What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?


I believe that a cartridge and a speaker, by far, contribute the most to SQ.

The two transducers in a system.

I bit the bulllet and bought a Lyra Atlas SL for $13K for my Woodsong Garrard 301 with Triplanar SE arm. I use a full function Atma-Sphere MP-1 preamp. My $60K front end. It is certainly, by far, the best I have owned. I read so many comments exclaiming that Lyra as among the best. I had to wait 6 months to get it. But the improvement over my excellent $3K Mayijima Shilabi was spectacular-putting it mildly.

I recently heard a demo of much more pricy system using a $25K cartridge. Seemed to be the most expensive cartridge made. Don’t recall the name.

For sure, the amount of detail was something I never heard. To hear a timpani sound like the real thing was incredible. And so much more! 
This got me thinking of what could be possible with a different kind of cartridge than a moving coil. That is, a moving iron.

I have heard so much about the late Decca London Reference. A MI and a very different take from a MC. Could it be better? The World’s Best? No longer made.

However Grado has been making MI cartridges for decades. Even though they hold the patent for the MC. Recently, Grado came out with their assault on “The World’s Best”. At least their best effort. At $12K the Epoch 3. I bought one and have been using it now for about two weeks replacing my Lyra. There is no question that the Atlas SL is a fabulous cartridge. But the Epoch is even better. Overall, it’s SQ is the closest to real I have heard. To begin, putting the stylus down on the run in grove there is dead silence. As well as the groves between cuts. This silence is indicative of the purity of the music content. Everything I have read about it is true. IME, the comment of one reviewer, “The World’s Best”, may be true.
 

 

mglik

@rauliruegas , The Luxman was a good cartridge. Since then Yoshio Matsudaira developed a new core for the armature that gives him higher output ( 0.5 mV) with one layer of wire keeping the impedance very low and the moving mass very low. He started using this in the Air Tight cartridges the Opus 1 being the grand daddy of them all. I think the Platinum Reference is Yoshio's version of the Opus One. The stylus he is using is unique in my experience. The very tip instead of coming to a point is radiused and beveled on both sides, very different from the replicant 100 or Gyger S styluses. It is much more forgiving in set up. The azimuth could be off a few degrees and tracking ability would be unchanged. Cross talk would still worsen but most people would not notice that. The cartridge is really very small and beautifully made. All the angles are dead on. All you need is a good protractor and a Wally Referance and you can get it perfect in just a few minutes, no microscope required. Sonically nothing stands out at first. After a few records I became aware that I was getting better bass definition. The next characteristic that became obvious after a few more records was an easy going stress less demeanor. Not sibilance at all, not a sharp edge anywhere unless called for. It is very hard not to like this cartridge.     

   

@mijostyn  : Year ago I listened in an audio friend the Opus and in those times was the top of the line AT model and very good performer and competitive with all top cartridges out there.

As you said your MSL could be the MSL version of the Opus. At least with a new cantilever build material: boron because the Opus came with :

" semi-line contact stylus with a 0.1mm square tip, an ultra-hard duralmin cantilever "

Good that the cartridge is fulfilling your main targets.

 

T.

your MSL could be the MSL version of the Opus

No, MSL is the designer & manufacturer. The best from that designer is the top MSL - currently the Platinum Signature.

The Air Tight Opus and its derivatives are designed and built by MSL and voiced to AT's requirements - they are trickle down products.

Why get the apprentice when you can have the master.

Bass and drums have a solidity usually reserved for Hi Res digital.

Really - many musicians like Neil Young still prefer to record in analogue, most agree that bass in particular is better when recorded in analogue. Some record bass in analogue and voices in digital.

@dover , That was my feeling exactly which is why I opted for the Platinum Signature. 

It is in the bass where the physics of analog playback become really difficult. No such difficulty occurs with digital playback. Digital bass reproduction is universally more accurate. It does not have to deal with resonance frequencies, tracking, etc. Again, accurate does not necessarily mean better sounding to some people.

@rauliruegas , The Opus One has a Duralumin body. It's cantilever is boron. The Platinum signature has a "black ion titanium body." Tracking force is exactly the same for both cartridges 1.9 to 2.2 gm The Platinum Signature is slightly more compliant. I suspect they are using the same stylus. I would have to look at an Opus 1 under magnification to determine that. They both use the same SH-uX core which is Matsudaira's trademark.