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.
If you mean me, @lewm , I think it is at its best at 800Ω. I had previously tried it as an MM input, with the volume cranked up and it didn't matter what the capacitative load was set at. Turns out one should RTFM. Even set as an MC input, with some fiddling with the resistive loading, it still doesn't match the sheer joy of the Nagaoka MP-500. It seems like we don't quite know what we're about with MI cartridges that have cantilevers just yet. |
doggie, You did not mention whether you ever went ABOVE 800 ohms for load R. Into an MM input, the problem may well have been lack of gain, rather than the load resistance. It would be worthwhile to try a high load resistance, e.g., 47K ohms WITH gain that is sufficient for its very low output (preferably 65db or more but maybe a bit less depending upon the gain of your linestage, if any), if you own a phono stage capable of both. As you know, MI cartridges are not new. B&O, Acutex, Nagaoka, Grado, and a few others, not to mention Decca, have been making them for decades. What is new about some of the SoundSmith models (and the new Grados) is their low output. Ideally you want a high gain phono stage AND a high load resistance, or much higher than 800 ohms, anyway. I've gotta believe you could get more out of your Sussuro. |
I experimented with a Soundsmith Paua and a bunch of phonos - tried loading above 1k - didn't work - optimum was around the 800 ohm mark. Caveat here is that on that particular cartridge the electrical specs were changed quite significantly through that cartridges lifetime. So with any SS cartridge you need to check the specs for the specific cartridge you buy and check SS loading recommendations for suitability. |
Unfortunately you have highlighted the issue - Every time I reinsert my current based step up to replace a SUT I get more bottom end extension, the bottom end is far more accurate, cleaner, better timing, and more extended top end, along with the increased resolution - no downsides. If you are still running SUT's in your home-brew preamp, then I would suggest you investigate alternatives, if you are interested in improving your system. Nothing more, nothing less. |
@lewm Soundsmith, as you may know, recommend using an MC input with 63dB gain. Loading is to be a minimum of 470Ω, as anything lower results in loss of high frequencies. 470 - 1000Ω is suggested. I have the option of 10, 25, 50, 100, 400, 800, 1200 and 47kΩ on an MC input. I find Dame Janet Baker and the first of Elgar's Sea Pictures useful for this as she has a rich contralto for assessing the top end, and the tympani provide plenty of bass 47k leaves a high end peak that makes for a sound I call thin and scratchy. 1.2k improves on it, 800 is nicely balanced and rounded (probably the best and most accurate setting), 400 becomes a little bit lush, being biased towards the bass with the top end rolled off (I rather like it for musicality!). Going down to 100Ω goes too far in that direction, rather like playing clumsily with tone controls. And having reached that point and listened to the 'Sea Slumber Song' four times I didn't go lower. I'm rewarding myself with Jacqueline DuPré on the other side now. I'm quite happy with the sound of the Sussurro at 400-800Ω: the place where it fails compared to the London Reference is in something mysterious. The latter makes me want to tap my toes or conduct as I listen. It's nothing to do with imaging as I have but one ear and no directional hearing, so no stereo for me. The sense that I'm listening to something 'live' is what I mean. I have to attribute it to the speed and responsiveness of the cantileverless Decca. And having had the first movement of Elgar's cello conc. on the Sussurro, I'm now repeating it on the other table with the Reference. The difference isn't just in the attack of the pizzicato, even the slow bowing on the C and G strings have a richer timbre with each little catch and slip of the rosin on the horsehair audible. That's what I'm going to miss when the Deccas die.
|
