The Palladian-A step beyond

A pensive post Lewm..🤔
And one which I think the 'High-End Cabal' (which includes reviewers) would like dismissed 🙈
I have just today, conducted a mini-shoot-out between the Sony XL-55, Sony XL-88 (both renowned LOMCs from the Golden Age of analogue-70s-80s) and one of my favourite MM cartridges (also from the same age)..the Victor Z1 fitted with the SAS stylus.
In two words.....no contest 😎
The Victor has all the immediacy and involvement of 'live' music combined with the delicacy, depth, spatial imagery and speed that are commonly used to describe LOMCs....
Yet I have perhaps a dozen other vintage MMs which are virtually as good as the Z1/SAS and each one can be had for a maximum price of $400...😝
The real question is.....how does the Victor compare to the Palladian....❓👀

For me, it may be no coincidence that the MC cartridges I like most have tended to be those with high-ish compliance, compared to their brethren.

**Why do they dominate the high end? **

I think you know. Despite their limitations, "they do have the undeniable virtue of costing more."

You've both got it.....😎
When those with 'means', have $200,000 speakers driven by $160,000 monoblocks with $40,000 line-stages preceded by $20,000 phono-stages driven by $120,000 turntables with $35,000 tonearms......it is unthinkable to run it all with a $600 MM cartridge...😱
So I don't blame the cartridge manufacturers.....
They essentially have no choice.
It's not a question of 'how' a cartridge sounds.....
The only question is...."Does it sound good enough to justify a $10,000-$18,000 price-tag?"
Because no-one who buys a high-end LOMC will ever compare it to a $300 vintage MM or even a $1,500 vintage LOMC in their 1/2 million dollar systems.
And those that do......will rarely be taken seriously 😴
So of course the 'wannabe high-end' audiophiles who can never afford the costs associated with a full-blown high-end system, can just possibly stretch to the 'same' esoteric LOMC (or its close relative).
In this way.....having a $4,000-$6,000 LOMC on their $3,000 tonearm on their $2,500 turntable makes them believe that they are approaching the analogue 'nirvana' of their brethren.
While the majority of audiophiles running their $200-$900 modern MM cartridges are wondering if they will ever taste the 'joys' of the LOMC elite.....
And so it will continue to be.....👐

Dear @fleib : """  Given your criteria for a great cart (sounding live), you might like the Acoustical Systems offerings? """

NO, I do not and for very good reasons:

knowing the audio history of the AS owner his products is and reflects ( can't do in a diferent way because if diferent then all what he personally  " touted " was totally a lier/false ) his music-audio preferences/priorities: mega-heavy weigth BD TTs, love for FR 66 tonearm performance quality level, tube and SUT technology on electronics, etc, etc, and his extremely high marketing level along : bla, bla, bla, bla with out evidence that can prove what he said/say ( here on Agon he never gaves any single " scientific " evidence of what he " touted " and when he always said he had a very high scientist/engeneering levels. ).

The today members of his " bandwagon " here in Agon and elsewhere in the net are the same for years. Ignorant people about real and true music/sound reproduction, nothing more.

The reviews here reflects exactly that, all them including him : LOVES VERY HIGH DISTORTIONS .

In the next links we can read what true cartridge designer experts contribute and contributed ( real knowledge levels and its own growing up history with real facts as foundation. ) through many many years doing that, even VDH invented the VDH stylus profile/shape: VDH 1 and VDH 2 that are under patents. Read this and read the Palladian description and you and any one else can understand what I mean about:

http://www.ortofon.com/hifi/products/hifi-cartridges/mc-anna/magnet-and-damping 

http://www.dynavector.com/products/cart/frame.html 

http://benzcartridges.com/products/gullwing-s/ 

http://lyraanalog.com/atlas/   

http://www.vandenhul.com/products/phono/the-colibri


Btw, any one can " make " a new cartridge: you, Halcro or me can do it, just ask one of the few builders out side as Scan-Tech and that's it: the new FLEIB cartridge flagship.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.