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Who needs a Diamond Cantilever...? 💍

So suddenly, there seems to be a trend for Uber-LOMC cartridges released with Diamond Cantilevers...😱
As if the High-End MC cartridges were not already overpriced....?!
Orofon have released the MC-ANNA-DIAMOND after previously releasing the Limited Edition MC-CENTURY...also with Diamond Cantilever.
Then there’s the KOETSU BLOODSTONE PLATINUM and DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D2 and ZYX ULTIMATE DIAMOND and probably several more.

But way back in 1980....Sony released a Diamond-Cantilevered version of its fine XL-88 LOMC Cartridge.
Imaginatively....they named this model the XL-88D and, because it was the most expensive phono cartridge in the world (costing 7500DM which was more expensive than a Volkswagen at the time)....Sony, cleverly disguised this rare beast to look EXACTLY like its ’cheap’ brother with its complex hybrid cantilever of "special light metal held by a carbon-fibre pipe both being held again by a rigid aluminium pipe".
The DIAMOND CANTILEVER on the 88D however......was a thing of BEAUTY and technological achievement, being formed from ONE PIECE OF DIAMOND including the stylus 🤯🙏🏽

I’ve owned the XL-88 for many years and recently discovered that it was my best (and favourite) cartridge when mounted in the heavy Fidelity Research S-3 Headshell on the SAEC WE-8000/ST 12" Tonearm around my VICTOR TT-101 TURNTABLE.
Without knowing this in advance.....I would not have been prepared to bid the extraordinary prices (at a Japanese Auction Site) that these rare cartridges keep commanding.
To find one in such STUNNING CONDITION with virtually no visible wear was beyond my expectations 😃

So how does it sound.....?
Is there a difference to the standard XL-88?
Is the Diamond Cantilever worth the huge price differential?
Is the Pope a Catholic....?

This cartridge simply ’blows my mind’...which is hard to do when I’ve had over 80 cartridges on 10 different arms mounted on two different turntables 🤯
As Syntax said on another Thread:-
When you have 2 identical carts, one regular cantilever and the other one with diamond cantilever (Koetsu Stones for example), the one with diamond cantilever shows more details, is a bit sharper in focus and the soundstage is a bit deeper and wider. They can sound a bit more detailed overall with improved dynamics
I’ll leave it at that for the time being. I will soon upload to YouTube, the sound comparisons between the two Sony versions on my HEAR MY CARTRIDGES THREAD.

But now I’ve bought myself a nightmarish scenario.......
There is no replacement stylus for this cartridge!
There is no replacement cantilever for this cartridge!
Each time I play records with it, I am ’killing’ it a bit more 🥴😥
If I knew how long I had left to live......I could program my ’listening sessions’ 🤪
But failing this.....I can’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable listening to this amazing machine.
128x128halcro
larryi
4,034 posts
 
I don't know what was meant by one-piece stylus and cantilever, but, if it really means starting with a single diamond that is then cut to form the stylus and cantilever, that diamond would have to be pretty low-grade to start with in order for the price to be anything but astronomical.  High quality stylus are made from decent quality natural stones with the cutting and shaping done so that the lattice structure is properly oriented to maximize resistance to wear along the contact points. You could not really do this with a truly one-piece stylus-cantilever diamond.  

Does anyone know if the diamond cantilevers were solid pieces or a hollow tube?  For any given mass, a tube would be the way to go to maximize strength and rigidity (better to have a fat tube than a thin solid piece of the same mass).

Given that there are buyers out there that will pay almost any price for something special, I would expect that, if diamond cantilevers where inherently superior, many of the premium builders would be offering that feature on their ultra expensive models.  


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best-groove's avatar
best-groove
842 posts
 
it means if you’re really desperate for something (begging for it)...you can’t be fussy


ahhhaa   I understood LOL
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rauliruegas
13,093 posts
 
Dear @halcro : I forgot the Audio Note IO Limited for 160K Yens.

"" (according to Raul) ..."" , well it’s according the official Japanese audio Bible ( hard paper. ).


""" Another case of:-
Believe what he says at your own risk.. """#

You can’t stay with the mouth closed when I post in your thread and I say this because your statement was and is exactly dedicated to you. You gave wrong/untrue information and if some one ( in this case my self. ) did not disclosed all of us believe your words " at our own risk.

When some one post something in any thread gave us opinions that we can take " at our own risk ". So why re-mark that because my post? ? ? ?


Btw, I figure out that the straigth headshells you use in the 8000 straigth arm wand permits that preserving the 306 tonearm effective length mount the cartridges with the correct ( around 18° ) offset angle and overhang. At least you posted about with out explanation.

Anyway nothing that affect me.

R.



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rauliruegas
13,093 posts
 
About the AT1000MC that's the information that the AT President and Director here en México told me that was and is my friend. When those two samples arrived here ( one for my friend and one for me. ) not even exist in USA or Canada or other place in America Continent.

In those old times I was really far away to be an " expert " in  cartridges ( not even today. ) and for me the MC ones were a " news ". 
Btw, I bougth it at very low price: AT cost free shipping to México. ! !

So I could be wrong on the characteristic but it's what remember my friend told me. Tha's all.

R.
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