I do not listen analog anymore. But, when I used to sell audio I auditioned one I will never forget. If detail is what you want? Hands down. Decca London cartridge. They can be a little fussy with certain arms. I was able to hear the snare buzz on Charlie Watts snare from sympathetic vibrations with other instruments when Charlie took a pause. It was an eye opener. That you usually only hear in real life. Just Google - Decca cartridges
Highest detail cartridges
Which cartridges give the greatest amount of detail? Imaging, soundstage file detail. These are qualities to consider. I know Lyra cartridges are high on that list. What others equal or better Lyras. Is there anything below, say $1500, that is in that same category? Detail with reasonably flat frequency response.
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The Dynavector karat 17d3 |
@genez What LP/Pressing with Charlie Watts allowed you to hear that level of detail? That's an LP I want to hear..and own! Another question, what arm and ancillary gear up stream were you listening to?...that allowed the Decca to portray that level of detail. Just as a guess and as part of the system, are we talking of Quads here? |
The Etsuro Urushi Line of cartridges has been consistently reviewed as top shelf with 2 reviewers purchases for the Bordeaux back to back https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8DawKQdCR0 Then there is Top Wing which has introduced a brand new tech that is called "Coreless Straight Flux" and is a MM with a low output MC like characteristics. This is the new king of the cartridges IMO. Best of all you can replace the stylus for a fraction of the cost of MC and it still sounds better than a low output MC http://topwing.jp/index-en.html |
There was a PBS program about the Library of Congress called "Save Our Sounds" (I have it on video tape). They look at each LP through a microscope and determine what type or shape the original cutting stylus was. They use the same shape playback stylus as was used to cut the record. Makes sense to me. Joe |
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