Best Cartridge cost no object


BEST CARTRIDGE AT COST NO OBJECT
fulvio
The answer, not in order is: Keuwetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum, Keuwetsu Onyx Platinum, ClearAudio Reference and Insider. Reasonable contender for much less money, Benz Micro Ruby or Reference.
Dear Albert,I listened to clearaudio reference but never listened to insider or koetsu.Which are the differences among them,in your opinion? Have you ever listened to Symphonic line rg8 gold or transfiguration af1,the older one? Thanks
First, sorry I delayed in response. I was out of town. The Insider is not as extended in the high frequency’s or quite as detailed as the Reference, but they share pretty much the same personality otherwise. The Keuwetsu (which I choose) is warmer and smoother than either of the Clearaudio cartridges, and supplies approximately the same resolution, but with more mid range weight and warmth. (Probably the wood body?) My system tends to be very high rez, so it is the choice for me, musically, not necessarily because the quality is better. I have tried the transfiguration, and sort of liked it. My problem with it is that it seemed somewhat pale and thin when compared to the others we are discussing. You cannot complain about its detail and speed. I also thought it was not quite as convincing in the phase accuracy department. I have not heard the Symphonic line in my own system, so I will not make comments. On all these fine cartridges, the set up is so critical, that it would take two pages to stress the point. The tracking weight, for instance, is critical to two hundred's of a gram. This is no problem to hear!
Dear Albert,thanks for your response. I have transfiguration af1,and I think it sounds very good,but I didn't compare with others. Moreover I have just bought a Symphonic line and a clearaudio reference cartridge,but I haven't listened to them because I am leaving home to go to another one and so I had to put my system off and this makes me suffer a lot!!! I am very interested to advices about clearaudio set up. I'd like to e-mail you for this,so if you agree you could write to me at www.fulmar@libero.it and leave me yours.