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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.....🤗
128x128halcro
sdrsdrsdr
196 posts
 
@halcro 

I did listen with my computer speakers to some also. It just wasn’t good enough to make a judgement like others could. Yes, like many others I find myself with much time on my hands now.  Spent the last three three years building my new business and neglecting my hobby. Good to be back. Just hope it’s not too long. Lol.
About the  AT-ML180. I have an OFC version I got recently and was told it was beryllium. It’s not in original packaging and don’t know how to tell for sure. I had it inspected by SoundSmith and should have asked at the time. They did tell me it looked to have an estimated 150 hours usage with an expected 850 left. Nice to know. I got it from a guy named Ellie that some may know. Do you know how to tell if it is beryllium or boron?

Steve.
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Hi Steve,
Beryllium normally looks like THIS 
But if your AT-ML180 stylus is not GOLD-COATED......then it should be Beryllium 😃
You lucky dog....🎉

Regards
Henry
sdrsdrsdr
196 posts
 
@ 
@chakster 
I guess my AT-ML180 ofc may be Boron. It’s gold plated.

But if you look at the first and second comments Chakster made at the beginning of this. He says the occ comes with gold plated beryllium cantilever. And the ofc is gold plated boron pipe. According to him they are both gold plated. The ofc is the earlier version so I assumed it would be the beryllium and the occ being later would probably be boron. Wasn’t beryllium phased out in the years the occ was available?
sdrsdrsdr
196 posts
 
@halcro 
 I meant to put your name on my previous post too. Also, how did your AT-ML180 hold up in comparison to the  other cartridges compared? 
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,923 posts
 
I listened again on my all tube/Spendor/REL S30 rig. Amazing how it now sounds so more like a recording in free space compared to my headphones. I'm sure I heard your dog bark. I am convinced the Raven adds a golden warmth to the reproduction. There is also a thickening in the upper bass and lower mids. You played the AS on your SAEC arm in 2019, and it doesn't have that sound on the Victor. I also heard an album I know intimately on a Raven (Basis table?) at AXPONA '19 and that aspect was there then too. So, I can't be certain how the actual cartridges perform in their own right. 
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