Hear my Cartridges....🎶

OK......let’s try again 🤪

AS PALLADIAN LOMC CARTRIDGE

VINTAGE VICTOR X-1II MM CARTRIDGE

VINTAGE VICTOR X-1II MM CARTRIDGE

AS PALLADIAN LOMC CARTRIDGE

Aah, much better! Thank you. And, thank you for your concern. The pandemic has ground all live performance to a halt and, unfortunately, I’m afraid that my industry will be one of the last to return to "normal". My family and I are fine in all respects though and we left NYC for our place in upstate NY where we are with nature and no neighbors nearby. I’m enjoying having some down time; wish circumstances were different.

I don’t have my Stax headphone ("earspeakers" 😏) setup up here, but do have a system more modest than my all tube/electrostatics system downstate. Meitner ss amplification (PA6i/MTR101 monos), Totem floorstanders, REL sub and Nordost cabling. I listened on that system as well as Panasonic earbuds with iPad as source for both. My impressions were consistent both ways.

As expected, great sound from both cartridges. However, my preference is not for the Victor mm. Differences were all relatively subtle, but obvious and go to my personal sonic priorities of truthfulness in timbre and tonality and clarity of musical interaction above all else.

The sound with the Victor mm had the advantage of the dd table’s rock solid speed stability. The Raven’s is very good, but a very subtle pitch waver could still be heard on sustained piano notes; and would probably not be noticed if not comparing to the Victor. Interestingly, this seemed less obvious than when the Raven was running fast. Again, very subtle. That was about the only area in which, for me, the sound with the Victor mm was superior.

In comparison to the Palladian the Victor sounds a little thick and slightly covered sounding in the highs. This causes the piano’s left hand low register passages to sound a little muddled compared to the Palladian’s ability to let one hear the vibrating piano stings more clearly and with better defined pitch (1:15+/-). The end result is that more subtle musical detail and interaction is heard with the Palladian. The Palladian reveals more of the sound of rosin on string than the Victor does and the timbre is more consistent from low register to high register. With the Victor, violin sounds a little covered as does the piano which sounds as if the lid is closed as opposed to open as with the Palladian. I suspect that in the context of a system voiced to the hot side of neutral the Palladian could make the violin sound a little steely. An interesting effect which I think is the result of the extra thickness in the sound of the Victor is that when the violin plays forte, its image in the soundstage gets larger causing the spatial relationship between violin and piano to change: the violin ends up sounding much larger than the piano. The Palladian doesn’t exibit this and the relationship remains closer to what one years when the music is not as loud. At first I thought that the two selections were not level matched with the Victor being slightly louder, but this may be the result of the previous observation.

Surprisingly, a lot of the above was even more obvious in the Armatrading selection (loved it, btw).

Overall, the vintage Victor mm sounds....a little vintage. The Palladian doesn’t sound as romantic and as spatially enveloping as the Victor does; but, for me, the sounds it makes sound less like a recording. A sound that is a little cleaner overall while the Victor seems to have a subtle texture in the "air" around the instruments. Needless to say, it is incredible that a vintage cartridge can sound so good for so much less money than something like the Palladian; and, of course, all this based on my personal preferences only.

As always, a treat to have a chance to hear and compare such great cartridges.

Thanks and regards.

Hi Frogman,
Glad to hear you're all ok and taking the opportunity to 'chill out' 🙃🥃
The extra time you now have allows me the benefit of your latest (and even more detailed) cartridge comparisons....
I am grateful, as always...for your observations with which I agree  entirely 😃
As you indicate...the differences between the $10,000 Palladian LOMC and the 36 year old Victor X-1II MM are very subtle, and in the absence of these instantly available comparisons.....I'm just as happy listening to the Victor 🤗

One thing I'd like to add (because you continually point it out but it can be often forgotten)......the Palladian is an incredible cartridge.
Certainly the best currently available phono cartridge I have heard (excepting the DLR)....
It demonstrates to me, that the humble aluminium cantilever (albeit a specific alloy thereof)....is as equally adept as even the most exotic materials like Beryllium, Ruby or Diamond.
It's all in the understanding and execution of the cartridge designer, and it's no surprise that Dietrich Brakemeier has chosen it as his preferred material given his long history with, and love of....the Ikeda-designed Fidelity Research FR-7 Series of cartridges.

And whilst on the subject of cantilever materials.....after owning close to 100 different cartridges of all types and brands, I can say that to my ears....Boron Cantilevers are to cartridges, what Kryptonite is to Superman 🤮
There is not a single cartridge with Boron Cantilever I have heard, do justice to the 'soul' of MUSIC as I know and love it....
Even when the designers try to mitigate the weaknesses by GOLD-PLATING the Boron. It's like putting lipstick on a pig 🐖
I'm hoping to find an AT-ML180/OCC with its original Beryllium choice for cantilever 🧐 
The ONLY Boron Cantilever I can live with is that of the Jico SAS although I prefer it with their Sapphire or Ruby.
But that's my personal preference based on my personal experiences.
As always YMMV...😝

Thank you again Frogman...
Keep well and safe.

Hi Frogman,
Seeing that you're 'captive' and have 'Time on you Hands' so to speak 🤗......I wonder if you could do me a favour....?

About 8 Posts up from here.....I posted recordings of a 1ST GENERATION YouTube file just like all the ones contained in this Thread and then posted a comparison 2ND GENERATION recording of the 1ST recording being played back through my System.
As expected...there are losses which are obvious, but I wondered if you could, in your inimitable 'Golden-Eared' way....describe the losses as YOU hear them for they may inform us of the 'degree' of fidelity YouTube videos provide?

Hope you can Frogman..🤪
Regards

@frogman 
I’ll read through tomorrow, you probably already stated this, but what arm did you use to compare these cartridges? Steve.