Time for a new cartridge

Dear @chasda  : This is the one for you:

https://www.hanacartridges.com/products/hana-umami-blue

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/hana-umami-blue-phono-cartridge/

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

Have you considered trading in the DDT against a VdH Frog?

@noromance +1 VDH Frog

Have a look see at Charisma Audio. I have their Signature One MC and love everything about it.

www.charismaaudio.com/?page_id=92

Miyajima Destiny

For $2795 you get a cartridge eq combo  that will transform  your system!

DS Audio E-3 with its EQ unit.

I agree ^

https://ds-audio-w.biz/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/HFN-Oct-DS-Audio-DS-E3_Reprint-LOW.pdf

Another vote for the Umami Blue. Check the many reviews, including on Youtube with Absolute Sound.

I have your same turntable and really enjoy the Lyra Delos.  I think it's great value for the money.

Hello

I just bought  an open box Lyra Kleos SL

deeply discounted  from Music Direct 

last month and now there’s an open box Lyra Kleos you could get 

for the budget amount you mentioned 

It retails for ove $4k or so and Brian could get you 20%!off  current price of $2900 I believe   
Really killer sounding cart   Good for 3,000 hours with the right tracking and clean records  

good luck Willy-T

Hana Umami Blue. Luxman LMC-5. DS Audio E-3 woth preamp. All are the same price. A friend and well-respected turntable designer/manufacturer who also sells the Hana line recently switched over to the DS in his personal reference system. He tells me it's much better than other traditional cartridges.

Longtime VPI Classic user.

Your setup is nice. Based on the limitations of the arm I wouldn’t look past anything in the price point of the Audio Technica ART 9 series.

ART 20 maybe won’t be fully appreciated?

VPI users seem give Lyra Delos the thumbs up?

Presently using a Kiseki Blue.

Musical Fidelity Nu Vista Vinyl- interesting model.

I took me some time to find a cart i liked as much as my VDH. There is something about the VDH stylus profile that’s special IMO. I've had mine rebuilt at VDH twice now. But i found a lightly used Sumiko Pear wood celebration 2 that fills in quite nicely with all the detail I'm used to from the VDH cart but with a bit more warmth in the midrange.

Dear @drvinyl01   : The poblem with that DS Audio cartridge isthat around 8khz and up its frequency response has a deviation af 6db-8db that is to high and where you can hear.

Nothing is just perfect in analog audioand that is the negative trade-off you " pay " for.

@willy-t ​​@chasda   :  Yes the Lyra Kleos is a cartridge winner and at very good low price for it.

R.

I would definitely check out new London Decca Super Gold. I think $2800 USD. But I would check it works with your arm. I have a SG with a VPI Classic III arm and it did not work well - but I got a new arm :-) not planned for but what the heck - its only money :-)

www.londondecca.com - they just started re-manufacturing them in London and shipping to the US. Support is incredible and sound is the same.

Because you are using a unipivot arm you will want to go with a high compliance cartridge such as another Van den Hul or a Lyra. Lyra specifically recommends against unipivot arms.  Soundsmith makes some of their cartridges in high compliance versions and they are great cartridges. You certainly want something that tracks at less than 2 grams. You really want to get a better arm at some point.

@rauliruegas Which DS Audio Cartridge do you currently own and actively listen to at the moment to come to such a conclusion? The DS Audio cartridges draw out more information making your source much clearer which might reveal flaws in some systems. Hence the frequency you hear isn't caused by the cartridge. Because I don't hear it in mine nor in any other set ups of friends that have one.

I would still send your cartridge to VdH but ALSO try something else. My recommendation is a Vas Nova and you can upgrade the standard to better cantilever and stylus if you desire. Harry from VPI recommends.

@drvinyl01 

Yeah. That sounds fishy and I've not read that about the deviation in any review I've read.

Esp not with the Grand Master cartridge.

Thank you all for your responses. After taking all your suggestions into account, I'm first going to send my cartridge back to VDH for a rebuild. I have a vintage Denon with an Ortofon Bronze as my back up. While that's going on, I'm going to do some shopping with some of your suggestions. After all, it's always good to have options. Thanks for your feedback.

Send it to Soundsmith for evaluation....He'll bring it back

If your Cart's 'ZING' floats your boat.

Then why look elsewhere, it might just need to be reintroduced through a additional attention.

The Cart' can be inspected for suitability for being overhauled.

A Typical Overhaul inclusive of shipping is usually under $500

At 1000 hours of replays as a predicted life before the 'ZING' issue manifests once more, the replays will be approx' $00.50c per hour.

50c a Replay is to myself Bargainsville.

Seems attractive compared to entering the unknown at a replay cost of appro' $3.00 per hour.  

+1 for;

 Vas Nova and you can upgrade the standard to better cantilever and stylus if you desire. Harry from VPI recommends. Also EMT makes phenomenal carts.

Dear @drvynil01  @vynilshadow:

The cartridge was designed at very precise market prce point as the manufacturer entry level model and that's why the Eq. uses op-amps instead of discrete design.You can't ask for more:

https://daviddenyerpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/hfn-oct-ds-audio-ds-e3_reprint.pdf

R.

vinylshadow you was who posted that link and even that you say:  I have not read about the deviation ..."   go figure  !

R.

I might be too late to this discussion. If not, however, I would like to draw your attention to the Miyaji MEMS cartridge by the Japanese designer H. Sawada (his company is called ARSound) of Hamamatsu. During my last trip to Japan in April, Mr. Sawada invited me to his home to listen to this remarkable cartridge. I liked it so much that I bought it on the spot. I have written about it on Audiogon here: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/recommend-an-mc-cartridge/post?postid=2707495

here is the website of the US importer with more information: https://gestalthifi.com/arsound/

In short: if you are still undecided about your next cartridge, this might be your end game! I myself see it that way, listening to it every day and retrieving "new" musical information from my old records all the time: it's a revelation [and you don't need any phono stage or step-up transformer: the 250 mV output (!!) goes directly into the MM or DAC input of your preamp: as the transduction mechanism operates w/o translating stylus vibration into an electric signal and is amplitude-proportional, RIAA decoding by a phono stage is no longer needed for ground-shaking bass.]