What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?

The Decca cartridges are something special.  My experience has been that even the “lowly” Decca London conveyed certain aspects of musical sound with a realism that no other cartridge I have owned could.  

Dear @mijostyn  : " channel balance as a gauge a 0.3 dB change will make a noticeable shift in the center image easily noticed by anyone. "

You are totally rigth and it does not need to be 0.3db but even 0.1db is noted.

My room/system image is dead centered and sometimes ( for several different reasons. ) that    " dead centered " shift an almost imperceptible to one side and that tell me that something is wrong down my system other that the LP recording that sometimes image is tiny shifted . 

Then that " shift " help me to make a check up to fix it and always with success due that I know very well my system links and nok where looking for.

@noromance  , tracking issues not only happens at macroscopic level where you listen to it but at microscopic levels too and cantilever-less cartridge designs have that microscopic issue at higher levels even that you are not aware of it and that higher tracking micro issue modulates/colored what we are listening. You can read here about:

http://pspatialaudio.com/analogy.htm

Now, I owned at least two cantilever-less Ikeda cartridges and yes some characteristics of the reproduction sound is just unique like its alivness and immediacy of the MUSIC  due that transients are faster than in a normal cartridge designs but as any audio subjects all has its trade-offs and each one of us choose the personal best trade-offs to achieve our targets. I sold the Ikeda's that just can't fulfill my targets and that's it.

R.

Dear @frogman : As Mike, you know that respect you and appreciate you.

" reaction to the heavy handed style of some and have to wonder if the rigidity in their approach to this hobby kills the fun ............................................................................... Listening to music is not a technical exercise. "

I think that in this thread and almost all threads where I posted and post exist a sever misunderstood that I want to clarify even that I did it and posted in the past.

As other gentlemans @mikelavigne took my posts as a PERSONAL ATTACK even that I told him 4 times in the thread that the main subject was not what he likes ( that’s not under questioning and I did not with any other gentleman. ) but WHAT IS WRONG OR RIGTH but not only Mike but other audiophiles took and take my posts as a PERSONAL issue when IT’S NOT that way. I have not with any of you that kind of ATTITUDE no MATER WHAT and does not matters that looks like that because it’s not.

What I did and do is to share experiences and " facts " not to questioning you of what you like but more like a WARNING that at the end is up to you.

I think that almost nothing I shared to Mike is false, you can read here again and in wbf too. I always make a " research " to have first hand knowledge of what I will post. I don’t post if I have not a good founded facts.

In the other side, you posted:

" Listening to music is not a technical exercise. "

I agree with that statement but thing are that that experience normally is full of technical issue before you can listening.

You can have your targets to enjoy your listening sessions, are your PERSONAL targets: full of subjectivity, objectivity or hybrid, it does not matters.

My common sense and for many years told me and tells me that to reproduce and enjoy the MORE the system reproduced MUSIC the only and main TARGET ( my target, not yours. ) is try to stay TRUER TO THE RECORDING or at least the nearest you can and to fulfill my target I need to put at MINIMUM all developed/added room/system: COLORATIONS/MODULATIONS/DISTORTIONS at each single link in room/system chain. To achieve that you not only need some $$$ but more critical an important that that is to have the " rigth " KNOWLEDE and SKILLS LEVELS: this is the true name of the game and what we like is only a consequence/result of those levels.

Doing that is the way I really can not only be truer to the recording but the best way to ENJOY MUSIC sessions in my system. Specs and technical knowledge and skills are all down there and in your system too.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

Dear @rauliruegas,

I have been a member here for many years and have learned the hard way that it is often best to not engage in one-one dialogue when there is obvious and strong disagreement. I prefer to simply put my opinions out there and anyone can make of them what they will. You have addressed me directly for the third time (I think) on this thread, so out of respect for you I will make an exception; and thank you for your thoughts. Please understand that I may or may not respond further.

Raul, I am not in the psychology business. I normally do not “talk” about my professional life on this or any forum as I don’t want my opinions to be construed as self serving in any way.  I am a professional musician by trade and have done nothing else for my entire working life; forty five years now. My performance experience is and has been overwhelmingly in the live acoustic music, mostly orchestral, scenes. I am and have been around the sound of live acoustic music, at minimum, an average of probably four hours each and every day, I know and am confident in what I hear. Replicating that sound as much as possible is my personal goal with audio. My familiarity with that sound is what drives my choices of gear. I bring this up because you and I don’t agree on some audio related issues, the analog/digital, the tube/ss debates and the subjective/objective issues in particular. I believe you know where I stand on those. The “psychology” part:

Although you actually seem to have softened your stance somewhat, the problem as I see it, and what prompted part of my “heavy handed” comment, is that while you do (more so recently) concede that everyone is entitled to like whatever type of sound they may prefer (duh!), your comments usually also include, or are followed by something along the lines of “(yes, everyone can like whatever sound they like), IF they like distortions”. Forgive the paraphrasing. IOW, yes, we can all listen to whatever sound we prefer, BUT Raul knows what a good (accurate) sound truly is. “Respect” has to include at least a modicum of humility.

I won’t question what you hear and how, and based on what, you make those determinations. I know you have a great deal of experience as an audiophile and would not question your preferences. However, from my vantage point, they are still preferences and not absolutes. Neither are my preferences absolutes for everyone. They are absolutes FOR ME and if anyone wants to derive some kernel of truth from them that’s great; if not, that’s fine too.

Enjoy the music. (I will leave the “not distortions” part out. Perhaps you should consider doing the same?

Saludos..

@mikelavigne Audiogon does not have an 'ignore' button, so you have to do that manually. In this case your enjoyment of this thread would likely be improved if certain individuals were put on 'ignore'. I hope I'm not one of those 😉