Here is my original Garrott P77 on Reed 3p tonearm, it was amazing combination. The P77i is improved version of the very popular Garrott Brothers cartridge, buy it, you can't go wrong with the Garrott! The price is great and not high when you will convert it from AU$ to US$ https://garrottbrothers.com/ If you want to know the full story of Garrott brothers you have to read this post below from their close friend and business partner @elroyvomlacheren . Sad story! THIS IS WHAT HE POSTED ON AUDIOGON 10 YEARS AGO: elroyvomlacheren (posted on Sat, 12/18/2010) "The missing link I stumbled over some posts about the late Garrott bros, and though I usually never blog nor use any forums, I thought it adequate to clear some of the thoughts, feelings and obscure history of the Garrott Bros. Some posts were right and brought warm and hurting memories and some were dead wrong. The ones who remember the Garrott family well remember them as living in an enclosed space, very isolated from the world around them. They concentrated on their work and left the world pass by. In the quietness and peacefulness of their living they mastered cartridge repairing, re-tipping and building never achieved by anyone in the past nor up today. I had first contact with the Garrott brothers at the age of fifteen, which was over 30 years back from now. Half a child but most enthusiastic about HiFi I dig out their address to make first contact. At that time, there was no net - we had telex, letter post ans later fax machines. I still remember the day to have Johns voice on my phone answering machine. I was too scared to called back - I was still at school learning English as my fourth foreign language and it took me two days to find the courage calling him. Finally made it and he was surprised that I wanted to meet them in Oz. It was very exceptional back the to fly to Oz and back to Europe - Oz was a one way destination and at that age it really must have been exceptional. We immediately became friends. In fact, as they did not have children they kind of adopted me to their family, and as it was the way they lived, all in secrecy. Over the years the did teach me all of their secrets and they remain in my hands still. After my first degree I entered university and studied design, architecture and engineering and I added my knowledge to the projects we had. I was working in secrecy in OZ over the Euro winter I brought my findings to Oz. While we had the re-tipping service for all cartridges around the world (except for Linn, which John thought was a non honest company and refused to work on any Linn cartridge) there was the P66 and P77 cartridge. HiFi circles all seem to need a topic to dial in, they did on the diamond. In fact, the diamond is an essential part of the whole component, but only one. The same importance goes to the alignment, the mounting , the rake, the length of the cantilever, the material, the magnetic construction, the damping, the coil assembly, the field arrangement, the inductance and much more. As usual, the hifi community reduced it to the A&E with Garrott stylus, which was fine for us and still makes me smile by today. It did't change much when I added the leaflet where the cartridges were named "dynamic coil". It should at least make people think that the dynamic change from the A&E to a P66/77 did NOT come from the diamond. I did have a good free lance job for Lamborghini Spa. then and it was partly about suspension and damping, which makes the difference for a car going fast or slow, but customers thinking about the horsepower. Same with cartridges. The secret really lay in the dynamic balance of the moving parts. As the P66 and P77 were for Brian and John Garrott, we made a set of 3 cartridges, the K1/K2/K3 to represent or 3 party, as I became a full Garrott family member and the K series came from my idea to make a lower cost series to give more people the chance to enjoy vinyl. By that time CD was in the wake and I thought it best to fight it in the beginning. The K series were fixture mounted diamonds, which were less expensive to make, but still had the exceptional polish all our diamonds had - exceptional. to say the least. The were round/elliptical/parabolic.shape. They were fully balanced, as were the P66 (elliptical) P77(parabolic MScanner). They were differently balanced, as the tip mass was different from the K to the P series. I then initiated the making of a series of MC cartridges. 3 for us all - the black P87 elliptical, the red P88 parabolic and the golden P89 MScanner. We made the housings, printings anodisation here in Switzerland and used parts from our watchmaking industry. I did read that somewhere that they were afraid of the CD and dwindling sales. This is dead wrong. The company was fully backed by my finances of 2Mio$US at Westpack bank. I wanted to give them their love back so I gave them the possibility to live the way they were used to and made their work excellent. They never had any financial problems, and all they ever produced was bought by myself or backed by myself until they got payed by their customers. We made batches of the P87/88/89 in the size of 400/400/200 pcs. over the years. I was running a repair station for Pro Hifi for Radio and TV servicing EMT's and Ortofon. While the MC-type P series were made for the then used mid mass arms which needed mid compliance cartridges, I had to service the tractors style types over here. I made re-tippings with Garrott round and elliptical styli for SPU's and the made a pro cartridge available in Switzerland only called the True Blue. 30pcs. batch, low compliance cross coil Garrott suspension style, aluminum cantilever with a Weintz parabolic. This was a wonderful cartridge, but for heavy mass arms only. So we had two chains - I was on the pro heavy mass work and the Garrotts were on the HiFi medium mass. It was the time of the so called sharp needles - the then S-nadel was made by Gyger over here and marketed by VdH. He later renamed it VdH, but actually is a Gyger S. Friend of the Garrotts remember they did not drink alcohol. They still had fun getting a booze. After watching Roos around Cox's river road, we mounted a Gyger on a P89 and really got the booze - phasey and not natural. I should mention the importance of balanced weights. We have had around 100 types of diamonds, some with same shape but different weight, which is very important. We had multiple types of cantilever, aluminum, boron rods and tubes, with and without drill, Beryllium straights, conicals, flat tops, flat tops with slits, ruby and so on. The magic always laid in the balance, not in the individual part. It is a very common misunderstanding that the stiffer the cantilever the better the sound because of lower transmission loss. Most cantilevers do not allow a mechanical rigid mounting of the diamond mechanically except for the glue. In this case aluminum is the best fixture possible with the lowest loss. Then the cantilever does NOT end at the coil armature. In fact, it ends within the backside pole piece, and the suspension wire is part of the cantilever, so the ultra rigid boron rod cantilever transfer the energy to the supple suspension wire which resonates much more than it would with an aluminum one. I will not discuss on cartridge building but would like to focus the reader on the real work we did at Garrott bros. If you would have sent the lets say a working Kiseki, you would have received a much better balanced Kiseki back without changing the stylus nor the cantilever. We did have the very best years all the way until John got ill. It was a hard time as it was not sure if his sickness could be treated or not. As they were living as a party of 4 their very long live, isolated in the blue mountains, in the bushes behind Merimbula it was hard to imagine for Brian to go on without his brother. He took his time of from their house way behind Bega and headed for Merimbula again and think about the future. It was difficult to get in cintact with all of them. John was at his house with Normita Garrott and Brian away with Teresita and looking back they tried out how life would be parted in two. Tears run over my face when remembering those difficult times, which I thought would be more easy to remember after 20 years have passed now, but it is still too hurting. I got my last call from Brian after his turning back 3 weeks before they committed suicide, which they did in secrecy, as the distributor chain, which seems to be y could not imagine to ever part from each other. I excuse for not being able to think nor write about it. I was informed about the tragedy by the local police and then had to arrange according to their wills. I was not able to lay my hands on any cartridge for years as the memories were to hard. I only kept the parts I was involved with anyway, and the rest was auctioned. The company was bought by Philippe Luder of Melbourne who was well known to John and Brian and they felt that their name would be in good hands and stayed in OZ. I incognito visited the company to see if they follow the will and ideal of the Garrott bros and I was very pleased that they really do their best to live up to the Garrott bros name. Though the current P88 is different to the late P88, it still uses the same body and some identical design features, and it is fair to make the best out of the currently available parts, which I very much believe they do. I warmly would recommend a try. I am not in any way anymore related to Garrott bros, but remember my family each and every minute of my life. Thank you " |
Never heard a Garrott. If I were going to spend $1K , the $50 looks would be the buzz kill for me. Trivial but that much dough it better look good. What is it...a tweaked MM design? If you go S.S., just make sure you're getting the latest iteration-DEMS Advantage of the SS is they're domestic. If you crash it-reasonable cost to repair it and even upgrade the stylus if you desire. Try and up your game to the Zephyr. Also, if your phonostage has 55-60 db of gain, consider the Audio Technica ART 9($1K) Plenty of positive reviews on the ART9. |
ttocs1269 It's Australian brand with long history, Garrott brothers are legendary re-tippers for Decca and Koetsu owners. Their own cartridges are MM (Dynamic Coil) with very nice warm sound, advanced stylus profile (user replaceable). Garrott P77i is just $450 in American money. The P77i is more than enough to realize what is Garrott Brothers dynamic coil sound. P.S. You're expecting everyone on here knows what is Garrott, but as you can see people never heard about it. Some people can only recommend what's in the shops in America. |
Dear chakster, I first thought that this story was written by Reto Andreoli, the third (youngest) brother. At the age of 15 and speaking only German he went to Australia with the intention to learn the art from the masters. He was accepted and learned the trade very fast. He was as passionate cartridges lover as you are . After their tragic dead he returned to Switzerland and started his own ''one man' company. He become known with his exclusive cartridges among which the Magic Dimond. But he also produce amps, pre-amps , etc. all done by himself . He also wrote some articles in HIFI Magazine explaining his approach to analog reproduction. I am not aware if he published anything in English but if you read German I will post his writing to you. ''Our own'' Dover can probably explain more technical stuff about Andreoli as well his ''theoretical'' opinions. He owns , if I remember well , his pre-amp. |
Dear chakster, I first thought that this story was written by Reto @nandric Oh, thanks for letting me know, as always it is hard to find even a website of his company in the digital world :) He’s living in analog worlds without a website or even a page in social media (as i can read in the press) and making cartridges (no OEM parts anymore, wow). I’ve heard about Magic Diamond cartridges from you here on audiogon. As i can see his full name is Reto Luigi Andreoli and he’s the guy behind MicroMagic/Bluelectric (Switzerland). Luckily i can read Russian , here is an interview with Mr. Andreoli . Not surprised to read why he prefer MM over MC when he’s talking about Shake Streamliner cartridge. Very interesting read, here is more in russian about him and his cartridges, more technical details about cartridge design preferences, about the weakness of OEM parts etc. Some information he shared only with his official Russian distributor by private emails. We have very strong audiophile scene here, thanks to those guys for publishing. I hope those of you who can’t read Russian could use google translate for both articles. I enjoyed reading those articles, bravo Mr. Andreoli ! |
Dear chakster, Reto may be ''modest'' according to his Russian importer but his prices are certainly not. His cheapest MC was Virus than Magic Diamond and Silver Spirit. Magic Dimond was +/-$6000 and Silver Spirit about $ 12 K. I see for the first time in your Russian ''literature'' that he produced an MM cart. Nearly $10000 for this 'Shake Streamer'' . ''Shocking Shake'' so to speak. There are successors for Virus, Magic and Spirit for about twice their previous prices. But we are used to this ''phenomenon''. I am curious what our Dover can tell us. He is better equip than us for technical issues. |
I thought that Excel from Japan makes motor for current Garrot brothers cartridge. Maybe my memories are wrong as I have very minor background in MM. I mean that Excel even sells something like this branded as Vessel https://www.lpgear.com/category/THEVESSELC.html?CatListingOffset=0&Offset=0&Per_Page=12&Sort_By=disp_order Chakster, I liked the stories behind MicroMagic/Bluelectric (I still can read Russian) - but at the very end it’s bionic Denon DL103 with super advanced diamond which is far more better than VDH or Replicant 100. |
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@bukanova that’s cool, glad you can read Russian, i can’t read Lithuanian :) Mr. Andreoli story is very interesting, but he’s not Garrott even if he learned from them. His cartridges are not affordable for "normal people". But i really like his attitude, there are a lot of crazy stories in that two articles about him (in a good way). Regarding Garrott P77 inspiration you have to look for British A&R P77 series (P, C, E). This is not exactly Garrott and it was explained before. Garrott D77 Dynamic Coil MM is heavy modified version by Brothers in Australia. Now when you mentioned Excel Sound i found this article and for the first time i see that A&R (Arcam, UK) is Japanese made cartridge. Still no evidence it was made by Excel Sound, i wish to know. Thanks |
You may like Mr. Andreoli's opinion about
Spherical
stylus @bukanova :) I found it on audiogon archive: Below is a letter to Positive Feedback Online regarding Mr. Andreoli and his work. |
Thanks for all the Links Chak........ Wonderful information (thanks to Google Translate)....almost too much to absorb in one reading 🤔 I particularly like his closing paragraph.....
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What an surprise? One architect likes the other. However I am not able to ''place'' his history. If he was only 3 years by the ''brothers'' then he was about 18 when returned to Switzerland. The ''right age'' for the university. But then instead of electronics he chose architecture. In Holland this is not considered as an ''academic study'' so no ''degree''. So referring to Einstein in this context is, say, ''little bit'' exaggerated. Then all his argument are based on electronic or acoustic theoretical assumptions which we, the simply humans can't understand. That is why I asked Dover for his opinion. But he is obviously changed in (Dutch) New Zeeland and probably expect from me ''begging'' instead of asking. Owing ''holy water'' does not, I hope , mean becoming ''holy'' yourself? |
Dear chakster, Nice to see this ''unknown'' info about Andreoli but by quoting reviewers one should also mention the time when those are written. Not only because of inflation. Otherwise many may try to get ,say, Magic Diamond for $2500. According to me in 2019 the Swiss price was 7000 CHF. Even more important is the possible case that if I try to sell my sample your info will ruin my expectation. |
@nandric Yes, it was in 2007, the original post i'm quoting is here |
And let's spread the lights on Reto Luigi Andreoli premium MOVING MAGNET cartridges under his brand
BLUELECTRIC. As i can see in this post from 2015 they were new at that time. This is when Bluelectric made MM pickup for the first time! Here is a nice image of this MM cartridge called SHAKE Streamliner. As you can read below Streamliner MM models has unique SYNTHOBIONIC CANTILEVER! Pretended to be unbreakable. What??? Let's have another look. The MM pickup comes in two versions: 1) Bluelectric Shake Smooth Operator is the least expensive MM and also the least expensive Bluelectric pickup among the new and redesigned pickups.Shake in both versions has an output of 4.1mV, compliance of 16 and weight of 9 grams. Smooth Operator uses an alloy in cantilever. 2) Bluelectric Streamliner is the second version of the MM pickup Shake. Shake Streamliner uses the unique Bluelectric synthobionic unbreakable cantilever that is only manufactured by Bluelectric. The Bluelectric Shake Streamliner will be in stock with a low quantity at the manufacturer, but will be mainly manufactured to order. ** It is interesting to the in specs that basic design is P777 (1980) and this is direct correlation to the Garrott Brothers P77 (look at the numbers). ** Bluelectric is for those who want the absolute best. Some would say that prices are high, but considering the very long life, Bluelectric is among the very cheapest pickups in use. The cost per hour is actually very very low. I got some information online from Norwegian Distributor. |
How do you say ''ich liebe dich'' in Dutch ? ''I love you''. ''No idiot that is English''. ''My Gosh I had no idea that I speak English''. This is an Serbian joke but in this case this was my ''sensation'' by reading this Norwegian information. I had no idea that I was able to understand Norwegian. There are more curious misunderstandings reg. Andreoli. Because he feels that selling is bellow his ,uh, status, this job is done by Blue electric. So this is not his ''shop'' or company. Elsewhere is mentioned his real living- and working place. Anyway It seems curious that despite the mystery about the job of Blue Electric we can't get much information about Reto in English or German but well in Russian and Norwegian. Thanks to our multilingual chakster we now know more than before. |
@nandric Everything has been covered here. Andreoli is an artisan, who I suspect gets bored with producing the same product over and over - once they have mastered or achieved their goals on a particular design, they then look for a new challenge. This is their nature. As far as I am aware Andreoli's products are produced either in very very small runs or to order, and then are never seen again. I have never seen another phono such that I own - it may be a one off, or like me other owners will never sell. As far as cartridges go, he has praised the Neumann and the Ikeda cantileverless cartridges, opining that they are one of the very few cartridges that can mimic the cutterhead in payback. And yes his argument for spherical tips is based principally on the fact that all pivots arms have tracking error, and he believes the spherical tip is the least damaging in terms of tracking error distortion. For what its worth - if you listen to the venerable Denon 103 - although not particularly transparent, it does have a rhythmic coherency to the sound that more "high end" cartridges can be lacking. |
So this is not his ’’shop’’ or company. @nandric The shop owner is his cousin
Bluelectric - this is correct brand name, i’m not sure who’s the owner, but Magic Diamond, Silver Spirit, Virus cartridges and even Virus Phono Stange are all Bluelectic. See what i can find about phono stage ... Bluelectic Virus Phono Stage Specs:
@dover this is the phono stage you have or it’s another model ? |
Dear chakster , your curioslty is remarkable. It seems you can find whatever you are looking for. I get tired after two hours behind my laptop. I thought that Dover owns pre-amp from Reto but he obviously owns phono-pre. Curious that he named the thing ''Virus'' not because of Corona kind but because this was/is his cheapest cart. But who can pretend to understand an genius? But it may be the case that this one is his cheapest phono-pre. One that Dover can afford and keep sufficient money for this remarkable wine they produce in New Zeeland? |
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