Hear my Cartridges....🎶

Time for the CLASH OF THE TITANS ⚔️
The HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP of my cartridge collection.
The SHOOTOUT that the Maestro (Frogman) has been calling for 🧐

THE LONDON DECCA REFERENCE MI CARTRIDGE 
                                      VS
THE AS PALLADIAN LOMC CARTRIDGE 

And we get to hear them both on the same turntable....😀

LONDON DECCA REFERENCE MI Cartridge

AS PALLADIAN LOMC Cartridge

AS PALLADIAN LOMC Cartridge

LONDON DECCA REFERENCE MI Cartridge 

The Wall. Both sound great.
-- LDR
Pros - Clean, uncolored, transparent, lack of glare, rhythmically coherent, percussion sounded right. The helicopter sounded real and Water’s multi-tracked laugh sounded like Rog’s voice. The kids ethereal voices were more intelligible.
Cons - Flatter sounding. Instruments had less body.
-- Palladian
Pros - 3D space, instruments had a spacial feel about them like the were made of something tangible. Appearance of fine inner detail. You can feel the bass guitar strings twanging and the depth of the instrument from front to back. Nice. The kids' voices occupied space with reflected echoes adding to the detail but losing intelligibility.
Cons - Added a pale gold-colored haze. Music seemed less coherent and muddled. Listen to Waters laugh mentioned above. It sounds confused. Can't get the sense that the MC sounds processed out of my mind.

I compared both with my own original copy on my second rig. Not kidding and not surprised and I know you know this but golly, the YouTube version is bad.

EDIT - played the YouTube versions again after listening to the real record. The hell... they sounded much better than the pre-real record listening session.

EDIT - played it again on my main rig. Slate modded 401 with retipped Decca Gold (Garrott Bros Microscanner Decapod with LDR line contact).
Man. Nearfield on the Quad ESL, it is holophonic. Wow. I haven't played this record in ages. Great recording.

Two wonderful cartridges and each prioritizes different aspects of recorded sound. I can definitely understand why some listeners might prefer the Palladian’s spatial boldness and bass power to the Decca’s more organized and “neater” approach to imaging and sound staging. Assuming, of course, that those are sonic priorities for that listener; even when at the expense of other sonic considerations. Don’t get me wrong, there probably is nothing that the Palladian doesn’t do extremely well. However, the Decca’s tonal truthfulness is simply killer; and, that is the No.1 sonic priority for me. Once I hear that superior rendition of timbres, for me, it doesn’t matter how impressive the sound stage may be with another cartridge. Add to that the fact that tonality is inextricably linked to the perception of my No.2 sonic priority, rhythmic truthfulness, and for me the Decca is the clear winner.

Noromance makes some excellent observations and I agree once again with his comments. His comment re the children’s voices was one of the first things that I noticed. However, I don’t necessarily agree with his implication (?) that the fact that the LDR is “flatter” sounding with “less body” is a negative. As we all know, sometimes less is more; especially when we are striving for accuracy to a reference. This goes to my “spatial boldness” comment and I am not at all convinced that this boldness is not a distortion or some phase related issue. I would describe what I hear this way:

First, the Palladian tracks play slightly louder than the Decca tracks and I had to match volume levels for each. The Palladian seems to present larger individual images, but not a larger amount of information. In fact, I hear it as akin to expanding a visual image to a larger size; the detail becomes diffuse and there is less apparent detail compared to the smaller more concise image. The LDR’s images seem more concentrated and I can hear more inner detail in the sound of instruments and voices (as Noromance points out). More of the inner texture of their sounds is preserved; tonal truthfulness. The Palladian at first gives the impression of greater refinement, but that is because it rounds the leading edges compared to the LDR. One hears more realistic grit in the sound of electric guitar and bass with the LDR. I find that the finest inner details of instrumental textures are glossed over compared to the LDR. Personally, I think that the Palladian’s overall character (only compared to the LDR) is too smooth. The uppermost harmonics in the sound of instrumental timbres are diminished, Probably better now that it is in the Copperhead arm, but still a little of what Dover referred to as a “grey wash”....COMPARED TO THE LDR. The Palladian has greater bass power, but the sound of bass instruments is too rounded compared to the LDR. On the Karr recording (wonderful!) there is more of the realistic sound of rosin grabbing metal strings with the LDR which gives the sound more definition. All this goes to No.2 sonic priority, rhythm:

To my ears the bass quality of the Palladian is too “bloomy”. There is too much overhang of bass notes. At first the greater bass power and sheer bigness of it is impressive, but I think it actually mucks up the rhythmic interplay between instruments. On “The Wall”, check out the repeated bass note that begins at 4:03. Tight and well defined with the LDR. The absence of overhang allows the drums to sound more in synch with the bass for the feeling of greater rhythmic impetus in the music. With the LDR the rhythmic grooves simply sound a little groovier. On the Karr recording, his beautiful phrasing is somehow more expressive than with the Palladian. At 3:13 he begins a phrase with a suddenly aggressive bowed note. There is a certain amount of startle factor to that musical detail. With the Palladian’s there is less startle factor than with the LDR which sounds faster and more impactful due to the absence of the extra bloom and thickness of the Palladian’s bass.

All this is relatively subtle and both are great cartridges. However, as always, they can’t both sound equally close to the true sound of music while sounding so different. For me, the Decca gets closer.

Great comparison. Wonderful recordings. I love the Karr recording. Believer it or not, had never heard music from “The Wall” and had not followed the band since “Dark Side “ days. I liked it very much. One to pick up.

Thanks, as always.

I'm pleased you like the Gary Karr 'Kol Nidre' Fogman 😃
I thought you would.....although it gets only half the views on YouTube that 'The Wall' gets 😞
Also really glad you enjoyed hearing 'The Wall' for the first time....
It deserves a place in your collection as does their 'WISH YOU WERE HERE' album.

As usual, your comments re the PALLADIAN vs LDR 'Shootout' were brilliant....but I appreciate how you went the 'Extra Mile' in putting into words...in fine detail...what you hear to be the differences.
I cannot disagree with a single description or observation you have made 👍
You even pre-empted what would have been my only contribution, by anticipating...

I can definitely understand why some listeners might prefer the Palladian’s spatial boldness and bass power to the Decca’s more organized and “neater” approach to imaging and sound staging.
At first the greater bass power and sheer bigness of it is impressive,

Two great cartridges, I agree....and I'm particularly pleased that your 'Winner' is not a Moving Coil Cartridge 🤗

I now have the Palladian permanently ensconced on the Copperhead Tonearm whilst the LDR is sitting pretty on one of the FR-66S Tonearms.
That allows for my other FR-66S to continue to serve as my 'Test Bed' and 'Flavour Change' for all my other LOMCs.

I now hope you can help me settle....in the same way.....the MM Cartridges to be 'selected' for the arms around the Victor TT-101?

Many thanks again Frogman..and Dover, Noromance, Harold and others who have commented...😃

Regards