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Cartridge and step up / riaa for TW Acustic Raven

Hi!

I hope you all are well :)

If everything gets together I will buy a TW Acustic Raven One with a Graham Phantom II in the new year. The next step is to buy a cartridge and phono amp.

My equipment consist of Wilson Sophias II, Burmester 032 integrated amp, Burmester 061 cd player, Nordost Tyr interconnects and speaker cables, Thor powerdistributor with Nordost Brahma powerlines. In addition to this I have a Revox B77 mk2 reel to reel player.

The Burmester sound is in many ways similar to McIntosh, but slightly more on the ying side. The sound is clear and open, with a wonderful mids. The treble is smooth and detailed. The bottom is dynamic and deep, but more running with the flow than with a slam. The bigger 911 mk3 amp is more detailed in the bottom. But the price level is different too.

So I have to combine a cartridge and phono amp to this. I play all kind of music, since I am both is a talent buyer for rock pop festivals and a consultant for the national arts council regarding music (all kinds). So I listen a lot to music through the week.

I like dynamic open detailed open sound, but I do not like it overly analytical if that means too much forward in its presentation.

I like the sound in my system at the moment. However, I have to do something with my listening room, but thats another story. Its an ongoing process as we know!

My budget at this point will be approx. USD 3,000 for the phono amp and USD 1,500 for the cartridge. Maybe step later on.

The dealer of TW Acustic has reccommended Koetsu and Air Tight.

Thanks for your help!

Cheeers, ToffenG

toffeng
downunder
1,329 posts
 
Robyatt

What the hell are you talking about?

I used my friends cartridge as it sounded so boring and lifeless in his system no matter what tonearm he used it with.

He sent it to me to see if I could get any musical satisfaction from the Shilabe. I was interested in the cartridge from the wonderful review jerry gave it.
I had it for about 5 weeks and probably played it for 5 hours - every album or tonearm combo I tried it with had the same result - lots of ooooh so boring lifeless sound.
My $495 Nagoaka MP-50 sounded in a different musical world it was so much better. I won't even go into how it sounded compared to dynavector XV-1, Koetsu Rosewood,

He tried it again for a short while, then put it up for sale on gon - so yes it would have been very lightly used and no longer needed as it sounded inferior to every cartridge he owned.
Then you came along and bought the Shilabe to maintain the illusion. Lucky him.

My other friend bought the Shilabe and mono and could not live with either and got rid of them.

You sound like the movies Avatar - don't believe the hype as it is a piece of crap.

have a nicer day.
robyatt's avatar
robyatt
55 posts
 
Whatever!
lewm
12,892 posts
 
Toffeng, Re my comment that debates regarding cartridges are endless and boring, to wit the above exchange between Robyatt and Downunder, two honest guys with diametrically opposite views. In the end, you will come to your own conclusions re cartridges.
toffeng OP
41 posts
 
Hi!

Yes, cartridges seems to be a hot topic. I know about two-three well respected shops in Norway and Denmark, and I will try to find out what they reccommend too.

Since the funds are a little low at the moment, I will concentrate on the Raven One and Graham Phantom. And from there try to borrow some phono stages. Maybe I start with a Air Tight PC-3. According to the dealer of TW this is a good all round pickup. When I get wealthy I can buy the Ortofon A90....

Do you have any reccommendations regarding tonearm interconnects? Nordost Tyr? I use that between my Amp and CD player and as speaker cables. Good alround neutral cable. Maybe not so very exiting though.

Cheers, ToffenG
affinity
5 posts
 
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year in Norway!

JMTCW FWIW. (More than 30 years enjoying analogue playback!)

My current analogue setup - Roksan Radius 5 with Nima tonearm, Lyra Argo, custom tonearm connecting cable, modified JLTI phono stage. Modest outlay - great bang for the buck. (Why not spend more on LPs?)

My audio network hold Lyra in great esteem, across the board, over many years. One local audiophile owns both Skala and Helikon. Certainly the Skala is superb. But so is my Lyra Argo......the Lyra sonic character is more yang than yin (e.g., opposite of Koetsu which tends to ultra yin.)

Please note precise/meticulous cartridge setup is essential. Premium cabling is mandatory (after all, we are dealing with very low signal levels!).

There is always much (heated) opinion in analogue. Above all, trust your own ears. Enjoy the music!
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