Hear my Cartridges....🎶
Frogman requested a comparison of the Sony XL-88D and the AS Palladian, and Dover I believe....loves Baroque music 🤗 AS PALLADIAN LOMC CARTRIDGE SONY XL-88D LOMC CARTRIDGE Diamond Cantilever |
Halcro, you MOT, awesome service you've done by letting us get a listen of these different cartridges. I am ‘relatively’ new to the hobby (returned after tine away) and even on UTube, the difference berween these cartridges is so obvious. Thanks for this semi-scientific way that lets us all appreciate how significant a good transducer is. |
Lovely recording, Halcro; and thanks for obliging me with this comparison. I must say that I am quite taken aback with the excellence of the sound of the Sony. While you have treated us to several excellent vintage cartridges, for me this is the first that I feel is in the same league as the Palladian. Outstanding! As always, my impressions have mostly to do with tonal and rhythmic characteristics. Listening was done on the usual Stax electrostatic headphones with tube driver. The tonal characteristics of the Sony are wonderful with a midrange that is more realistically fleshed out and tonally complex than the Palladian which produces a sound that is generally too thin by comparison. Much more of the sound of the body of the harpsichord is evident with the Sony. With the Palladian the harpsichord sounds too thin and “tinkly” and the viola da gamba likewise too thin, almost threadbare, with an unrealistic nasal quality. The Palladian at first gives the impression of revealing a good sense of high frequency air for a greater sense of the room’s acoustic, but in comparison to the Sony this quality becomes an unnatural, squeaky clean, almost electronic sounding halo. With the Sony there is a greater sense of realistic timbre of the individual instruments while the Palladian seems to homogenize their individual and distinctive sounds. As a result there is a greater sense of separation of the instruments in the room’s acoustic while the Palladian seems to “crowd” them together. The one area where I feel the Palladian MAY have the upper hand is in how it portrays subtle phrasing details. The little rhythmic pushes and pulls by the viola da gamba player at times seem to have just a little bit more energy and musical purpose with the Palladian. Along the same lines, the performance at times sounds ever so slightly slower with the Sony. All this is EXTREMELY subtle and I think it is probably a psychoacoustic effect of the Sony’s more fleshed out and richer tonal qualities. Often, a leaner tonal signature gives the illusion of greater speed. I loved the sound of the Sony and I think you are justified in your excitement over it. I would love to hear it playing something more complex than this music to see how it handles a full orchestra for instance. A three way shootout between the Sony, Palladian and Decca? 😃 Thanks for another great comparison. BTW, and forgive me for nitpicking over a musicological detail. This music is technically not Baroque, but rather from or in the style of music from the Renaissance (pre Baroque). |
I’m glad you like the recording Frogman 😃 And ’technically’.....I didn’t call ’it’ Baroque 🤭 I merely commented that Dover (I believe) loves Baroque music....🤥😜 Hahaha.... I must say that I am quite taken aback with the excellence of the sound of the Sony.I’m thrilled to hear you say this 🥳 Although I didn’t doubt what I was hearing when I proclaimed it "my best and favourite cartridge"....I was a little nervous that you, coming at it from a slightly different angle....may discover some flaws which had eluded me 😥 What wonderful confirmation it is, that the YouTube videos are indeed capable of transmitting the ’Magic’ of such a subtle and ephemeral ’link’ in the audio chain. As a result there is a greater sense of separation of the instruments in the room’s acoustic while the Palladian seems to “crowd” them together.So impressed that you can actually define the "room’s acoustic"...Because that’s where this cartridge redefines (for me) the ability of the audio chain to bring one closer to ’the real thing’. And even I can hear that effect (somewhat diffused) in the videos 👂 I loved the sound of the Sony and I think you are justified in your excitement over it. I would love to hear it playing something more complex than this music to see how it handles a full orchestra for instance. A three way shootout between the Sony, Palladian and Decca? 😃You’ve got it.....🤗 Thanks again for your ’feedback’ Frogman..... You’ve made me an even happIER man....💍 |
