I am not going to say you have low level knowledge because of that.:) +1
Cartridge Opinions - Sorry
Yeah, another dumb "what's your opinion on these cartridges" thread. Back in the late 80's we had dealers where you could listen to the stuff.
So anyhow I have a Linn LP12 with Ittok arm and a 30 year old Audioquest B200L cartridge. I'm running it through the phono stage of a Jeff Rowland Coherence One into a Spectral DMA90 through a set of Kef R300's.
I prefer a little more laid back sound (err on the side of forgiving instead of fatiguing) but I like a lot of upper end detail, precise soundstaging, air, etc.
So far I'm considering an Ortofon Quintet S Black, Hana SL or a Benz wood - something at or below the $1k level.
I'd love to hear any opinions, suggestions, and experiences with those cartridges or others in the price range. I could possibly go higher if there is something out there that really shines for less than $1,500.
Thanks.
So anyhow I have a Linn LP12 with Ittok arm and a 30 year old Audioquest B200L cartridge. I'm running it through the phono stage of a Jeff Rowland Coherence One into a Spectral DMA90 through a set of Kef R300's.
I prefer a little more laid back sound (err on the side of forgiving instead of fatiguing) but I like a lot of upper end detail, precise soundstaging, air, etc.
So far I'm considering an Ortofon Quintet S Black, Hana SL or a Benz wood - something at or below the $1k level.
I'd love to hear any opinions, suggestions, and experiences with those cartridges or others in the price range. I could possibly go higher if there is something out there that really shines for less than $1,500.
Thanks.
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- 188 posts total
elliottbnewcombjr, Actually you and I are not to far off. You just have had maybe a little more time (and maybe money☺!) than my hihfi budget can afford right now. My current phono preamp is MM only but my next phono pre upgrade will have a internal SUT. I actually have been a big fan of JICO styli too but right now I’m only interested in vintage cartridges such as the Audio Technica AT-ML180/OCC or OFC cartridges and the OEM corresponding styli. atmasphere, I’ve always admired the courteous and gracious manner when you respond to others posts. You remind me of an old school gentleman always willing to share and teach in layman like terms to explain the most complex points of music reproduction. Please don’t change, for no one. And much thanks to you for helping me understand what an OTL tube rig is. Although I do agree with others here that the stylus and cartridge maybe more important than the tone arm WHEN mechanically reproducing sound from vinyl. scar972, This thread is actually quite tepid compared to some others here on gone, or haven’t you noticed before? |
I’m only interested in vintage cartridges such as the Audio Technica AT-ML180/OCC or OFC cartridges and the OEM corresponding styli. This is a hell of a cartridge and much better than AT's LOMC I don't know how but i bought two NOS styli for my AT-ML180 after 5 years of searching. Another (very close) model is AT-ML170 @tyray |
Although I do agree with others here that the stylus and cartridge maybe more important than the tone arm WHEN mechanically reproducing sound from vinyl.@tyray Dave Slagle recently sent an article to me by Peter Moncreif, who did some testing on cartridges and how they make distortion. It was an interesting read! I found it interesting that while he was able to show that the cartridges did seem to make distortion, he really didn't go into much about the arm despite testing a good number of cartridges. Yet no mention of the arm, but we all know that getting the cartridge/arm combination to work its mechanical resonance has to be in the 7-12Hz range, and otherwise how tiny little tweaks in the adjustment can have a huge affect on the result! It obvious to me that if there is an adjustment on an arm that is tricky to set up, the chances of getting it correct are vastly reduced. We've all heard cartridges make distortion; if you can set all the parameters right, then its clear that distortion is reduced. I've seen arms that don't allow for adjusting the VTA, others that allow you to adjust it, but only by loosening a screw and moving the entire arm (the old Grace is an example of this); many have no adjustment for azimuth whatsoever... To put this to an extreme to make my point, you can't expect to put a $5000 cartridge in a Voice of Music tonearm (google images...) and expect it to work properly! So at what point do you draw the line? What I've found is that the arm is more important if you really want to get things right- so that is where I make that distinction. |
- 188 posts total