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  3. 151721-486

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
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
chakster, I am sorry for my ''improper'' conduct by not following
your advise to go back to your JVC-MC1 thread but I was
so impressed with edgewear comment that I want to elaborate on
his ''linguistic finding''. The linguistic constructions which can be
true or false are (complete) sentences, propositions or statements
and not expressions or words. However sometime some expression
can ''enlighten'' some issues in such way that ''long descriptions''
are not needed, 
His expression ''fragile'' to describe JVC MC kinds is pretty plain
while ART 1000 make this so to speak also visible. 
Now those ''passionate cart collectors'' even without Mexican
temper are probably not able to ''grasp'' that others may be
satisfy with, say, ''only 3 or so'' carts. Trying to seduce this kind
of people to  buy such ''fragile'' kinds is not what our forum is
about. Our forum is about information exchange. As objective
as possible. ''Objective'' in this sense may be called ''inter-subjective''.



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rauliruegas
12,901 posts
 
Dear @larryi  : """  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.  """

Interesting issue that maybe only people like the one in Namiki or Scan-Tech can give a confirmation or not about. Maybe J.Carr can do it too.

A one piece cantilever/stylus is not self damped other than the cantilever shape to avoid standing waves.

The normal cartridges with cantilever and glued stylus has that damping through the glue kind of material.

R.
edgewear
543 posts
 
Dear Nandric, I do not wish to dwell on ’linguistic constructions’, but I’d say phono cartridges as a species could be called ’delicate’. Meaning not much is required to destroy their proper working. However there are huge differences within the species. I would describe cartridges like SPU and FR7 as ’robust’, while the Victor would probably fall in the ’fragile’ camp. Believe me, I have a firm grasp on its meaning! Operating a vdHul Colibri for years has been most educational......

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rauliruegas
12,901 posts
 
Dear @halcro  : Yes, the ceramic SAEC headshells are way resonant but the 8000 was designed with that angled headshell and its low weigth.

The S3 headshell you are using is the one you like it with the 88D but ( again ) that " alive " you mentioned maybe is not all about music sound but added distortions.

Look, I owned that S3 and owned other similar " functions " headshell and both makes more harm to the sound that almost goes against qualityperformance:

in the S3 headshell does not exist a direct intimate contact between the cartridge top plate and the headshell body because the cartridge is mounted in a separated metal plate and is here where the cartridge is atached followed for other link/screw that fix the plate to the headshell with another screw.

I owned the Goldbug Brier that comes with exactly with similar characteristics ( in that regards. ) than the S3 and even that the Goldbug headshell is a true beauty and with a lot higher excecution and quality control than the FR still develop additional distortions that I proved when discovered that the Goldbug Brier cartridge can be mounted in stand alone fashion in any other headshell.

Yes, I know that that way is what you like the more. You are more tolerant or less sensitive to those additional developed distortions than me.

R.


chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@edgewear read this about direct couple carts
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