Highest detail cartridges

@bimasta

"Is "closer to the music" a more accurate reproduction of what is in the groove or a "romantic" rewrite?"

It is more involving reproduction of music on vinyl media. May be caused by synergy of the arm + cartridge and all components. The moment when you’re there with a smile on your face, when everything is damn good.

Victor Direct Couple MC-1 is very dynamic cartridge in my system.
I was aware of the sweetness of Shibata profile on Beryllium cantilever, becuase i have tried many Victor MM cartridges before. But i think Direct Couple principle is something special in this MC design. Never tried Decca or Ikeda cantilever-less models.

@viridian   No apologize necessary.  My opinion....

I am, unfortunately, very sensitive to timbre particularly in cellos, double reeds and violins.  Yes, there are variations in some equipment used to record the instruments, but in my opinion less so than in cartridges and arms. 

In my system, cartridge anomalies, arm resonances, tube warmth, and similar often appear in my system as "bloom" at various frequencies that distorts instrumental timbre.  Some listeners like that distortion and call it "musical" or other descriptions that are used to rationalize distortion.

If price is no problem the new Topwing Blue Dragon is the king of detail
only $12500 for next to the best and $16500 for the Red Sparrow
here is a review:
https://www.monoandstereo.com/2018/04/top-wing-seiryu-blue-dragon-cartridge.html
Dr Vinyl will install cartridge anywhere in lower 48 states for the retail price
http://drvinyl.net/drv_news/