2. analog
  3. 140043-486

Hear my Cartridges....🎶

Many Forums have a 'Show your Turntables' Thread or 'Show your Cartridges' Thread but that's just 'eye-candy'.... These days, it's possible to see and HEAR your turntables/arms and cartridges via YouTube videos.
Peter Breuninger does it on his AV Showrooms Site and Michael Fremer does it with high-res digital files made from his analogue front ends.
Now Fremer claims that the 'sound' on his high-res digital files captures the complex, ephemeral nuances and differences that he hears directly from the analogue equipment in his room.
That may well be....when he plays it through the rest of his high-end setup 😎
But when I play his files through my humble iMac speakers or even worse.....my iPad speakers.....they sound no more convincing than the YouTube videos produced by Breuninger.
Of course YouTube videos struggle to capture 'soundstage' (side to side and front to back) and obviously can't reproduce the effects of the lowest octaves out of subwoofers.....but.....they can sometimes give a reasonably accurate IMPRESSION of the overall sound of a system.

With that in mind.....see if any of you can distinguish the differences between some of my vintage (and modern) cartridges.
VICTOR X1
This cartridge is the pinnacle of the Victor MM designs and has a Shibata stylus on a beryllium cantilever. Almost impossible to find these days with its original Victor stylus assembly but if you are lucky enough to do so.....be prepared to pay over US$1000.....🤪
VICTOR 4MD-X1
This cartridge is down the ladder from the X1 but still has a Shibata stylus (don't know if the cantilever is beryllium?)
This cartridge was designed for 4-Channel reproduction and so has a wide frequency response 10Hz-60KHz.
Easier to find than the X1 but a lot cheaper (I got this one for US$130).
AUDIO TECHNICA AT ML180 OCC
Top of the line MM cartridge from Audio Technica with Microline Stylus on Gold-Plated Boron Tube cantilever.
Expensive if you can find one....think US$1000.

I will be interested if people can hear any differences in these three vintage MM cartridges....
Then I might post some vintage MMs against vintage and MODERN LOMC cartridges.....🤗
128x128halcro
Post removed 
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Cut to the quick by Frogman's scorn and derision at my last demonstration using recorded 'piano'.....I hurriedly rummaged through my collection for one which might gain his approval....🙏🏽

Keeping the JMAS-MIT 1 as a 'control'.....I substituted a vintage Victor X1-IIE for the MM comparison.

JMAS MIT-1 LOMC Cartridge
Mounted on SAEC WE8000/ST Tonearm on bronze Armpod surrounding vintage Victor TT-101 DD Turntable.

VICTOR X1-IIE MM Cartridge
Mounted on DV-507/II Tonearm on bronze Armpod surrounding vintage Victor TT-101 DD Turntable

Please be kind....
schubert
7,386 posts
 
frogman because a good DD has the drive needed for Brahms 1 or Mahler 8, better to be ahead on leading edge than behind . We’re talking micro here , but you know how important that is .

The best cart I have found lately is anything Soundsmith sells .Their 400$  Otello is clear and resolved,  good on low levels . Re-tip ones are $299 on Music Direct .

noromance's avatar
noromance
9,860 posts
 
Golly. That is interesting. Apologies for my musical ignorance compared to @frogman . Again this is just through my phone speaker.

MM - very easy to follow the basic melody of the piece. Clean sounding. Maybe even more dynamic. But that could be because fine detail is missing which may be swamping the system. 

MC - initially sounded more cluttered by lots of additional information. Sustains and harmonics were elaborate. As the piece progressed, I could hear the colors of the instrument. Different timbres made it come alive. There was a fuller, richer bass. I much preferred this. I did think there was some over-saturation at times on some chords which didn’t sound right but I’ve no reference point.

PS. Your speakers seem too close to the turntables and right wall. Too far apart? The sofa in the middle and glass table are objects I would remove. 
frogman
7,472 posts
 
Schubert, I completely understand what you are saying and I have been more than intrigued by the prospect of getting a good DD for many years. Good DD’s, like halcros, always sound good to me in that department.  I made a “commitment” to my tricked out VPI TNT VI several years ago in great part because it is such a good platform for what I think is one of the very best arms out there, my (also tricked out) ET2.  Especially after going to string drive instead of rubber belt, the table can sound pretty darn good and, overall, on the same level as SOME dd’s that I have heard.  Of course, no substitute for a proper arm and for living with a turntable so as to be able to make the adjustments that will get the sound closer to our own individual idea of what correct is.  The ET2 is amazing in that regard.  “Complicating” matters is the fact that I have had a beautiful Forsell Air Force One sitting in boxes, untouched  since buying it a few years ago very insexpensively from a friend.  More pumps!  Yay! ☹️  I couldn’t justify buying a good DD without first experiencing the Forsell.  There are only so many hours in the day.  So until there are.... 
More to discover