all) and the most simple, but elegant solid state circuits have been employed, the sound that has resulted has been the most amusical I have ever heard in my 30-plus years in audio.

...to leave the "glowing bottles" behind to embrace the cold, unvarnished realty of solid state.

The Psychic says,

High end is who you are, not what you buy.

My system is passive preamp based, 100% solid state and it's incredibly musical, even without using my classic Marantz Esotec monoblocks. I use a direct drive TT and a belt drive CD transport--both heavily modded. This system is designed to run off a single 30 amp, 220V dedicated line feeding 220V/110V stepdown isolation transformer/filters. Sorry, but reality had to step in.

With psychic power and primal intensity,

Raoul, you need an audio buddy in Mexico. I did refer you to Club Prestige to get a *girlfriend* but you seem to ignore my suggestion. Too bad. I wish I could go to Club Prestige. I would even buy you a lap dance! Tubes or solid state?

Remember the solid state has *silicon*...

Dear Artar1: I'm sorry for my comment on blend electronics ( Pass amps ? ). I know that this was not the topic.
Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Artar1: It is a heavy drawback to blend differents amps in a bi-amp system, even if its are from the same manufacturer.
Be carefully on this subject.
Raul.

If the Shelter 901 sounds over the top in your system, how do you think it would sound in mine? I will have to pass on this cartridge. Did different loadings have any effect? Did you try a lower resistance setting to try to soften the top end?

Yes, I've tried quite fine impedance adjustments. Our stepup tranniess have resistor terminals built in, so I can change cartridge loading in a few seconds to any value I choose. With the 901 we tried values from 19 ohms to 50 before settling on 38. This was with a HIFI modded OL Silver. When we changed arms the optimal load for the 901 changed to 37.5 ohms, no doubt due a slight difference in arm cables.

For the ZYX Airy, I started at 10 ohms, because this gives a similar ratio of impedance load to internal cartridge impedance as 38 ohms does for a Shelter 901. This seems to be pretty nearly ideal in our system.

The slight brightness or etched-ness of the 901 cannot be tamed by loading it down, unless you suppress the highs altogether I suppose. We heard it through Cello's Supratek Cortese at 500, 100 and 50 ohms. It's audible in my very different system at any listenable load. As Soliver says, it's just in the nature of the cartridge. It's a kind of ringing or resonance that causes the 901 to slightly over-emphasise detail and surface noise, and throws everything to the front. The ZYX lets truly quiet passages play as soft as a mouse. The 901 doesn't know how to do that.