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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
 
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...😳
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,988 posts
 
Thanks for sharing that insider info. I had no idea JW would vary materials like that. Does it mean each cartridge has to be fine tuned for brightness by changing the "stylus holder" materials? Can you imagine the possibilities? Tungsten, silicon carbide, bamboo spines, diamond?
bydlo
142 posts
 
Well I've just ordered an LDR motivated by Halcro's videos. Let's see what I get. BTW, @Halcro it was not a warranty repair after only a few weeks of use?
bydlo
142 posts
 
@noromance can it be that the 12" arm has a higher effective mass which Decca's seem to prefer?
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,988 posts
 
@bydlo Most likely. Although their effective mass is listed as the same on Jelco's site. I posted the issue as a separate post on Analog.
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