I just received the new
SMARTscrew Timet 1100 cartridge screws
from Acoustical Systems.
These are so new they don't yet appear on their Website...👀
Two pairs (of different lengths) are included in the box and they are obviously made of the same titanium alloy material as the Palladian cartridge body.
I wasted no time in exchanging them for the previously installed screws (which had come with the cartridge).
For the past week, I have been conducting one-on-one comparisons of the Palladian and some of my other cartridges but lately have been concentrating on the SPU Silver Meister.
This is such an easy comparison for me as I have the Raven AC-2 set-up with two identical FR-66s tonearms, each one pre-loaded with the relevant cartridge.
Most of us devoted to high-end analogue these days......acknowledge that EVERYTHING in the chain matters...
I've heard all the differences that mats (or no mats) can make....
Even the type/weight/material and design of the record weight can have an effect on the 'sound'...
But far and away for me in my system.....the choice of headshell has made the most significant differences to how a cartridge 'sounds' or how many of its abilities are allowed to perform at their maximum 👐
So it should not really surprise.....that the screws fixing the cartridge body to the headshell.....can similarly affect the sound....
But it does...🤔‼️
For the previous week, the two cartridges were closely matched (a compliment to both) with little differences in the two tonal presentations.
Where the Palladian had an edge was in the soundstage and transparency.....but it was 'close' 😎
Not anymore.....
There was little apparent change to the tonal presentations but in the areas where the Palladian had a slight edge......it now excelled👏
The soundstage became more 3-dimensional with easily visualised, depth and instrumental-location clues.
The width seemed to become wider or at least the instruments on the extreme edges, were now clearer with 'body'....
And the transparency.....❓
When you experience the illusion of instruments in space, but 'real' space....space which you can 'see' around and feel that you can walk into and importantly.....walk into, turn left, walk through then turn right and proceed even deeper to the next plane of instruments....
That's quite shocking if you haven't experienced it regularly....
But it's these screws that do it...
That's the part that's hard to believe...🤔
You need these screws to extract the full capabilities of this cartridge..
So why aren't they included with the cartridge you might ask?
For the same reason that the Yamamoto HS-4 carbon-fiber headshell is not included 😎
Let's face it....
If you want silver headshell leads or silver wiring in your tonearm....you must pay for it.
If you want an exotic headshell of wood, titanium, carbon-fibre or ceramic....you must pay for it.
If you want an active isolation table to support your turntable....you must pay for it.
All these things you choose to pay for....can, or will enhance the sound capabilities of your analogue playback.
These things are not for the faint-of-heart, but those of us who are mad enough...or dedicated enough....or rich enough....
For those lucky enough to be able to afford the Palladian cartridge, it's simply a no-brainer (from my experience) to buy the SMARTscrew Timet 1100 to go with it. After all.....it's the cost of the fancy headshell 😀
Which most users with 'fixed-headshell' tonearms won't even need 🤓
My problem now is.....
What to do about the screws in my forty other cartridges....😱
