Finally, why is it currently impossible to make the vintage type of cantilevers that you admire? Seems odd to me.
@flatblackround
1) I wish to know why, before Zicronia Pipe appeared in the list of available cantilevers from Namiki and Ogura there was a Boron Pipe in the 70's, as you might know Technics P100c mk4 has ultra low moving mass.
This is what Technics invented in the 70's and improved in the 80's making cartridges like 205c mk4 (my pair) with very special Boron Pipe cantilever. It's nothing but a grown crystals of Pure Boron into a pipe configuration. A tip mounting hole made using a laser beam. This is pretty much the same that another Japanese company made with Grace LEVEL II but with at least one serious advantage over the Technics. The difference is the type of the low mass stylus tip. Grace LEVEL II BR/MR is Boron Pipe with MicroRidge. When you comparing Elliptical with MicroRidge you know that Elliptical simply can't win. Furthermore, type of the cantilever and the whole moving mass is very important according to this Technics research: "Somewhere in the high frequencies, every cartridge has an undesirable resonance point. Undesirable because there the frequency response curve climbs a sudden peak. If that peak is in the audible range, your records sound not as intended. That resonance frequency is determined by the total effective moving mass of the vibrating system - the summed masses of the diamond stylus and, most importantly, the cantilever and magnet, etc. To shift that harmful resonance frequency up into the high supersonics, the effective moving mass must be reduced to the lowest possible minimum. Also, too much effective moving mass increases the mechanical impedance, thereby negatively affecting the cartridge's tracing ability." Cartridges i am talking about are both have very low moving mass and similar exotic hollow pipe cantilevers. But Grace LEVEL II has much better suspension/damper compared to Technics 205c mk4 or 100cmk4 (technics damper material became very soft in time and i've seen about 7 samples with this disease). But i never seen any bad sample of Grace LEVEL II, damper is always fine! Grace has a much better LC-OFC coil wire (utilized in LEVEL II or F14 models).
2) The reason why Beryllium cantilevers are no longer available is this:
"According to NIOSH (the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2011), "workers exposed to particles, fumes, mists and solutions from beryllium-containing materials may develop beryllium sensitization or chronic beryllium disease, a potentially disabling or even fatal respiratory disease."
In top top-10 cartridges i have many with beryllium cantilevers like Victor X-1II or Pioneer PC-1000 mkII and AT-ML180 OCC (rare beryllium version).
Let me quote another member regarding Audio-Technica cartridges:
There was a thread on Audiogon quite a while ago in which a former engineer from Audio Technica was participating. He wrote a rather in depth post as to why Beryllium was the go to material for cantilevers and the panic that ensued at AT when the EPA came down with the order that it no longer be used due to the dangerous toxic dust released when machining the material. He stated that the engineering department underwent a lot of R&D to find a suitable replacement material and Boron was what they determined would be closest, however it was still a compromise. Apparently Beryllium allows for the largest frequency excursion without distortion and also permits better channel separation and signal to noise ratios. This is why it was so good." - @simpikins5
@nandric is right that parts together make the whole while whole is ''more'' than the parts. We like vintage MM and MI cartridges because of the sound, not because of the parts. But when we think why they are better than others we can't ignore parts when it's clear that some of those parts are no longer available (such as different cantilevers made of beryllium or boron pipe ... and more).
