A pragmatic view of cartridge expenses / many questions

Dear @audioquest4life : " Not properly setup...please! "

well that 20ohms loading means something about and this is not subjective.

" After setting up a least few dozen cartridges one gets used to the initial sound impressions. You should know that based on your vast MM listening experiences. "

Rigth, NO not exactly. The MM was a nice adventure and nothing else but a nice experiences ( " thousands " of it and way different the set up than LOMC ones. ) but I’m a LOMC cartridge advocate and my experiences with came from the Denon 103 passing through 100+ other LOMC ones including today top of the line ones. You can name almost any top vintage or today LOMC cartridge and you can be sure I owned or own or I listened it in my system.

My post to you is not subjective because you posted that loading and I know your phono stage and your tonearm and the cartridge and that can’t be improved by any kind of speaker or amplifier or room conditioning you have it. The best that can do speaker/room/amps is to degrade, at minimum if you like, the cartridge signal never can improve it and this is way objective in any way not subjective. I don't want to go deeper on this objective/subjective issue with your system.

Btw, MUSIC belongs not to the mid frequency range but to the frequency extremes. As better both ranges as better all frequency range harmonics.

Anyway:


" .it’s a hobby, enjoy while you can. Even if your told your setup is wrong! "

that’s your subjective opinion.

R.

At the end of the day, I am very satisfied with the cartridges I own and appreciate the insight from some of you regarding cost performance ratio and long term ownership costs. It’s something I thought would be of interest to a few who are evaluating ownership costs, and if your like me, leaving the work force in a few years with reduced funding for your hobbies. 

My system makes beautiful music as is...but, guess what, I am going to purchase the Hyperion, and Koetsu Jade. One reason is that I can trade up in the Soundsmith line, and the second reason is Jade is my birthstone. Talk about irrational purchases. Did not even take my own advice. Sounds all too familiar around these forums. 

@audioquest4life,

Regarding the Soundsmith Hyperion I heard it at the Capital Audio Show 2018 in the VPI suite.  They had two HW40 turntables setup - one with the Soundsmith Hyperion the other with the Lyra Etna.  They were playing a Louis Armstrong record - moving it from turntable to turntable.  The speakers were a big set of Wilson Audio.  To my ears the difference was not subtle. The Lyra Etna played Louis Armstrong as if he was singing in Aspen, CO - low humidity and crisp. The Soundsmith Hyperion played Louis Armstrong as if he was in New Orleans - humid and dense.  Which was right - to the ears of the beholder.

Dear AQ4L, It is good to have you back on this forum. Like Raul, I was a bit surprised to read somewhere here that you are happily loading your newly acquired for demo VDH at 20 ohms. You’ve said elsewhere that your phono stage (the Aesthetix Io?) produces 80db of gain and that you also have a Pass XP27 or access to one. Since your phono stages produce so much gain, I gather you are not using a SUT to step up signal voltage from the VDH. This makes me wonder why you’ve chosen to load the VDH at 20 ohms. Every VDH is slightly different from every other VDH, so I don’t know what is the internal impedance of your particular model, but that seems like an excessive load (20 ohms) for any LOMC that has any higher than a 2-ohm internal resistance. How did you arrive at 20 ohms?  Have you tried increasing the load R (in other words, reducing the load)?


Mijo, Why would Mussolini, alive or dead, have any reaction to tires on a Ferrari? Ferrari was founded in 1948, and Mussolini was strung upside down and murdered by his own people in 1943. Benito never knew there would be a Ferrari marque, although he may have known Enzo, who was a successful driver in the 30s, before he became Commendatore of his eponymous car company.

Back to serious business. Audioquest, nature is full of surprises. Making a tapered cantilever is not easy. Making one that is tough and light is even harder. I suspect Frank Schroder has detailed the thorns characteristics and thinks they make an ideal cantilever. This proof is in the listening and tracking performance/ Problem is you really have to spend $8K to find out unless you can find a low mileage used one from a trusted source. If I get a Soundsmith it will be the Hyperion. If I don't like it it will be sold immediately to some lucky person. I have turned over several cartridges that way. As far as the Koetsu is concerned it would not be my first choice in a low compliance MC. I lean towards the Air Tight and My Sonic Lab. But if you have to have jade go for it but you'd best have a heavy arm. SME V's will need a lot of added mass and I am not sure they can counter balance it but you would no better than I.