NOS Grace F9E question

Raul, I don't disagree with anything you wrote above, save for the fact that I know nothing about boron cantilevers except that many fine cartridges use them.  On boron, you say the solid is better than the tubular type.  I think Chakster took the opposite position. Quien sabe?

But most of all, I would have replied to Chakster (if I thought it was worth the effort) exactly as you did.  It's pure self delusion to think that one is hearing a 30 to 40 year old cartridge, even if it is NOS right out of the box, exactly as it may have sounded shortly after manufacture.  I am sure in fact that the differences due purely to aging in situ are different for different cartridges.  But I only judge the here and now.  I own NOS B&O MMC1, Stanton CS100, Acutex M320, Stanton 881S mk2, Stanton 981LZS (I retired my other 980LZS which was used when I bought it), Empire 4000DIII, and a few others the names of which escape me.  If I ever get to hear them, I won't think I entered a time machine.  My Acutex LPM320STRIII was NOS when I first put it into service; now it is an old friend. Thankfully I have an extra NOS stylus for it.

Dear lewm, if I remember you was in that cantilever build materiasl . Anyway, solid boron is the way to go.

In those old times the berilyum was the " fashion " or the boron pipe because almost all before that cartridge designs came with aluminum cantilevers and the very top/exoctic designs with ruby/diamond materials.

In those times Dynavector choosed for diamond/ruby instead berilyum but latter on switched to solid boron not pipe one and is not the only example.Satin was another that gone for solid boron and not berilyum or boron pipe.

lewm why do you think that even that the Technics EPA100MK2 tonearm were builded as main material boron they choosed to use additional damping in that tonearm? the tonearm wand is a pipe and way resonant that's why almost all tonearm manufacturers choose to damp its designs. 

But in those old times were learning times for the industry and that's why we can seen so many different stylus " new " shapes but several cantilever build materials as the ones we named but titanium, ceramic, carbon fiber and the like. Everything was a learning way to can offer to the customers something " new " due that fierce competition and if for the manufacturers was a learning time for the audiophiles that has  higher ignorance levels was a learning time too.

If we take almost any MM vintage top manufacturer almost everyone had its " very special stylus shape " that as a fact where only a variations in between tryiying to " impress " the customers.  A true/real invent on stylus shape in those times was the Shibata one followed by variations till today but in those times you can listen the manufacturers speaking of: parabolic, extended elliptical, analog 6, superelliptical and the like.

Repeat, the real/true value on those vintage cartridges resides in its motors.

R.

Acutex used titanium cantilever in its top models.  I don't know of any other manufacturer that did that, but could be. Also, Acutex 300 series are Induced Magnet types, not Moving Magnet.  Their 400 series are MM, I believe.  As I am sure you know, Koetsu uses boron.  Do you know whether Koetsu cantilevers are hollow or solid?

Der @lewm : Between other ADC used titanium too. Btw, when I talk about MM I'm reffering to all: induced magnet, moving iron, moving flux, electrect, etc. etc. I'm refering to non MC cartridges.

Koetsu are solid boron. Even that hollow boron could lower the moving mass the trade-offs against it are to high.

Now, what makes  the greatness of any cartridge is the sum of the parts and its quality excecution. In that sum of the parts the motor is the must important issue: it's " the design ". Cantilever and stylus shapes are only variations but what live on/trhive is the cartridge motor.

R.

@lewm 

Acutex used titanium cantilever in its top models.  I don't know of any other manufacturer that did that, but could be.

Victor X-1IIe has titanium pipe cantilever
Audio-Technica AT150Ti has titanium cantilever too 
One of the Grace LEVEL II variations has even Ceramic Cantilever