Moving on after van den hul


I've had van den hul cartridges (grasshopper & colibri) for almost 20 years. I love the sound, but I'm at the point of moving on after dealing with several rounds of questionable customer service.

My question is directed SOLELY at those of you who also love the van den hul sound: What other cartridges have you found that either (i) exceed the van den huls, or (ii) come close in important ways and provide an acceptable substitute?

(For those of you who do not share my enthusiasm for van den hul cartridges, PLEASE DON"T BOTHER RESPONDING TO THIS THREAD. It's not that you're not entitled to your opinion (of course you are), but rather that our ears and taste are sufficiently different as to make conversation on this issue irrelevant.)
jimjoyce25
I own both the Colibri XGP and Dynavector XV1S. Paired w/ Graham Phantom 11 and Basis debut Sig Vaccuum table. I prefer the sound of my XGP, it seem to be more life like and open. I would stick to the van den hul.....
Unfortunatelly your Triplanar does not match with the Goldfinger.
I live with VDH's over 16 years from Grasshopper III M SILVER to Symphonic Line RG6 GOLD to Insider & back to GLA IV to Black Beauty to first generation 3.5gr Colibri COPPER to XGP & finally to XPP.
I don't know for an alternative !

George
Homosapien :
Matches with less than 8gr & high compliance cartridges.
If you plan to buy a new one & allready have your Triplanar, I suggest you to prefer a customised "Condor" otherwise a second hand Colibri is a superb value but the risk of getting a bad or abused sample is not less.
If you can find one from someone you know, then go ahead! but be very carefull to set-up as I can confirm that every time I receive my repaired VDHs, I had to deal with a new and completely uknown cartridge. I suspect that at the last 4 years in the factory, they don't fix the particular problem, but they glue a new cartridge to your old cartridge shell. (Although they are honestly charge you only for the single damage repair).
Yes there are some things to concern about VDHs, but certainly it is worth the effort. (especially for you that you value the midrange openess-clarity & airy highs of the PROACs).

George
Geoch; how about a linear arm? good fit for goldfinger V2? have been considering a move for a while now. something else instead? anybody?