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
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Thanks for the comments Dover.
There have been more than a few cartridges I've had that "I simply cannot stand"......two of them, much-acclaimed LOMCs with $12,000 pricetags 😱
In these cases, I sell them off fairly quickly....
Of the other 50 I still have, they all have "shortcomings" but also they all have 'something' that enlightens me and their "shortcomings" are not significant enough (nor annoying enough) to prevent my enjoyment.

Unfortunately....I 'fried' my original XV-1s (don't ask) and sent it to Axel who saved it by rewiring the coils (and replacing the stylus).
In doing so, he reduced the output to about 0.12mV but it sounded good 😃
Then one day......the right channel 'burnt out' 🥵
And I haven't decided if I liked it enough (in comparison to some of my other cartridges) to send it to Peter Ledermann.....?
frogman
7,388 posts
 
The spell check gremlins strike again.  In my last post (in case it matters)....

**** as should be obvious, that for me the most important aspect of all this is to all issues. ****

.... should read:

” as should be obvious, that for me the most important aspect of all this is TONAL issues.”

Regards.
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
I thought it might be interesting to hear the differences between the two cheap Fidelity Research MM cartridges the FR-5E and FR-6SE.
There are different opinions on which is the better cartridge 🧐
The FR-5E is a low-compliance elliptical stylus on aluminium cantilever obviously designed to suit the heavy Fidelity Research tonearms like the FR-64s and FR-66s.
The FR-6SE is a similarly specified elliptical stylus which cost $210 (on release) compared to the $130 of the 5E.
What the differences are with the 'motor' I have no idea.....?

FIDELITY RESEARCH FR-5E MM Cartridge

FIDELITY RESEARCH FR-6SE MM Cartridge
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Something I said Frogman? 🙂
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,596 posts
 
FR-6SE sounds better on my half inch piezoelectric Optiplex micro PC speaker.
More to discover