@bukanova that’s cool, glad you can read Russian, i can’t read Lithuanian :) Mr. Andreoli story is very interesting, but he’s not Garrott even if he learned from them. His cartridges are not affordable for "normal people". But i really like his attitude, there are a lot of crazy stories in that two articles about him (in a good way). Regarding Garrott P77 inspiration you have to look for British A&R P77 series (P, C, E). This is not exactly Garrott and it was explained before. Garrott D77 Dynamic Coil MM is heavy modified version by Brothers in Australia. Now when you mentioned Excel Sound i found this article and for the first time i see that A&R (Arcam, UK) is Japanese made cartridge. Still no evidence it was made by Excel Sound, i wish to know. Thanks |
You may like Mr. Andreoli's opinion about
Spherical
stylus @bukanova :) I found it on audiogon archive: Below is a letter to Positive Feedback Online regarding Mr. Andreoli and his work.
I read your comments about the magic diamond cartridge and couldn't agree more... and I had to smile because many people talk about these MCs (many w/o having heard them, but that's the web...) and nobody seems to know more about them... so I figured you might be interested in a little background.
The guy behind these Swiss made cartridges is Reto Luigi Andreoli, a good friend of mine. He studied architecture at the ETH in Zurich (also Albert Einstein's alma mater), but audio has always been his home turf. don't be fooled to think he's a cartridge manufacturer just because his MCs get such rave reviews—he's more of a contemporary Leonardo da Vinci, a true genius if I know one. He was a concert pianist, still occasionally builds houses, plays a wicked guitar and when he wanted to know more about cartridges, he went to the Garrott brothers in Australia to learn the trade from them. He worked with them for (iirc) three years. (before committing suicide, they offered him their company, but he declined.)
He also built my turntable, an EMT 930 with two tonearms. I think you know Lynn Olson; here's what Lynn wrote about my system when he was in Zurich. Needless to say that I also use reto Luigi Andreoli's cartridges; my favourite is his top model, the "tondose" which uses the housing of an ortofon SPU (it's the grey headshell on the rear arm in Lynn's article). in 1992 I bought a battery powered line stage from him that to this day is my preferred line amp and I keep returning to the pair of custom push-pull amps he built for me in 1994.... all in all, your description of the magic diamond cartridge (see PFO Issue 23, January/February 2006) pretty much sums up his "trademark sound," if there is such a thing: it has drive, punch, a very solid bottom end, a smooth and yet detailed midrange, a natural top end with no glare; lots of details and air, and at the same time very homogeneous. I'm sorry, but the best way to describe Andreoli's sound is: if I were an LP, that's exactly how I would want to sound. .... ;-)
Did you know that all magic diamond cartridges have spherical styli? I find this especially noteworthy because according to conventional wisdom it should be impossible to have such an extended, smooth top end with a spherical stylus. but what do I tell you—you know how good this cartridge sounds... however, Andreoli is convinced that spherical is the only way to track an LP correctly. And the proof is in the pudding... his explanations are absolutely logical and convincing; it's not black science but simple, straight thinking of what a stylus tip does in the groove. Compared to a spherical stylus, all other styli produce more distortion. This is not only logical, but is backed up by the scientific studies the BBC conducted in the 60s. They also thought that an elliptical stylus should have less distortion than a spherical stylus and were very astonished when their studies showed the opposite.
In the 90s, I published a hifi magazine not unlike PFO (just nowhere near as big and thorough). For this magazine (HiFi Scene Schweiz), Andreoli wrote a two-part article on LP reproduction that has been dubbed "seminal" by people who don't use such a term lightly. The article is in German, but there are many scribbles that illustrate w/o words why cartridges should have a spherical stylus.
Andreoli is a very low-key person. The owner of the Swiss hi-fi shop "Dietiker-Humbel" is Andreoli's cousin and that's probably the reason why is to my knowledge the only shop that sells Andreoli's entire product line. He builds most of his stuff in very little series—and down to the last screw, he builds all by himself. the build quality of his stuff is absolutely incredible, fit & finish are quite simply sensational for one-off products. This kind of quality cannot be cheap, but here in Switzerland, his stuff is not nearly as expensive as in the US or in Asia. And this for a very simple reason: he sells most of his stuff directly or thru one dealer. The price range for his cartridges is between CHF 3000 and 5000 (US$ 2500 - 4200; your magic diamond would be the $2500 cartridge. Just goes to show how distributors add to the cost of living or listening...)
I wrote a portrait of Andreoli in an earlier issue of HiFi Scene Schweiz. It's also in German, but at least with a picture of him. If you're interested, I'll scan the article and mail it to you as PDF file.
That's it for the moment. Pardon my English—it's not my native language... I hope I hadn't bored you to death with my laudation.
Have fun with your magic diamond!
Best regards,
Christian Rintelen
Switzerland
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Thanks for all the Links Chak........ Wonderful information (thanks to Google Translate)....almost too much to absorb in one reading 🤔 I particularly like his closing paragraph..... A good sound is a purely subjective thing. I never said that my cartridges are the best. I just make them in such a way that they sound the way I like. I do not expect that they will be to everyone's taste - this is impossible. Therefore, I look at the world peacefully.
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What an surprise? One architect likes the other. However I am not
able to ''place'' his history. If he was only 3 years by the ''brothers''
then he was about 18 when returned to Switzerland. The ''right
age'' for the university. But then instead of electronics he chose
architecture. In Holland this is not considered as an ''academic
study'' so no ''degree''. So referring to Einstein in this context is,
say, ''little bit'' exaggerated. Then all his argument are based on
electronic or acoustic theoretical assumptions which we, the
simply humans can't understand. That is why I asked Dover for
his opinion.
But he is obviously changed in (Dutch) New Zeeland and probably
expect from me ''begging'' instead of asking. Owing ''holy water''
does not, I hope , mean becoming ''holy'' yourself?
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Dear chakster, Nice to see this ''unknown'' info about Andreoli
but by quoting reviewers one should also mention the time
when those are written. Not only because of inflation. Otherwise
many may try to get ,say, Magic Diamond for $2500. According
to me in 2019 the Swiss price was 7000 CHF. Even more important
is the possible case that if I try to sell my sample your info will
ruin my expectation.
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