Highest detail cartridges

@viridian I listen to 99%+ classical music.  Instrument timbre can expose the accuracy of the recording.  And I've been a part of blind listening sessions that used two components that were identical except for a 3 millibel difference in frequency response.  The same component could be consistently identified during the tests.  

I prefer components with a vanishingly low amount of distortion to any distortion including even order distortion.  It is why I use one particular electronics manufacturer.

@bimasta

"Is "closer to the music" a more accurate reproduction of what is in the groove or a "romantic" rewrite?"

It is more involving reproduction of music on vinyl media. May be caused by synergy of the arm + cartridge and all components. The moment when you’re there with a smile on your face, when everything is damn good.

Victor Direct Couple MC-1 is very dynamic cartridge in my system.
I was aware of the sweetness of Shibata profile on Beryllium cantilever, becuase i have tried many Victor MM cartridges before. But i think Direct Couple principle is something special in this MC design. Never tried Decca or Ikeda cantilever-less models.

@viridian   No apologize necessary.  My opinion....

I am, unfortunately, very sensitive to timbre particularly in cellos, double reeds and violins.  Yes, there are variations in some equipment used to record the instruments, but in my opinion less so than in cartridges and arms. 

In my system, cartridge anomalies, arm resonances, tube warmth, and similar often appear in my system as "bloom" at various frequencies that distorts instrumental timbre.  Some listeners like that distortion and call it "musical" or other descriptions that are used to rationalize distortion.