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Hear my Cartridges....🎶

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 😎
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.....🤪
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.....🤗
128x128halcro
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
If anyone heard any differences with the Signet in the carbon-fiber headshell over the heavy FR-S3 headshell.....you've got better ears than I have 👂
Both in my listening room and over multiple listens to the video....the cartridge sounds identical to me in both shells 🙌
This was a little surprising after hearing the clear improvements with all the LOMC Cartridges that I tried.
The Sony XL55, Sony XL88, Sony XL88D, JMAS MIT-1 all sounded clearly superior with the heavy S3 headshell in the WE-8000/ST tonearm, so just why this did not occur with the MM is a mystery...🤔
Of course we can always postulate 'theories' such as 'higher compliance' but why this should affect the result is pure speculation.

I think this demonstrates how little we really know of the 'science' behind our hobby.
The only maxim we can apply is....try everything and LISTEN 🤗
To attempt to predict the 'sound' of anything based purely on specifications or 'accepted wisdom' is foolhardy.
That's why I have only one tonearm with a 'fixed' headshell and will never buy another......
The differences that come with changing headshells is mind-blowing 🤯 and is just as important to maximising the performance of any cartridge as VTF, VTA, Azimuth and Antiskate.
Those audiophiles who demand tonearms with non-detachable headshells are merely depriving themselves of one of the easiest paths to Audio Nirvana 😎
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,988 posts
 
I did some quick listening to both with the Strauss on the LCa. The FRS3 sounded slightly cleaner and more detailed if not a little thinner and edgier. Is it bakelite or hard plastic? The CF had better bass and control but lacked sparkle.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,988 posts
 
Speaking of different arms and decks and the difference they make, especially with your "Decca" LDR in mind, I just got my Super Gold back from John Wright with a Decapod fitted and new Paratrace stylus. I installed it in my 9" Jelco TK-850 and it didn't sound good. Lot of surface noise and missing inner detail. I adjusted VTA and VTF and improved it some but it hadn't a patch on the other Decca (Garrott Bros Gold with new LC stylis and Decapod) on the 12". A little irked, I tried it in the 12" version of the same arm on the same table. Ridiculous. Transformed. No surface noise. Tons of detail. Crystal clear. Musical as all hell. In fact, I can't stop playing album after album. Ridiculous! 
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Thanks for the feedback 😃
The FR-S3 is a hard plastic (don't know if it's Bakelite) but it's obviously the same as the body design for their FR-7 Series cartridges which look, in turn....inspired by the A Series SPU Bodies.
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
The Deccas are notoriously finicky and selective....
My LDR suddenly began to distort and mistrack after a few weeks of use and I sent it to John Wright who repaired it
The Stylus holder is damaged and needs replacing. 1. London Reference Cartridge serial no.LR-84.    Remove stylus assembly from cartridge, extract diamond from holder and clean.    Fit diamond into new holder and attach tie cord.     Install stylus assembly into cartridge, recalibrate and test........................£200.00                                                                                        Carriage...........   20.00                                                                                        Total................£220.00
When I received it back and played it....it was boring and sounded unlike it had before the damage so I sent it back to John who responded:
I have fitted your diamond stylus in a slightly stiffer holder. This will give you the brighter sound you had before.
Yes I have listened to the cartridge and I agree it didn't have the 'brightness' usually associated with the Decca cartridges.Sometimes they can be too bright and I try to obtain a balance between the two extremes.
So the cartridge can be 'tuned' in several ways....
Makes for interesting listening experiences...😳
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