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Cartridges: Complete Scam?

I’m very new to analog, and researching my options on forums I keep coming across the same sentiment: that past the ultra low-end cartridges, there is very little gains in actual sound quality and that all you’re getting are different styles and colorations to the sound.

So, for example, if I swapped out my $200 cartridge that came with my table for a Soundsmith, Dynavector, Oracle, etc, I may notice a small improvement in detail and dynamics, but I’m mostly just going to get a different flavor. Multiple people told me they perffered thier old vintage cartridges over modern laser-cut boron-necked diamonds.

It’s possible that these people are just desperately defending thier old junk and/or have never heard high end audio. But if what they’re saying is true, than the cartridge industry is a giant SCAM. If I blow 2.5k minimum on an Air Tight I better get a significant improvement over a $200 bundler — and if just all amounts to a different coloration, than that is a straight-up scam ripoff.

So guys — are these forums just BS-ing me here? Is it really a giant scam?
madavid0
madavid0 OP
214 posts
 
Wow guys...wow. Allow me to sum up your replies:

randy-11: "It’s a scam"
stevecham: "It’s a scam"
knownothing: "Not a scam"
Inna: "It’s a scam"
nandric: "It’s a scam"
jmcgrogan2: "It’s a scam"
jperry: "It’s a scam"
geoffkait: "It’s a scam"

jperry
2,450 posts
 
Apparently almost everyone agrees with you. With all of the positive threads you started it really is difficult to disagree.

Cartridges: Complete Scam?
Basis Turntables: Worth it or Ripoff?
CD players = dead?
Class D = Trash?
Rega and ProAc: Bad?
Anticables: Scam?
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
Yeah, you pretty much set your threads up to get no real discussion. Your threads are basically polemics disguised as questions, with the seeming intent to prove to us how smart you are.

It's having the opposite effect
madavid0 OP
214 posts
 
Not asking anyone to agree with me — in fact I’m inviting disagreement. "Nah those guys are full of it there’s a big difference when you move up the line," could be one response. But instead I’m getting roundabout confirmations. Only one responder has denied it, albeit in a very noncommittal way.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@madavid0 

Multiple people told me they perffered thier old vintage cartridges over modern laser-cut boron-necked diamonds.

In the 70's Technics used laser technology to make a tiny hole in the hollow pipe boron cantilever to mount their nude diamond of untla low mass. This is an old technology, but hollow pipe boron cantilevers are not available anymore for the today's manufacturers. In the 70s this technology was utilized in Moving Magnet design! Today it is not available even for the multi-thousand Moving Coil cartridges.  

You may not understand what you're talking about, but in some point the vintage cartridges are indeed better and more affordable for "normal people". But it doesn't mean that very expensive modern MC are bad, sometimes the price is just 10 times as much if you are willing to buy good ones. So the question is $800 or $8000 ? For me it is not the question anymore, i would rather buy 10 vintage cartridges for $8000 than just one new MC for the same price. But in general those rare $800 MM from the 80s are very close or sometimes better than new $8000 MC in my opinion. The question is which one and that's why tryin' 10 different carts is better than hoping for full satisfaction with 1 overpriced MC.  
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