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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
 
Frogman (and I agree) has anointed the AS PALLADIAN LOMC Cartridge
as the 'benchmark' in my system (possibly a tie with the LDR for Frogman and Noromance?)....
The Palladian is a current production top-of-the-line LOMC from Acoustical Systems which costs US$10,000 😱
How close to this 'sound' can you get for approx. US$2,000....?

The current production ORTOFON SPU SILVER MEISTER II LOMC is a possibility and one that I like....😀

A 35 year old vintage FIDELITY RESEARCH FR-7f is another possibility for those owning high-mass arms with detachable headshells.
For those who are patient (and utilise HiFiShark)....you can often find a good FR-7f for less than US$2,000 or one without a stylus for US$1,200 and have it re-tipped with a Line-Contact stylus as I have done...👍

AS PALLADIAN LOMC Cartridge 

ORTOFON SPU SILVER MEISTER II LOMC Cartridge

VINTAGE FIDELITY RESEARCH FR-7f LOMC Cartridge
frogman
7,470 posts
 
Actually, and just for the sake of consistency and clarity, while I think the Palladian is fantastic, for me it definitely takes second place to the LDR in the ways that mater most to me.  I don’t remember feeling (or writing) that it ties the LDR.  I just revisited the comments for the Palladian/LDR comparison on page 5 of this thread to confirm this.  Interestingly, my comments about sound staging are consistent with more recent comments about the LDR; although, for me, not necessarily a negative at all.  Talk about splitting hairs! 💇‍♂️...two of the best cartridges available (maybe the two best?).

Looking forward to this next comparison.  Later.
thuchan
1,009 posts
 
You should try the Ortofon Century 🧨

best
E.
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Looking forward to this next comparison.  Later.
Frogman?...Frogman?....Bueller?.....Anyone?......
dover
2,249 posts
 
Hi Halcro,
Well my impression, the Palladian is a cut above, less coloured, more even handed/balanced across the spectrum. The Palladian appears to be much quicker and more resolving - first impression is it is quicker, on long term listening the instruments relate better to each other, the interplay between the various sections of the orchestra seem more coherent to me and on point with this cartridge.

The Ortofon Century/FR7f offer more colour and drama at the expense of coherence. The FR7f appears to me tighter and more resolving of individual notes whilst being truncated in the top end than the Ortofon - you hear more of the space around the piano notes for example. The Century whilst being more open in the upper mid/top end than the FR7f, it still doesn’t resolve the fundamentals as well. The Ortofon on long term listening reminds me of an old tonearm ( nameless but rhymes with tisme ) that has a charm/exhuberance, that if you listen to for some time, it becomes endearing and might be attracted to, colourations and all.

But for me the Palladian is too quick, the others cannot complete.
And then there is the Decca...

PS Nice little cameo by Princi on castanets.
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