Cartridge Opinions - Sorry

This is a very simple fact with which all audiophiles are intimately familiar if they have used a turntable! I really don’t get why anyone would argue the other way, unless for the sport of it...

Ralph,

I am of the opinion that it’s ok to be wrong as long as you are trying to see the other person’s viewpoint and hopefully learning from each other.

That being said I tried to find analogies of a recording being made with an album being played.

So I looked up the best recording session I could think of and came up with Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue sessions. I noticed in pictures of those sessions microphones and all types of recording ’booms’.

Is it a fair analogy to think of a mic as similar to the functions of a cartridge since a mic is also a transducer?

And is it also fair to see a boom as similar to the functions of a tone arm since it has also inside of the boom wires that carry the music’s electric signal from the mic to the recording magnetic tape?

Which brings up another analogy of the magnetic tape being similar to an album or platter being cut directly from what’s being played (recorded) by the mic?

If so, the mic is far more important than the boom. And for the life of me I still see the cartridge as far more complex feat of engineering and more important than the (overpriced) tone arm which I think is a scaled down version of a boom? Am I wrong?

I’m trying to learn here - as ’sport’ has nothing to with cartridge options.

Thanks all

Dear @atmasphere  :  "  Some arms simply will not allow you to set the cartridge up correctly. That seems to be a fault of the arm. So this comment belies Raul's argument. "

No, it not belies my comment due what you posted: " seems to be a fault of the arm " and I can add: a " fault " of the tonearm manufacture or maybe it's not because all depends of the designer priorities. For Rega rigidity is a must to have over any other characteristic and that main priority is showed in the manufacturer design:

http://www.rega.co.uk/rb2000.html

I remember the first DaVinci Grandezza design with the same Rega priority that after customers and comments over the internet they decided to haVE AZYMUTH AND LATTER ON REMOVABLE HEADSHELL FACILITIES.


""  You will not get the minimum distortion out of any cartridge if the arm is unable to track the cartridge properly.  ""

so what, that's a problem with that tonearm so buy a different tonearm that can fulfill your/cartridge needs.

Now, all those does not means in any single way that tonearm is more important than the cartridge because it's not.

Please do it a favor and don't try to win this dialogue because that's not the issue, please only think about. That's all.

Any tonearm manufacturer has its own priorities and certainly does not has to even yours or the priorities of any audiophile.

Normaly almost all tonearms fulfill the cartridge needs but some of we audiophiles have some specific needs. 
Example: removable headshell tonearm design because this permit to change the " color " of the cartridge sound. Magnesium headshells are different that wood headshells or blended material headshells and we don't know with which builded material that cartridge performs best till we try it with.
If the tonearm has not removable headshell then some way or the other our cartridges are " married " with the tonearm signature that could go fine with 1-2 cartridges but certainly not with all.

Anyway, cartridge is at the top, no matters what.

@tyray +1 with out doubt.

R.

+1 @rauliruegas,

You bring up a valid point. If a tonearm has a removable headshell, then the cartridge is definitely more important than a metal tube with wires and is height and level adjustable, I would think. Very similar to a boom with a detachable mic that swivels and has a detachable connector.

And I also think that Azimuth can only be adjusted on the headshell itself and not the tonearm, whether the headshell is removable or nonremovable. Thanks R!

Isn’t any cartridge just a small slave motor entirely dependent upon a much bigger one, ie the turntable motor?

Origin Live for one still seem to ascribe to old established notion of turntable hierarchy.

Namely, turntable first, arm second and cartridge last.

From their website.


’Tonearms Overview

It is supremely important that your cartridge is held rigidly whilst at the same time isolating it from unwanted vibration.

No matter how good your cartridge is, it’s been proved that it can never perform at anything like it’s true capability without a good tonearm.

In the same way, a relatively inexpensive cartridge worth £50 can outperform one that costs £1250 simply by being installed on a better arm.’

See also : Our Opinion on Component Significance

https://www.originlive.com/hi-fi/tonearm/

@cd318,

Now I’m more confused? Or is it more enlightened?

I have a vintage Pioneer PL-630 Quartz PLL Electronic Full Automatic turntable that is in mint condition and has a fantastic tonearm. 

What I have noticed about this particular table is it is designed with the idea of the turntable as a complete system to complement each part and function of the table to act as one combined unit for a more precise performance.  

No aftermarket tonearm needed nor wanted here.

Also what I forgot to realize is that different engineers attack a design in all matter of different ways to find ways for optimum performance.

I shouldn’t be surprised at this realization as I have worked in engineering all my life and have constantly had to ’revise’ engineering drawings as I am a draftsman. You can spout all the 'white papers' and studies you want. I have to find out for myself.

And another thing, a headshell is NOT a tonearm, last time I checked. Although that could change, at any time....