What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?

Does the "World's Best Cartridge" the term adopted by the OP, and the OP's references to their other experiences of substantially expensive Cartridges.

Suggest that in their assessment the Cartridges that are seen to be coming in $10/£12 - $25/£30 per replay, if using a 1000 Hours of user life is the guideline, are the Cartridges to be considered only as the 'World's Best'.

As most users of HIFi equipment buy in a price range they are comfortable with, most users of the Vinyl LP as a Source, would not be in a position to comment on such an item that incurs this type of cost.

I am well-Travelled in my attempts to experience new encounters in HiFi, where the creating a broader knowledge of the equipment used in a Vinyl Source has been the goal. 

In relation to having experienced a TOTR Cartridge from a recognised Brand with a growing reputation for their use of Technology, I will suggest the DS Audio Grandmaster used in a System that has approx' £200 000 is the most expensive Cart' I can put a price label on.

I have heard TOTR Cart's from other Brands and know I have heard Lyra's and Transfiguration Cart's in non-owned systems.

More interestingly for myself, is that using subjective listening an assessment method, carried out on non-owned and quite different built systems.                         I have not discovered a Cartridge that stands out as unique and must have, even though the possibility is for some, that they would not fit into a Cartridge Budget allocated by myself.

There are other questions as well, what actually qualifies a Cartridge to be given a Tile the 'World's Best' or even the Title 'Contender to be the World's Best'.

If subjective evaluation is to be the assessment parameter, as it seems to be for the OP, definitely for myself, and I am sure multiple others with an acquired experience.

The outcome of selections is looking likely to be quite varied across contributors.

One other criterion, that would also need to be added into the assessments being made are the control measures for the consistency of the report.

Are all assessments undertaken using the same supporting ancillaries?

Which prior experiences undertaken by the assessor, would deem the assessor qualified to make their evaluations being made known to the Public, to have any credibility.

Which would be the selection of supporting ancillaries for the Cart', to be used in conjunction with, are the ones that can be agreed on, to ensure there is a fair evaluation being undertaken.

Due to the function of the Cart', environmental impact can be considerably degrading to the Cart's function. Which are the ideal environmental conditions, to be present when making an evaluation.   

My experiences to date, have shown myself that the most engaging and desirable experiences that have proven to be very attractive, are when carried out in a home, where a system has been built over many years of devotion and the choices made for particular devices and their mounting, have undoubtedly been correct for the Set Up in that unique environment. 

I have been fortunate to have heard Cart's with values of up to £5000 in these types of conditions and have been thoroughly impressed.

In my experiences, I could quite easily live with a Cart' experienced from these encounters.

In my limited experience, it is not too easy to see where a Three - Fivefold increase in Cart' purchase value would offer a more engaging experience and stand out to the level where it justifies the extra expense, if I am using the recollection of other attained experiences of a more expensive Cart'.

I'm leaning towards @nandric assessment of the contributions and will add that in general the human has to offer some kind of purported reasoning for a made decision, especially when associated with the action of making a purchase that is encroaching on being one that is an absolute luxurious acquisition.             

pindac, I am talking about LOGIC of used  sentences or statement which

include ''universal quantifier'' you about ''price '' and old classical economist

terms ''value in use'' as opposite to  ''value in exchange'' (aka price). 

I assumed that we all question any ralation  between ''quality of sound''

and the prices for our ''gear''. Think of  Dover's praise of this cheap

Denon which cost only a half of ''only stylus retip''. I have no idea why

he offered to me only half of an glas wine. Should I visit him all the

way to (Dutch) New Sealand for such ''PRICE''?  

Dear all, I appreciate your comments including mathematics, statistics, brain science, and so on. Here - something more practical.

The question for me is not what is best analog or digital, but how to get the best of both. Like others I use digital mainly for searching out new music – what can be worth it, buying on LP. Analog still connects more with me emotionally - like Bernie Grundman emphasises in the video above.

So this is what I do. I mainly play LPs in my main rig, and digital in my home office and elsewhere. The main rig includes Lyra Atlas and Aesthetix Io phono stage. But then I bring in this little trick – a good digital recorder (Tascam DA-3000). So the best LPs are recorded to double DSD which is the best digital format I’ve tried so far (and I have moved up the steps).

The Atlas – to my ears – is very good indeed and a good match with the Io. Sure, there may be better carts but this has to be evaluated in context. The Atlas has a quite strong 0.56 mv output and the phono stage likes it. I could go lower, but then, I would be even more dependent on ultra low noise tubes in the first gain stage, which can be hard to find (esp NOS). So context and synnergy – with the phono stage, arm and player (etc) - is very important not just the cartridge on its own.

So, what happens with the ‘trick’? Recording LPs is work and takes time. Some have argued that double DSD is so good you cannot hear the difference from playing the LP direct. Well, in my system I can. The digital version is good, but still has a way to go. Probably, some tweaks to the Tascam recorder could fix some of this difference. An engineer told me that improving the power rails into the AD section(possibly with an external LPS), replacing the downstream op amps with better pieces, and replacing the internal clock and PS to the clock with an aftermarket internal clock, could be a way to go. I have not had it done, and it may be hard to get the Tascam schematics for the job.

I recorded to R2R for many years and still have my trusted old Revox A77 at my loft. Maybe I should get it serviced and upgraded, but I am not sure how to get it done within reasonable cost. Or if I would actually use it. Would I go into buying the best music in analog tape format? Even when I’ve already invested in vinyl versions etc before? Not sure about that - but then, I dont know much about cost or availability (maybe someone here can inform me).

The great thing for me, now, about digital, is about convenience. And yes, I admit it – sometimes about clarity, beyond what I hear from LPs. The gap between streaming (in my case, Qobuz) and records has become smaller, and I appreciate that. Convenience means finding new music through streaming – but also, recording from the analog Atlas/Io chain. With a small DAP - digital audio player (in my case Fiio x3ii) - I can bring the sound from my main rig wherever I want. Or most of it. Comparatively speaking, the Revox A77 weighs a ton. It is not something to bring along – although I can remember doing it, to good effect, to parties in the 1970s.

It is remarkable that even with the comparatively «stone age» technology of vinyl record playback, through all the troubles of cart, arm and phono setup, and digitial recording from that, my recordings still hold a candle to streaming. I often find them better, in the longer run. This is what I listen to into the night. Once again, more emotional. Even though I hear some reduction of clarity, some pops and ticks, etc. Maybe, it is the atmosphere, the more natural ambience - or just my old man’s ears.

@nandric I said I leaned toward your assessment of the contributions, which was your questioning of how such offered evaluation can be attained and seen to be without contention. 

My own expressed thoughts on how such an evaluation can be attained, are not my attempts to interpret your pattern of thought, your queries are valid and from a perspective that is correctly aligned to the subject.

My own queries are more from the perspective of what are the requirements of the parameters needed to be put in place to qualify the assessments offered to be Bonafide and dependable.

Price of Cartridge and Price of System used for demonstration of such Cartridge seems to be the most important factor as the guideline. Under the guise of more outlay means more for your money.

I work on the Basis that certain products are priced, not as their production as a whole is reflected in their given value, but more that the Niche Market can ask for such a Value.

My experience, that I made known, is that I have been demonstrated Cartridges of substantial Value on Systems that are of a Substantial Value but was not left with an impression based on subjective evaluation, that I was being demonstrated a contender for a 'World's Best Cartridge'.

My own account of my experiences, suggest that when a Cartridge is demonstrated in a System, and the impact of that encounter is positive, inspiring and an attractor, being seen as worthwhile for aspiring to.

Then this encounter surely puts one nearer the place, where they can claim there is a contender for their Best Cartridge Experienced.

From my end, that is what really counts, is how an encounter has impacted on a person and how they are shaped by such an encounter, at some stage their need to search for further improvement will become less important when satisfying experiences are encountered and if need be, adopted into use. 

pindac, May I call your opproach ''holistic'' and my ''analitic'' . By you everything

is connected witth each other  while my approucs is reduction of complexity. 

Say reduction of grammar form to : X is P . In place of variable x one can put

whatever ''subject'' one want as well in the place of ''P'' ( aka predicate) as

''property'' or ''quality'' expressions. Try to construct an RELATIONAL STATEMENT

with this grammar form. What I mean is that  '''X is P'' is not suitable

for relational .statements which  imply more  subjects than one. Well comparing

cartridges are such ''many subjects'' statements. ''The best'' means the best

from many while quantifier  ALL ''shows'' the problem . Who knows ALL 

cartridges ever made? Even Raul with his +100 samples has chosen ADC 26

while owning also Jan Allearts ''formula I'' with many ''sans'' from Jspan..

The same result as empirical approach by dover. We don't know how many he

owns but we do know which he likes the most. I don't believe that his or Raul's choice is , say, ''VERY EXPENSIVE'' . So what is the relation beween price

and ''quality'' of sound?