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.
@lewm I owe you thanks. I tried the same process with the Grado Statement 3 and it has transformed the cartridge from being a boring but honest into a spirited creature that just about beats out the Sussurro. It likes 100Ω best of all. I put the gory details in the 'Moving Iron Adventures' thread.
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@sksos I am really liking your assessment of the MSL Gold Signature, it is a Cart' that is creeping through the undergrowth of various threads, with many who are willing to stand up and declare 'I am impressed'. Where does your report stand out and get my attention, the TT in use is one I have looked at with growing interest and one that I am impressed with. The design intent for the build, is somewhere that I lean toward when considering a TT or Modification to a TT. Another Item of interest that has caught my attention, is that the Head Designer of Micro Seiki and the Founder of Tech Das Hideaki Nishikawa has been impressed by the Kuzma Designs, maybe only for an import to Japan reason, as Mr Nishikawa is also a CEO of a High-End Equipment Import Company. If the Kuzma can draw him in when visiting the Trade Shows in Europe, why shouldn't it draw me in as a distant observer. The report catching my attention does not stop there, you use an all Valve Phonostage, of which I have a Bespoke Built Valve Input / Valve Output design, which is my keeper Phon', I can't foresee myself separating from it. It seems you have experienced over the past period, approx' £20 000ish of Cartridges across Three Models, and from the Three the MSL Gold Signature has been the one that is seemly worthwhile to make old bones with. It is this type of report that adds value to my visits to Audiogon, Thank You for this contribution. I am at some point going to get a listen to a MSL Cart' from this level of production. Using one's words used as an assessment is totally OK to form a shortlist, but to form an individual view on a Cartridge and to fully comprehend the impression it can make needs time made available to be in front of it. |
Thats correct - I heard the first Sussuro and his first Strain Gauge cartridge not long after the Voice had come out. The Paua came out after he visited New Zealand - name comes from our Paua - Maori name for seasnails which is a delicacy down here. |
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@pindac if you are ever in the Boston area (we are 45 minutes North in Southern NH) you are more than welcome to come over and have an extended listen. 😉 |
