Hear my Cartridges....🎶

Thanks for the interesting comments Dover 🤔
I don't think I hear the same things as you do....or perhaps, I don't perceive them the same way...?
When you say the Victor X-1II is "horribly coloured".....I perceive it as a typically 'MM presentation' compared to that of a MC.
Bob and the ladies are pushed back towards the band compared to the forward projection of them with the Sony XL-88D.
There is also a 'rounding off' and softening of his voice in comparison again with the Sony.....
Whilst you elect to call it "coloured".....I hear it as 'added presence' and 'midrange body' which the typical MC cartridge rarely gets right.
The extended 'detail' with the percussion (particularly on the edges) is to me, just a common 'trick' of most MCs intended to impress the listeners and convince them that they are hearing more information....🤥
If you listen carefully......you're not 🤗
Enjoyment with the Victor, for me....doesn't wear off.

Your comments re: the Sony XL-88D are more puzzling.....
Firstly, I simply don't hear "the grain" you mention 😶
Last year, when you heard the Sony XL-88D in the heavy FR-S3 headshell on the SAEC Tonearm, you commented:

Then comparing the Sony XL88D to the Decca - wow. More transparent and the majesty of the performance and the completeness of the full orchestral spectrum conveyed by the Sony is fabulous. There appears to be more chest/body with the choristers from the Decca, but the vocals from uppermids to top end on the Sony appear far more transparent. As the full orchestra comes in the Sony is simply wonderful, the most complete cartridge for me of the three..    

At this point I am done with comparisons - could you please just send me the Sony for Xmas. Now back to the music....

What has changed....?

@halcro 
Victor - it appears smoother here than my sample. On my system the Victor seems technicolored, as in false sharpness - oversatuated you might say if you were a photographer. On your demo it is easier to listen to. What I mean by coloured is it appears to sound warm and comfy, but lacks openness and upper frequency extension. Remember the old Quad filters where you could tip the top down and bottom up. I dont know the record, so I dont know if this is correct.

Sony XL88D sounds very grainy compared to your earlier demos. Maybe your VTA is out. I think we hear the same thing though - you describe it as "extended detail" to me sounds more open ( irrespective of actual detail ). Please check your tracking weight and VTA, somethings not right. I assume nothing else has changed in your system. Have you had other cartridges on the arm since we last heard the Sony ??

At least we can agree on the Decca, so all is not lost.

As an aside I have been rolling through a few cartridges on my FR64S lately, primarily to see whats worth keeping, and one learning was that it is so much easier to clean cartridges when you can take the headshell off. Honestly I dont think it is possible to properly clean a cartridge without removing it.

As an aside I have been rolling through a few cartridges on my FR64S lately, primarily to see whats worth keeping, and one learning was that it is so much easier to clean cartridges when you can take the headshell off. Honestly I dont think it is possible to properly clean a cartridge without removing it.

I hear ya brother......
And you're not wrong 👍
Not only is it difficult to properly clean a cartridge whilst it's mounted in a tonearm....
It's impossible to INSPECT the condition of the stylus.
It's one thing to CLEAN your stylus....it's quite another to ENSURE the stylus has been properly cleaned 🧐
To do this....a minimum 60x LUPE is required.
With it's own LED LIGHTS you can see whether the 'crud' has been fully removed and whether the diamond is shiny.
Note: It won't be able to show whether the stylus is 'worn'. A professional microscope and experience is needed for that.

For years I have been using a soft-bristle brush to firstly wipe the stylus from front to back (as recommended) followed by a dip in MAGIC ERASER followed by a dip in ONZO ZERODUST.
It was only after the arrival of my 60xLupe that I saw the 'hairs' and 'dirt' often left on the stylus by the BRUSH 😱
This detritus was often difficult to remove even with the Magic Eraser and Zerodust so that a wet clean with Isopropyl Alcohol was the only successful remedy.
I now NEVER use a brush......
Only the Magic Eraser and Zerodust followed by the 60x Lupe inspection.
And this is done after EVERY listening session.....🤗

@halcro OP
Just as an aside really, as I'd endeavoured to listen to your various presentations - they sound rather 'unfavourable' when I compare them to those YouTube offerings of e.g. @whitecamaro. 

Yet people even on this amp thread had their own mentioning as regards to room and microphone used, and the resulting effects. 
I'm using the same listening tool(s) so... 

In short, could it be, your mic/setup could be improved to achieve some better over-all sound quality? 🤔 
M. 🇿🇦 

Hope everyone is well and staying healthy. Thanks for another interesting comparison, Halcro.

The mighty Decca!

In short, as concerns sonic observations and conclusions I am in complete agreement with Dover. The most enjoyable and as I believe is in keeping with all my prior comments about this great cartridge:

**** musical enjoyment, and least distruction of musical timbre, timing etc. ****

In order of preference (per above standard)::

Decca

Palladian
Sony
Victor

(notice the double spacing after Decca 😉)

Both Victor and Sony exhibit way too much sibilance on the vocals and, the Victor in particular, an unnatural dryness in high percussion sounds. The Victor sounds downright harsh in that frequency range. I am tempted to say that the Sony would place second were it not for the harshness in the highs, but the slightly higher volume level (mismatch) of the Sony track compared to the others surely contributes unfairly to its perceived opulent quality (“bucketloads of detail”?). Where I disagree with Dover is that I don’t find the Victor enjoyable at all due to the unpleasant dryness in the highs and sibilance. While the prominence of these qualities crosses the line into harshness territory with the Victor, I wonder if the Sony’s somewhat softer way with these same qualities are what Dover hears as “graininess”?

The Decca is a killer cartridge, IMO. It handles the highs in a beautifully controlled way. Little or no unnatural dryness or harshness. With the Victor and the Sony there is a perception of so much activity in that range that the sibilance in the lead and background vocals, combined with the dryness and harshness in high percussion (high hat) create a kind of unpleasant sonic confusion. The Decca keeps things in order for better word intelligibility and overall musical ease. At the opposite end of the frequency spectrum, the Decca is more articulate and reveals more of the bass player’s wonderfully bouncy and propulsive musical contribution. The Decca simply sounds more like the real thing than the others.

For me, and as always, this “reality” is ultimately the deciding factor for preference of one over the other; and I am baffled by the reference to this “reality” as an “artifact”. Truth is that it takes (should take) much more destruction of musical information to keep one from enjoying a good music performance as deciphered by any one of these cartridges. We have our fun picking apart their different sonic presentations when they are all to a high standard. However, if the comparison must made, the Decca kills once again!

Best to all.