Thanks for the feedback Noromance....
But the fact that we can even have this comparison with a 40 year-old $250 cartridge over a megabuck current Uber LOMC is pause for reflection....🤔
Let's face it.....there have been no technical advances or revolutions in cartridge design during the last 30 years, despite what the manufacturers and reviewers like to tell you...🤥
In fact, if anything, there has been a 'loss' of material and technical know-how that precludes current-day cartridge designers from even matching the designs of the Golden Age of Analogue.
The loss of Beryllium as a cantilever material for example.....
The loss of tapered-tubes (or even rods) for cantilevers....
The loss of composite cantilevers as in the Sony XL-55 and XL-88..
The loss of the technical (or economic) ability to create a cantilever out one single piece of gemstone as in the vintage Sony XL-88D for another...
Instead of technical and intellectual advancements these days....cartridge designers and manufacturers find the only 'point-of-difference' they can offer, is more complex and costly cartridge BODIES such as the various stone-bodies of the Koetsus and the fancy-shaped titanium bodies of the Lyras, Ortofons and Acoustical Systems ostensibly all designed to prevent internal cartridge resonances 😂
But no-one has ever proven that these internal resonances even exist, let alone quantify them.
And despite the fact that the great cartridges of the past (which outperform the current fancy-bodied ones) often have plain plastic, boxy bodies......Sony XL-88, Sony XL-88D, London Decca Reference, JMAS MIT-1, Fidelity Research FR-7f and FR-7fz 🤪
No cartridge design warrants the cost of $10,000, $12,000, $15,000, $20,000 today unless it contains one-piece solid diamond stylus/cantilever.
The fancy exotic-looking stone bodies of the Koetsus (Tiger-Eye, Onyx Platinum, Jade Platinum, Azule, Rhodonite, Coralstone, Blue Lace) are cynical marketing strategies aimed at wealthy audiophile dilettantes.
They do nothing for the 'sound' of the cartridges other than 'colour' them 😡
'Normal' Audiophiles🙃....and reviewers, generally don't have the use of two turntables, 6 tonearms and 40-50 cartridges (old and new) to enable direct listening comparisons.
I hope that this Thread provides the platform to actually 'hear' the differences between multiple cartridges on various tonearms so that everyone can decide for themselves whether 'new' is better than 'old'.
And for those who think that YouTube videos are limited to MP3 quality sound.....
JMAS seems to have a cleaner midband, more transparent and less congested upper bass.I agree....but how much of that we can attribute to the DD Victor over the Belt-Drive Raven, I don't know?
But the fact that we can even have this comparison with a 40 year-old $250 cartridge over a megabuck current Uber LOMC is pause for reflection....🤔
Let's face it.....there have been no technical advances or revolutions in cartridge design during the last 30 years, despite what the manufacturers and reviewers like to tell you...🤥
In fact, if anything, there has been a 'loss' of material and technical know-how that precludes current-day cartridge designers from even matching the designs of the Golden Age of Analogue.
The loss of Beryllium as a cantilever material for example.....
The loss of tapered-tubes (or even rods) for cantilevers....
The loss of composite cantilevers as in the Sony XL-55 and XL-88..
The loss of the technical (or economic) ability to create a cantilever out one single piece of gemstone as in the vintage Sony XL-88D for another...
Instead of technical and intellectual advancements these days....cartridge designers and manufacturers find the only 'point-of-difference' they can offer, is more complex and costly cartridge BODIES such as the various stone-bodies of the Koetsus and the fancy-shaped titanium bodies of the Lyras, Ortofons and Acoustical Systems ostensibly all designed to prevent internal cartridge resonances 😂
But no-one has ever proven that these internal resonances even exist, let alone quantify them.
And despite the fact that the great cartridges of the past (which outperform the current fancy-bodied ones) often have plain plastic, boxy bodies......Sony XL-88, Sony XL-88D, London Decca Reference, JMAS MIT-1, Fidelity Research FR-7f and FR-7fz 🤪
No cartridge design warrants the cost of $10,000, $12,000, $15,000, $20,000 today unless it contains one-piece solid diamond stylus/cantilever.
The fancy exotic-looking stone bodies of the Koetsus (Tiger-Eye, Onyx Platinum, Jade Platinum, Azule, Rhodonite, Coralstone, Blue Lace) are cynical marketing strategies aimed at wealthy audiophile dilettantes.
They do nothing for the 'sound' of the cartridges other than 'colour' them 😡
'Normal' Audiophiles🙃....and reviewers, generally don't have the use of two turntables, 6 tonearms and 40-50 cartridges (old and new) to enable direct listening comparisons.
I hope that this Thread provides the platform to actually 'hear' the differences between multiple cartridges on various tonearms so that everyone can decide for themselves whether 'new' is better than 'old'.
And for those who think that YouTube videos are limited to MP3 quality sound.....
YouTube currently streams in 128 kbps ACC in an MP4 container when you select the Normal quality. Premium subscribers can also select the High quality, which streams at 256 kbps AAC (equal quality to GPM's 320 CBR kbps).