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Cartridges: Complete Scam?

I’m very new to analog, and researching my options on forums I keep coming across the same sentiment: that past the ultra low-end cartridges, there is very little gains in actual sound quality and that all you’re getting are different styles and colorations to the sound.

So, for example, if I swapped out my $200 cartridge that came with my table for a Soundsmith, Dynavector, Oracle, etc, I may notice a small improvement in detail and dynamics, but I’m mostly just going to get a different flavor. Multiple people told me they perffered thier old vintage cartridges over modern laser-cut boron-necked diamonds.

It’s possible that these people are just desperately defending thier old junk and/or have never heard high end audio. But if what they’re saying is true, than the cartridge industry is a giant SCAM. If I blow 2.5k minimum on an Air Tight I better get a significant improvement over a $200 bundler — and if just all amounts to a different coloration, than that is a straight-up scam ripoff.

So guys — are these forums just BS-ing me here? Is it really a giant scam?
madavid0
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
My my Mr Madavid do you have it all wrong. Magico Q3s will sound absolutely awful paired with the sort of amp any normal person would use with your Elac bookshelves. In fact in 9 out of 10 Hi Fi shows Magico Q3s sound terrible because they get paired with the wrong sort of amps. 

Getting the most out of a set of Q3s is just like getting the most out of a cartridge -- it takes a lot of careful matching and time spent on ancillary supporting components. Simply dropping them in to your system may cause you great heartache (see this thread for what I mean https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/magico-s5-speaker-set-up-advice-please-tow-in-etc)

And as you probably know, I run Q3s and what I really like is when people come to my system they often say "these speakers are great, they don't sound like Magicos [do at shows]"
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
Oh and to your question on why a $5K tonearm with a $5K cartridge.

A $5K cartridge usually means the designer has spent extra effort in minimizing problematic resonances and other sources of distortion. Mounting this on a $1K tonearm that itself is subject to all sorts of distortions and resonances is simply throwing this benefit away. 

I could go on but that's just one small example of the constant in this hobby how a change in one component often throws up problems elsewhere in the chain
cd318
2,636 posts
 
Its very easy to get carried away by rave reviews of expensive cartridges. However, when you think about it, a cartridge is just doing one thing - its converting stylus movement into electrical signal. Therefore as far as I am concerned, tracking ability is paramount, it's everything. Yet the number of times cartridge reviews gloss over tracking performance..

As Randy-11 said earlier, there's definitely a law of diminishing returns at work here. The biggest step up is from conical to spherical stylus. After that you're on your own, though I do remember a ($250) Shure being commended for it's excellent tracking performance and electrical behaviour. As for other stylus profiles eg line contact, I don't know whether they offer any more.

In my own experience a Nagoaka MP11 Boron was as good as it got. Swapping to a much more expensive cartridge (Linn K18) just made the sound thinner and brighter. So yeah, tracking first and foremost.
madavid0 OP
214 posts
 
According to this comparison exercise that compared sub-$1000 cartridges being played on a $1,500 VPI Traveller, the reference setup thrown in there as an ultra high-end control (almost $200k) came in SECOND to a Audio-Technica. And then there were all the people that voted for the really low end stuff. Guys, how on Earth does anyone explain this?

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/nine-cartridges-compared-reviewed-and-voting-results
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knownothing
1,592 posts
 
Plus one for folkfreak.

madavid0, you can think of cartridge - tonearm - table - phono pre matching like speaker driver - cabinet - crossover - amp matching.  They are part of a system, and swapping pieces in and out willy nilly can be an exercise in frustration.  

You would probably never think about replacing the drivers in a pair of Magico’s with something that is speced differently and assume you could do better than the designer.  Cartridge-arm matches are unfortunately a bit like that.  Many people (myself included) have gone up a rung on the cartridge ladder only to learn their old cheaper cartridge was a better match to their tone arm and/phono pre. It doesn’t mean the more expensive cartridge is a “scam”, just not the right one for your rig.  

But when you get it right, it is pretty great.  Missing this fundamental point can lead to asking the wrong questions in persuit of improved sound.
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