OP- If you are really serious, then the answer is that in most cases, a $1K table and a $500 phono stage will not get the most out of a $2K cart. And it certainly will not be plug-n-play. Unless you have a dealer with good analog set-up skills (a rarity, these days) you will need a good protractor for alignment and a scale for setting VTF. Maybe a good microscope for getting VTA and azimuth right. Can't find a $300/$500 battery phono stage on MD's web site, so no idea if it has variable loading or whether the gain would be adequate for a LO MC cart. If you are going MM or MI, $2K is very near top of line. Of course, the show demo you heard may (or may not) have benefited from very careful system matching and expert set-up. As someone said, LP playback requires a properly matched "system" where each piece needs to be selected with consideration for upstream and downstream components.
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?
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?
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- 174 posts total
- 174 posts total