What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?

Great discussion!

@clearthink , I owned a Revox A77 for a decade and we had a Studer at the shop I worked with down in Miami. We recorded chamber concerts with it and used it for demonstrating big systems including the HQD system. Mr Grundman's opinion is dead wrong. Everyone is entitled to be dead wrong on occasion. There is no accounting for bias. 

@atmasphere, ​​@rauliruegas I wish you guys would kiss and make up.

For me it is not a battle between analog and digital. The fact of the matter is we all listen in analog. Digital sounds pretty awful, screeching would be the best description. Analog is always the end game. But, digital can also be used to make analog sound better with less noise, distortion and phase/time incoherence. Digital can also be used to crossover speakers more accurately and correct amplitude errors. All these things are impossible to do in the analog world without imposing significant errors.

Back to the DaVa. It is not a cartridge I would buy sight unseen and unheard. IMHE cartridges made by cottage industry manufacturers have quality issues and their very existence is tenuous at best. I have no difficulty buying an Ortofon MC Diamond sight unseen and unheard because I am very comfortable with the manufacturer and technology behind it. Also IMHE, products that stand out sonically at first listen are usually in error somewhere. It is the products that do not stand out sonically at first listen that are usually accurate and additional listening will bear that out. 

I wish you guys would kiss and make up.

@mijostyn FWIW  dept.: I don't attack anyone on this site as a person, I respond to correct false narrative or provide additional information. I use simple logic to do it, not personal attacks (personal attacks violate the forum rules). If I don't respond to misinformation, misinformation will be what exists instead. I've used that technique with everyone on this site and a very few seem to take it personally (apparently for reasons well outside my control)- most of whom have have gotten banned without any help from me. 

I don't have a battle with analog or digital either. If you recall, Raul said (paraphrasing) that 'analog couldn't compete' but all you have to do is to walk into a record store to know that isn't true- if it were true they wouldn't sell LPs! That seems pretty simply logic to me and nothing to get upset about.

The idea of Raul and Ralph kissing is to say the least, not attractive. 

Dear @mijostyn : " we all listen in analog. "

Not really but it’s what we all always think about. Exist a lot of evidence that one way or the other our organism: brain/body " listen in " digital ".

Thtat could be controversial too because goes against what we " learned " that in reality do not learned in formal way. Take a look to this first evidence where you can read: ( the link of how the ears works will be at the end of this post:):

"" this membrane is in contact with the cilia on the top of the hair cells. There are two kinds of hair cells. The outer hair cells are the actual receptors. When the tectorial membrane moves, so does the hair on the the outer cells. This movement is then encoded into electrical digital signals and goes to the brain through the cochlear nerve. and.....................................................

With the hair cells, we come to the end of the audio path inside the ear. Hair cells are neurons, and the purpose of the outer hair cells is to convert the mechanical vibrations that come from their cilia into nerve signals. Such signals are binary (all or nothing), and seem to be completely decorrelated from the analogue signals to which they correspond. In other words, they’re digital signals, and the inner hair cells are analogue‑to‑digital converters. ""

I posted in this thread that we listen through all our body: bones, skin, hair, etc, etc , etc ( that’s why we can " listen " very deep/low bass sensing its vibrations that are communicated to the brain by high speed electric impulses ( not goes in a row/continuous way. ) by neuro transmiters/nerves terminations that exist in our whole internal/external/body and obviously some information goes to the brain trhough our ears and goes in digital way.

All our internal/external body/organs works through those high speed electric impulses. How is the communication inside the brain or how a neurologist specialist knows if something is wrong down there: normally through an encephalogram that measures the electrical activity of the brain showed in a graphic/diagram that was achieved by that digital electrical activity and same happens with our heart that works too by electrical impulses and that’s what a cardiologist looks through the chart coming from an electrocardiogram study.

There are more evidences that we don’t listen in analog but for me those is enough:

R.

I had a customer who was phobic and often listened whilst checking his prostate. He often gave seat of the pants opinions on sound quality. Perhaps you could explain is he listening in analogue or digital ?

Have you had the wax removed from your ears ?