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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.
 

 

mglik
Post removed 
frogman
7,442 posts
 

 

“There is this thing called listening” - mikelavigne

So simple, so basic and so true.

How ironic (and absurd) the notion that the final judgment of what equipment is best in the context of a given system, in a given room, should be made by anything other than LISTENING. Last time I checked the purpose of an audio system is listening (to music). The idea that lowest possible measured (measurable) distortion necessarily makes a piece of equipment sonically superior is equally absurd. How many examples of equipment with great measurements that sounded mediocre, even poor, have we all experienced?

Just what is it about those who rely so much on measurements that drives them to denigrate the experience of those who base their final judgment on listening? I have to think that the reason is simply insecurity in their own ability to listen critically. So, those who claim to hear what they themselves can’t hear must be deluded “golden ears”; or, are “biased” and just “used to” a certain (distorted) sound.

As is the case with many issues outside of audiophilia, those who make the most noise are often the least reliable source of truth.

chocaholic
204 posts
 

Anyone remember Justin Wilson?  He was an old Cajun that had an entertaining cooking show on TV some years ago. 
 

After preparing an elaborate Cajun dish, he was asked…”Justin, what kind of wine would you recommend with that?”  
 

His infamous answer…”the kind you like”.

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 

@mikelavigne , I hate to tell you this but you never owned an MC Diamond.  They were just released. I have one of the very first ones in the country and it isn't even in my hands yet. 

With the availability of rare earth magnets, strangling a cartridge with field coils is a silly proposition and as I said before, what you think it sounds like means absolutely zero to me. I would never buy one or even look at it because it is a Rube Goldberg device. You are absolutely entitled to enjoy yours.

@rsf507 , You bet. The Platinum Signature is a little Jewel. It has the tiniest stylus I have ever seen. It is typical of the best cartridges. Nothing stands out immediately. You have to listen to a few albums you know to get the lay of the land. It is balanced, detailed, dynamic and the bass in transimpedance mode is the best I have ever heard. ( I have not listened to the Lyra or the Ortofon yet. They are payed for but not yet in my hands.) The tracking has been flawless. When I have all three cartridges I will make digital files of them playing the same material and put them on line. I expect they will sound very similar. 

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 

@dover , I auditioned the strain gauge at Peter's listening room. He spent two hours with me. I really wanted to like the strain gauge but it was just too sharp on female voices and violins for my taste. The Hyperion is more to my liking. From the Voice upwards Peter makes a great cartridges. You can't go wrong with any of them. The Strain gauge is a unique outlier but it is not an easy nut to crack. My sense is that Peter like's the challenge. He also admits and will tell you that the Hyperion can handle over twice the velocity the strain gauge can tolerate. 

I listen at 95 dB to material that warrants it. That is quite a bit softer than 100 dB.

My hearing, like anyone my age is slightly rolled off on top. I compensate by boosting the treble from 12 kHz up at 6 dB/oct.  

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