Who needs a Diamond Cantilever...? 💍

@dover , van dan Hul does that by eliminating the front pole piece. Sure a diamond cantilever 1/3rd shorter than a boron cantilever will weight about the same assuming the same diameter. The shorter cantilever is sure to have some disadvantages it terms of leverage and tracking error. I have no idea what all this means. You would have to build and test multiple designs to see what happens. My sense is that the cottage builders develop theories and build them assuming they work without a full understanding of other factors and  adequate testing other than listening, the artistic approach. Thus, you wind up with cartridges of different character. In reality cartridges of any type are not very complex devices and it should not be all that difficult to develop a full understanding of the various factors at play. It just takes time and money.
As Raul suggests a lot of it might be developing finer tolerances and better construction methods. Very few of us have the time, money or experience. We know a few things about the cartridges we use, how they sound, how they track and such. We have and defend pet favorites and some of us know a little about the physics involved but, that is about it. Raul has managed to gain a lot of experience by doing whatever it is he does. Between Raul and chakster you probably have 80 % of the cartridge knowledge on this site. My own meager experience seems diametrically opposed to the experience of others. I am beginning to think moving coil cartridges are a waste of money and that you can get equal or better performance out of much less expensive moving magnet and iron cartridges. 

@mijostyn

I am beginning to think moving coil cartridges are a waste of money and that you can get equal or better performance out of much less expensive moving magnet and iron cartridges.

I dont agree. MM’s have an inherent issue in that the high frequency response has phase and linearity issues, the capacitive loading is essentially tuning the high frquency response to get some semblance of linearity at the cost of phase anomalies. Even Raul after trawling through gazillions of MM's has concluded that he prefers LOMC's.

The issue with MC's I believe is the paucity of really good moving coil phono stages. Of course there are duds out there, but there are excellent MC's from even quite modest pricing ( example Audio Technica AT33Ptg ) provided you have a good phono stage.

Moving Iron is a better alternative to LOMC's than MM's in my view - Decca, Soundsmith both produce excellent cartridges at a variety of price points. 

If someone has an average turntable/arm and/or phono they are more likely to get less issues with MM/MI than LOMC. That is the crux.

I still have a Glanz MFG61 moving flux, JVC X1 MM and a few others in the box - I never listen to them, any decent LOMC for around $1500 blitzes them. Same with Chaksters much vaunted Audio Technica's he pushes, they are brittle and lack body. Soundsmith & Decca I can listen to ( and the odd Grado ).

It’s not funny Dover, because all your passage has nothing to do with unique cantilever used exclusively in Bluelectric MM cartridge that cost $10 000. And if you are so concerned about damper then his silicone damper will last forever, even if I will “re-sell” it to you 40 years later the properties of this damper will not change. This is what you want? The cost is only $10k today if Mr. Adreoli will accept your order, unfortunately his cartridges are not available from the dealers or shops. And if you can search and read about him you will understand his philosophy and his opinion about the whole high-end market today.


Regarding specific type of cantilever made in the 70’s I can assure you that I have them all (Diamond, Boron Pipe, Beryllium and even Ceramic Pipe you may never tried, it was Grace exclusive for MM). I really like them on specific models of cartridges.


Regarding suspension/damper condition on those vintage high-end cartridges: Do you think people are so stupid that they can’t define lowrider (cartridge) with softened suspension or a cartridge with stiff suspension? Or maybe they can’t measure compliance using a Hi-Fi News Test Record counting it from the actual tonearm/cartridge resonance figure? Or maybe people can’t send their cartridges for $30 inspection? Or maybe they can’t return a cartridge with bad suspension for full refund using their paypal buyers protection? Where are the feedbacks from the customers cheated by sellers of vintage carts with stiff of softened suspension? Maybe some negative threads on various forums? Or maybe it’s impossible to compare 2-3-4 samples of the same model to make sure what is good? Or maybe they can’t swap spare styli? Please tell me what’s the point to lie about cartridge condition (including suspension condition)? Only retippers capitalize on service (still an option for the buyer).

Save your stories about your luxury gear from Final Audio for your old rich friends, I am not interested in overpriced audio gear. This is not my style of living, but music is very important part of my life.

I do not re-sell cartridges, I collect them, I buy them!

And I’m looking for exceptionally good cartridges only for a reason, blast from the past (not interested in vintage junk).


But posting all the BS could you please at least provide a link to my sales list or online shop or whatever? Or maybe my current ebay or ukam listing with any cartridge for sale or something like that? May you can provide my sales score using buyers feedbacks on my ebay or ukam? I did not sell anything to you.

Bit I’ll tell you once again that I sell whatever I want to sell from my own collection only if I wish to, just like any other person in this hobby. I’ve been doing the same with my rare records from my own collection for a long time. This is a natural way to survive in this expensive hobby if you are not rich. It’s hard to understand for you, because as an ex hi-end dealer you’ve been able to buy with 30-50% discount about 40 years ago and capitalize on it. But luckily I am not at the age of grandfather, so the stuff from the 70’s wasn’t available for me, not only because I was born in the 70’s, but also because I was born in Russia. Modern high-end market is madness, this is why music lovers and audio enthusiasts are happy with vintage gear (cartridges, speakers , tubes ...).

I’m not “pushing” anything, even if your opinion is different (why it should be the same as mine?) you are free to buy whatever you want and tell everyone what exactly do you like and why. I can compare cartridges in my system and I posted a lot about this system with images. I have no idea about your system, but for some reason I think it’s not a low power amps with high efficient speakers like mine, also completely different music I guess. I don't need anyone telling me about a sound of turntable drive itself, some audiophiles are sick. 

@chakster 

The cost is only $10k today if Mr. Adreoli will accept your order, unfortunately his cartridges are not available from the dealers or shops. And if you can search and read about him you will understand his philosophy and his opinion about the whole high-end market today.

Its spelt Andreoli, with an N between the a and the d.
No doubt you will be even more sickened that I have been using a custom built Reto Andreoli moving coil phono preamp for 20 years. Its very good, as are his cartridges. but your 1970's & 80's MM used retreads are not built to that standard.

I’m not sure what are you trying to prove me?
I have 20-30 years ahead to improve my system, but you guys are already retired, glad you are not broke at your age and still thinking about the sound.

I remember we discussed his phono stage long time ago on audiogon.

But I have mentioned him in this thread ONLY because of his innovative cantilever. Some people have no sense of humor, a cartridge for $10k is nonsense (no matter what it is). But it is well suited in the DIAMOND thread.

P.S. I am quite happy with a cartridge made by people who teached him in Australia back in the day. I think I paid no more than $200 for original Garrott P77 and it was so sweet on Reed 3p.

I still have a Glanz MFG61 moving flux, JVC X1 MM and a few others in the box - I never listen to them, any decent LOMC for around $1500 blitzes them.

You never listen to them, but you think ....
I think Halcro (the OP) was very impressed by Victor MM cartridges and Steve Dobbins praised Glanz 61. I believe both of them were able to compare those cartridges to some of the best LOMC out there.