Hear my Cartridges....šŸŽ¶


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 šŸ˜Ž
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.....šŸ¤Ŗ
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.....šŸ¤—
128x128halcro
Dear @noromanceĀ  :Ā  " come across a better combination... "
That it's: " combination " not isolated cartridge test and gradinig it.


"""Ā  Ā selected the best combination of arm/table to enable each cartridge to perform at its best.... """

When we own several tonearms, headshells and TTs I know by first hand experiences that " at its best " exist but because exist too almost endless combinations for each cartridge well the task needs several months to do it only for one or two cartridges and only if you have a precise accurate repeatable test overall proccess.

Anyway I really appreciated your gentle wise answers. JustĀ  follow with the fun !

R.


Dear Raul,

**** fun is fun and this is the thread target.****

I donā€™t think so. To suggest that there is no other value than fun to this thread is not fair nor accurate. With respect, it appears that you did not read all that has been written here. Lewm and Noromance have done a fine job of addressing some of your concerns. Some further thoughts:

++++ see if any of you can distinguish the differences between some of my vintage (and modern) cartridges. ++++

THAT is the ā€œthread targetā€ as stated by our OP. Sure, it is fun. Our hobby should be fun and we should embrace that aspect of it. We should all try it some time.

^^^^ the exercise can have value as ā€œa starting pointā€; especially in the absence of the availability of cartridges to actually try oneself ^^^^

^^^^ Acknowledging the limitations of listening to music this way,^^^^

I prefaced most of what I wrote with the above comment. We have acknowledged the limitations of this methodology. Moreover, and at least speaking for myself, I have never written that any one cartridge is the ā€œbestā€. In comparison to another cartridge and acknowledging the limitations one cartridge shows itself to be better than the other according to MY sonic priorities and based on what I hear. Nothing more, nothing less. Trying to establish which is the Universal ā€œbestā€ is futile and I donā€™t believe that you can determine that either. Perhaps you can for yourself and in the context of your sound system which is very different from mine or someone elseā€™s. For instance, I happen to believe, based on my experience, that good tube amplification gets closer to the sound of live music IN CERTAIN SPECIFIC SONIC AREAS that are sonic priorities for me than even the best SS gear. I know you donā€™t agree with this, but the point is that in the context of such different systems the ā€œbestā€ in one may very well not be the best in the other.

My personal experience here, in my own systems and othersā€™ has been that there are certain and specific sonic traits inherent in each cartridge that are consistent no matter the tonearm, turntable, mat, etc. used. For instance, each and every single time that I have heard a Shure cartridge in any system, mine or otherwise, I have heard a certain sonic character that I simply donā€™t like. You correctly point out that those other variables may well tilt the balance in favor of a particular cartridge in the context of another turntable set-up or overall system.

I would be interested in knowing what you yourself hear in some of these comparisons. Have some fun and feel free to ā€œgo in deepā€.

Regards.





Now that the RAVEN AC-2 IS SORTED.....I need to determine the best two MM Cartridges for the Victor DD.
So for Mandrake, Houdini and any other Sorcerers, Conjurers, Illusionists or Jugglers....lets start with these two šŸ¤”

GLANZ 610LX MM Cartridge

VICTOR X-1 MM Cartridge

VICTOR X-1 MM Cartridge

GLANZ 610LX MM CartridgeĀ