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Hear my Cartridges....đŸŽ¶

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.....đŸ€Ș
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.....đŸ€—
128x128halcro
frogman
7,471 posts
 
Thanks for writing my impressions for me, noromance 😃 .  Great description and I agree word for word.  Loved the Decca; but then I have always liked Deccas.

A bit of possible descriptive excess:

The clarity in the bass let’s one hear the pitches of notes better than with the FR.  Beautiful vocal quality with the Decca.  The FR has a little bit of a “hands cupped around the mouth” quality.

Great example of its emotional quality are the sustained vocal notes at the end of each phrase.  Examples: the words “heart”, “apart”, “sigh”.  Ketty sustains that last word of the phrase, but also maintains or slightly increases the vocal intensity for a nice dynamic “push” through the sustained word all the way to the arrival on the sibilant “t”.  That little dynamic push is more obvious with the Decca.  The reduced clarity of the FR at times makes the sibilant “t” seem almost detached and separate from the word itself.  



noromance's avatar
noromance
9,860 posts
 
Ha! Thanks for the smile, frogman.
I have the mono original of Love Letters. Now, I'll have to dig it out and see how it sounds on my Decca SG/P.
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
You sure the Decca works well at 15k? Some say 33k, or 47k. But what about 1meg? You may be surprised.

With the Halcro DM-10 PhonoStage, I have infinitely adjustable Loading from 15K Ohms to 60K Ohms and infinitely adjustable Capacitance from 0pF to 430pF so I've tried just about every combination for the LDR.

Sometimes I'm happy to listen at 47K Ohms with zero Capacitance but when I really balance the response against my trusty 50 year-old Rita Coolidge album 'Good Old Days'.....I think the 15K/430pF sounds quite well in my system đŸ€—
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
This is for Frogman......
Telemann Oboe Concerto in F Minor.
Hope original Baroque Oboe is acceptable....?

The Acutex LPM420-STR MM Cartridge was able to be picked up 'for a song' NOS only 5 years ago.
Loaded at 47K Ohms with about 300pF capacitance, it's a worthy performer.
The Grace F9E MM Cartridge is a perennial vintage favourite among many audiophiles (particularly in its 'Ruby' cantilever version).
This one is the 'normal' cantilever and sounds its best in my system when loaded at 30K Ohms with about 90pF.

ACUTEX LPM420-STR MM CARTRIDGE
Mounted in DV-507/II ToneArm on solid Bronze ArmPod surrounding vintage Victor TT-101 DD Turntable.

GRACE F9E MM CARTRIDGE
Mounted in DV-507/II ToneArm on solid Bronze ArmPod surrounding vintage Victor TT-101 DD Turntable.
frogman
7,471 posts
 
Thank you, halcro.  Fascinating comparison. I have never owned a Grace cartridge, but am well aware of their reputation.  A few years ago I posted several comments on the ET2 thread about my experiences with this Acutex.  I found it to have some very interesting traits including excellent dynamic nuance and some of the best controlled and tuneful bass that I had ever gotten from my ET2.  

The Acutex is not a “beautiful” sounding cartridge.  Switching to the Grace is almost shocking, first impression is of a much more refined sound.  With the Grace every individual instrument’s tone up to the upper midrange is more “beautiful”.  The perspective is more closeup and the Acutex more distant.  The overall sound is larger and much juicer compared to the Acutex’s much drier sound.  

However, the Grace can sound a little thin and forward from the upper mids on up.  The harpsichord seems to get thrown forward at times in a way that seems unnatural.  The Acutex keeps the harpsichord in better perspective relative to the other instruments.  It has a way of separating musical lines in a way that allows the listener to better understand the composition.  While the overall sound may seem too dry and colorless (music has color), I find that after one adjusts to its “sound” it is apparent that it does a better job of creating the illusion of instruments playing in a real space even if the space itself is not particularly attractive sounding; a dry, non-reverberant space.  The sound with the Grace always reminds me that it is a recorded sound; a sound recorded in a larger more  reverberant space.  
If I’m looking for the ear candy aspect of listening the Grace wins.  If I wan to listen to the music without my audiophile hat on the Acutex wins.




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