I have a v1 concept MC that received a sapphire retip from Andy at the needle clinic. It had been a while since I had heard it and in that time had used a shure m97xe (trusty budget backup), maestro wood, and maestro ebony v2. I've been toying with the idea of selling it and trying a new cart since there are quite a few in the grand (at art9, charisma, Hana, orthodontist quintet black) and under range that are getting rave reviews and cause me to question if there is something more that I'm missing. But having really dialed in the cart and having added a minimax phono pre I'm no longer sure I can get that much better for the price. It is dynamic, detailed, spacious, and smooth. It lets me clearly tell the difference between the Reissue of Pink Floyd's the wall and the original (the original being more neutral to my ears but exceedingly beautiful and the reissue being just a tad too full in the low end though still beautiful in the mids and highs. I'm not sure why this cart hasn't gotten more press. I've seen one stand alone review in a British mag and every other mention seems to be as an adjunct to reviewing the concept turntable. I can't say I'll always keep it, but I'll always worry about regretting selling.
Clearaudio Concept MC
I am very impressed with this cartridge. I bought a demo (had about 20 hours on it) from a local shop. It now has about 50 hours. Not much written on this particular cartridge so thought I'd give you my opinion on it. It replaced a Denon Dl S1. What I like about the Clearaudio is it's ability to produce a nice 3D image of the musicians. The Denon also does this but not to the same degree as the Clearaudio. It also retrieves a lot of detail from the source without being edgy or in your face. It shows texture like no other cartridge that's ever been in my system. The stage is not as wide as the Denon but a lot deeper. The cartridge continues to develop wonderfully. This is the bottom of the line MC for Clearaudio so no doubt it's not the end all (or even close to the end all) in regard to resolution. It is however a very nice cartridge for the price. Very, very musical.
About my system; The arm is a Polestar, the table was custom built (4" solid aluminum platter), Preamp is a Melos 222, Phono Preamp is a Sonic Frontiers, & the power amp is a SE 6550 running Lowther speakers.
Regards,
Tim
Regards,
Tim
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- 4 posts total
- 4 posts total