Late to the party. The Barodin Symphony No.2 shootout. First off, your system sounds great especially with my upgraded subwoofer. Second, the Sony really does excel. I listened to the LDR first and it sounded good but the subdued triangle near the opening set up its downfall to the Sony. Sure enough, the D was more detailed and made more sense of the music.Â
Hear my Cartridges....🎶
Many Forums have a 'Show your Turntables' Thread or 'Show your Cartridges' Thread but that's just 'eye-candy'.... These days, it's possible to see and HEAR your turntables/arms and cartridges via YouTube videos.
Peter Breuninger does it on his AV Showrooms Site and Michael Fremer does it with high-res digital files made from his analogue front ends.
Now Fremer claims that the 'sound' on his high-res digital files captures the complex, ephemeral nuances and differences that he hears directly from the analogue equipment in his room.
That may well be....when he plays it through the rest of his high-end setup 😎
But when I play his files through my humble iMac speakers or even worse.....my iPad speakers.....they sound no more convincing than the YouTube videos produced by Breuninger.
Of course YouTube videos struggle to capture 'soundstage' (side to side and front to back) and obviously can't reproduce the effects of the lowest octaves out of subwoofers.....but.....they can sometimes give a reasonably accurate IMPRESSION of the overall sound of a system.
With that in mind.....see if any of you can distinguish the differences between some of my vintage (and modern) cartridges.
VICTOR X1
This cartridge is the pinnacle of the Victor MM designs and has a Shibata stylus on a beryllium cantilever. Almost impossible to find these days with its original Victor stylus assembly but if you are lucky enough to do so.....be prepared to pay over US$1000.....🤪
VICTOR 4MD-X1
This cartridge is down the ladder from the X1 but still has a Shibata stylus (don't know if the cantilever is beryllium?)
This cartridge was designed for 4-Channel reproduction and so has a wide frequency response 10Hz-60KHz.
Easier to find than the X1 but a lot cheaper (I got this one for US$130).
AUDIO TECHNICA AT ML180 OCC
Top of the line MM cartridge from Audio Technica with Microline Stylus on Gold-Plated Boron Tube cantilever.
Expensive if you can find one....think US$1000.
I will be interested if people can hear any differences in these three vintage MM cartridges....
Then I might post some vintage MMs against vintage and MODERN LOMC cartridges.....🤗
Peter Breuninger does it on his AV Showrooms Site and Michael Fremer does it with high-res digital files made from his analogue front ends.
Now Fremer claims that the 'sound' on his high-res digital files captures the complex, ephemeral nuances and differences that he hears directly from the analogue equipment in his room.
That may well be....when he plays it through the rest of his high-end setup 😎
But when I play his files through my humble iMac speakers or even worse.....my iPad speakers.....they sound no more convincing than the YouTube videos produced by Breuninger.
Of course YouTube videos struggle to capture 'soundstage' (side to side and front to back) and obviously can't reproduce the effects of the lowest octaves out of subwoofers.....but.....they can sometimes give a reasonably accurate IMPRESSION of the overall sound of a system.
With that in mind.....see if any of you can distinguish the differences between some of my vintage (and modern) cartridges.
VICTOR X1
This cartridge is the pinnacle of the Victor MM designs and has a Shibata stylus on a beryllium cantilever. Almost impossible to find these days with its original Victor stylus assembly but if you are lucky enough to do so.....be prepared to pay over US$1000.....🤪
VICTOR 4MD-X1
This cartridge is down the ladder from the X1 but still has a Shibata stylus (don't know if the cantilever is beryllium?)
This cartridge was designed for 4-Channel reproduction and so has a wide frequency response 10Hz-60KHz.
Easier to find than the X1 but a lot cheaper (I got this one for US$130).
AUDIO TECHNICA AT ML180 OCC
Top of the line MM cartridge from Audio Technica with Microline Stylus on Gold-Plated Boron Tube cantilever.
Expensive if you can find one....think US$1000.
I will be interested if people can hear any differences in these three vintage MM cartridges....
Then I might post some vintage MMs against vintage and MODERN LOMC cartridges.....🤗
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- 628 posts total
Having accidentally discovered that using the heavy FR-S3 headshell in the SAEC WE-8000/ST tonearm brought it 'alive' with the Sony XL-88 and XL-88D cartridges......I wondered if the same improvement could be wrought with the Sony XL-55 ? Here we have the XL-55 installed in the S3 headshell on the legendary Fidelity Research FR-66S Tonearm compared to it mounted on the almost as legendary SAEC WE-8000/ST Tonearm... FIDELITY RESEARCH FR-66S TONEARM SAEC WE-8000/ST TONEARM FIDELITY RESEARCH FR-66S TONEARM SAEC WE-8000/ST TONEARM |
Fantastic thread @halcro ! Thank you v much for all your effort and sharin your experience, really invaluabe! DLR has been long on my radar and your findings only heat up my interest. I'd use it on my EMT 930 with silver wired FR64s and Orsonic AV-101 headshell (~16g), connected by AQ Leopard silver cable. Any experience on how DLR mates with silver wires and the Orsonic headshell? Thank you in advance,b |
Thanks for the kind words Bydlo 😃 I appreciate hearing that some folks are finding this Thread informative... Wow...an EMT 930 and FR-64S with Silver Wiring 🤩 You're really 'cooking with gas'...🔥 I also have the FR-64S with 'Silver Inside Leads' and the LDR sounds very happy with them. The ORSONIC HEADSHELL however....is a different 'kettle of fish'. I tried many cartridges on mine before selling it, as I could physically see the headshell twisting and contorting whilst playing heavy modulated passages. Contrary to the commonly propagated claim, that the FR-S3 is too heavy....I have found this to be an AUDIOPHILE MYTH, with my seven S3 SHELLS being the very best to use on, not only the FR-64S and FR-66S.....but also other arms, as demonstrated in the two previous 'Shootouts' in this Thread. What amplifiers and speakers do own to go with your first-rate front end? Regards |
- 628 posts total