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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
 
It’s hard for me to take a recommendation seriously when they come from people who restore dumpster-rescue vintage turntables — it sounds like to me that they’re just protecting their emotional investment in ultra low-end sound.

However, I’ll admit that is just a bias on my part that may not have any value when talking about turntables and cartridges.

Is the contention that all the modern engineering techniques and materials have little or no value to turntable / cartridge performance so therefore vintage equipment can still match up to modern gear?
lewm
13,293 posts
 
Next time you find an SP10 Mk3 in a dumpster, call me immediately and I will have it removed to a safe place in my house, at no cost to anyone.

No, it is not anyone's contention that "all modern engineering techniques and materials have little to no value to turntable/cartridge performance". But SOME vintage equipment certainly CAN match up to and exceed that of SOME modern gear.  Seems to me that you are the one who is brim full of assumptions.
raymonda
855 posts
 
"It’s hard for me to take a recommendation seriously when they come from people who restore dumpster-rescue vintage turntables — it sounds like to me that they’re just protecting their emotional investment in ultra low-end sound."

I'm really not sure what the relevance of your statement is, as it has no bearing on the topic at hand. I restore, modify and hot rod older tables, or any table for that matter. My favorite to work on is a Thorens TD 150. There is just so much greatness that can come out of this table. I have also worked on VPI, AR, Pioneer and many others. It has given me many hours of joy and understanding of what qualities makes a table work well. And, in reality, there is not much difference in tables built 10-20-30 or 40 years ago to tables built today. I also have, and have had, many newer tables in and out of my home. I usually run two tables.

Further, I have also advocated that more money wisely spent can also lead to better sound. So what is your point regarding your above statement anyway? 
madavid0 OP
214 posts
 
You have manufacturers such as Benz Micro, Soundsmith, Koetsu, Clearaudio, Rega, Dynavector, etc, who make mid-to-high level cartridges ranging from $2K to as much as $15K (or more?). The sentiment I often come across online is that there is little or no difference between these products and vintage cartridges.

Is that REALLY the case? If so, than what these manufacturers are engaged in is a scam, and those people online seem to know this through experience and I would do myself a huge disservice to dismiss them out of hand. Maybe I SHOULD send back my MoFi, find a Thorens, Garrard, Denon, etc, on eBay for next to nothing and have it restored for a few hundred. What do you guys think? Should I avoid the scam?

If it isn't really the case, then it's just some people who have attached their ego to the gear that is attainable to them and so defend it out of emotional need and not because of the sound they produce. What do you guys think -- is "you get what you pay for" still in effect here?
sturgus
68 posts
 
The only way to know is to try it for yourself. Maybe that restored table is better than your MoFi. You are the only one that can make that decision.
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