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Class "A" phono cartridge discussion.

I would like to have a discussion about what cartridges are class A. Stereophile has their list but I can't help thinking there is probably a lot left out.

Last year I traded my Delos for a used EMT TSD15 because the TSD 15 was listed as class A in Stereophile. I love the TSD 15. It is the best cartridge I have heard. But I will probably have to re tip it soon. $1250 for a re tip is expensive but I will be able to do it when I have to. Moving to anything else from here is just too cost prohibitive. Three to ten thousand for a class A cartridge is just probably not going to happen. Although Miyajima sounds enticing to me. Maybe some day. The funny thing about the TSD 15 is it has been around for decades and I'd never really heard much about it until recently.

 I'm curious if there are other classic cartridges that are class A that can be had for less than the upper echelon price? Maybe we can start a list.

The funny thing about the Stereophile list is that you have to go to a $7000 Lyra, $4800 Sound smith for Class A in those brands. There are currently no ZYX, no Dynavectors and no Shelters on the list despite being popular brands.

I do have a ZYX Yatra and had a Delos. The TSD 15 is better than both. 
siranthony
griffithds
852 posts
 
Raul,

  We often butt heads but this time I am in full agreement with your assessment of Benz Micro cartridges.  I have had all 3 Rubys. Still own the 3 'S' but with a Shibata tip (my preference)   I also own the LPS custom ordered with a Ruby cantilever (also my preference)  Their top line cartridges can not be out classed by any level of equipment you can offer it.  Someones preferences may favor some other cartridge but that is no fault of the Benz's.
Regards,
ladok's avatar
ladok
96 posts
 
Keep in mind that the "Stereophile" ratings, Class A or otherwise, are just a listing of the components they have reviewed, and don't represent all the competitive brands that are out there.
lewm
12,554 posts
 
Raul, I can easily understand what one might like about the LPS.  Thankfully, you've only criticized my friend's audio system, not mine, by implying that the system can get in the way of the wonders of the LPS.  I probably can borrow his spare and listen to it on my own system, to give it a second chance.  But bear in mind that I heard the LPS in a Durand Telos, the latest version not made of wood, if even the earliest Telos was made of wood.  I also hear what you say about the UNIverse, but, sorry, a weakness of mine to like the verisimilitude that it provided and which the LPS did not in my one or two auditions of it. I heard the UNI as a little emphatic in the low to mid treble and maybe very slightly bass-shy, in the Talea, but there was real space around instruments and real 3D-ness. I would also say that as I recall we both share an appreciation of the best of the Transfiguration cartridges, just for that quality of neutrality to which you refer.  So, we really are not far apart.  And since you have given me so many other "good tips" on cartridges that I have come to like very much, I do respect your opinion.  I find it interesting that others chimed in to defend the LPS, not just you.
pani
1,214 posts
 
All ZYX sound very 3D and Airy. How much of that is natural (really recorded) is debatable. On one hand they sound spectacular on the other hand they can sound somewhat artificial (cooked) with all the extra glitters it tries to bring to the table (pun intended).
lewm
12,554 posts
 
How nice that ZYX actually make cartridges named "Airy" and "4D" (which as everyone knows is even better than 3D).  I sense that Raul is successfully creating a new gospel whereby any quality of a piece of audio gear that can be perceived as a (euphonic) coloration by one camp or another is then taken to be an evil or undesirable attribute.  (Just remember that one man's "neutral" is another man's "dull".) If all ZYX cartridges sound like the UNIverse, then their less costly products are or would be quite a bargain, IMO.  And other cartridge makers could do worse than to emulate ZYX.

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