Dear @inna : Nothing can do it, the LP playing is a " nigthmare " but we like it.
Tape has its own problems too but in some way differents, nothing is perfect " but " digital.
R.
What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?
I believe that a cartridge and a speaker, by far, contribute the most to SQ.
The two transducers in a system.
I bit the bulllet and bought a Lyra Atlas SL for $13K for my Woodsong Garrard 301 with Triplanar SE arm. I use a full function Atma-Sphere MP-1 preamp. My $60K front end. It is certainly, by far, the best I have owned. I read so many comments exclaiming that Lyra as among the best. I had to wait 6 months to get it. But the improvement over my excellent $3K Mayijima Shilabi was spectacular-putting it mildly.
I recently heard a demo of much more pricy system using a $25K cartridge. Seemed to be the most expensive cartridge made. Don’t recall the name.
For sure, the amount of detail was something I never heard. To hear a timpani sound like the real thing was incredible. And so much more!
This got me thinking of what could be possible with a different kind of cartridge than a moving coil. That is, a moving iron.
I have heard so much about the late Decca London Reference. A MI and a very different take from a MC. Could it be better? The World’s Best? No longer made.
However Grado has been making MI cartridges for decades. Even though they hold the patent for the MC. Recently, Grado came out with their assault on “The World’s Best”. At least their best effort. At $12K the Epoch 3. I bought one and have been using it now for about two weeks replacing my Lyra. There is no question that the Atlas SL is a fabulous cartridge. But the Epoch is even better. Overall, it’s SQ is the closest to real I have heard. To begin, putting the stylus down on the run in grove there is dead silence. As well as the groves between cuts. This silence is indicative of the purity of the music content. Everything I have read about it is true. IME, the comment of one reviewer, “The World’s Best”, may be true.
- ...
- 576 posts total
Dear @lewm : You are rigth: only smooth DC. So, in the worst case has not to be a difference with that cartridge but @mikelavigne not yet share with us if that DaVa comes with the choice of both power supplies.
R. |
Dear @mikelavigne : " whether you believe in a tubed power supply or a solid state power supply is not the issue here . " Well, you was who posted about before my post and that's why I still ask on that regards.
" (at 1/3rd to 1/6th the price) " Mike wht's the DaVa Refrence retail price? and @larryi and due that you already listen to it : do you know the price tag for the Audio Note? Thank's in advance for both of you.
R. |
ok, maybe you have not understood my answers about the power supply for the DaVa cartridge.🙄 here is the messgae the DaVa builder, Darius, sent me in January regarding the power supply choices. i went with the 1500 euro choice. plus 6000 euro for the cartridge, plus, as i recall, 400 euro for shipping,
|
On the Grado Epoch 3... How the hell does a $13K cartridge have an elliptical stylus? At least give me a microline or similar. Can you imagine shelling 13K for a cart and hearing IGD? That would hurt. On topic, there is no best cartridge, like there is not best speaker. Depends on one's system and ears. At the ultra high end cartridge level, one should expect very wide channel separation (at least 35dB plus), superb tracking and very wide frequency response at the very least. The OP's Atlas has that. It's all personal preference at any level, but one wouldn't expect a spherical, conical, or elliptical stylus on a cartridge at the uber high level. |
- 576 posts total