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.....🤗
halcro
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Thanks to Harold's Shure Cartridge Ranking Guide (above).....I managed to find a SHURE ULTRA 500 in mint condition with its MICRO RIDGE STYLUS still sharp and shiny 🤗
Unfortunately for the last month, one of my Halcro DM-58 Monoblocks has been in Adelaide (with its maker) having a faulty capacitor in one of the protection circuits replaced so I have only been able to listen through headphones or to mono records on one speaker 😢
The ULTRA 500 is certainly a step-up from the rather flimsy plastic construction of both the ML140 HE and V15/III.
So with a TRIPLE-COMPLEMENT of Shures......does one hear what one pays for.....?
Hopefully Frogman and Harold won't let us down with their contributions....🧐

SHURE V15/III/SAS

SHURE ML140HE

SHURE ULTRA 500 
dover
2,351 posts
 
Hi Halcro
for me on my cheapo ear iPhone plugs -

Shure V15/III/SAS - full bodied but coloured sound

Shure Ml140HE - slightly recessed in the vocals, clangy in the upper mid area

Shure Ultra 500 - the least coloured by far of the three, the balance across the frquency spectrum far more even, and more resolution. On crescendos this cartridge holds that balance. This is significantly better than the other two to my ears, more open, more balanced and less coloured.

If you really want to hear the Ultra 500 at its best you need to buy yourself an Eminent Technology ET2, a significant gain in performance cf the Dynavector/FR64 to be sure - I own all 3.

I'm not convinced your lovely dog is a Linda Rondstadt fan though.
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Thanks for the feedback Dover.....
Good stuff 👍
I'll refrain from comment in case Frogman gives his appraisal (I hope he hasn't abandoned us?).....

I have no doubts that the ET2 is a superlative arm as I've heard nothing but praise for it from many people I trust (including you)...
It will just never find a spot in my system for various reasons...
I'm not convinced your lovely dog is a Linda Rondstadt fan though.
Au contraire mon frère.....
You will notice that Princi was absent for the V15/III performance but stayed on the couch opposite my listening spot for the whole ML140HE performance.
For the Ultra 500, he started on the couch opposite me but quickly came over to join me at the best listening position.
Make of that what you will......🤗 
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Agree with you Dover on your Shure rankings.....
Despite Princi's preferences, the V15/III/SAS sounds more refined than the ML140HE.
Just be aware that the substitution of the SAS stylus improves the 'standard' V15/III and its ranking ahead of the 140HE would not guaranteed without stylus upgrade.
I suspect that if Shure had given the ML140HE a better designed body (more like the Ultra 500)....it could sound better than it does.
The Ultra 500 is in a different class altogether 🤗
It's refinement, cohesion, transparency and detail retrieval is impressive.
No matter what I throw at it (genre-wise)....I never tire of listening to this super cartridge.
Certainly amongst the top of my MM cartridge collection.

Will be interesting to hear it against the 'King'.....the Palladian 🧐
harold-not-the-barrel
895 posts
 
Henry, didn´t I tell you ; ) Never got tired of listening ..... since spring 1989.
David (dlaloum) also knew it: "sounds good everywhere". Indeed.
Is your Ultra 500´s stylus holder brown or grey ?
More to discover