What Does It Take To Surpass A SME V?

“@albertporter , You are for more experienced than myself and lewm put together however, I would like to point out the speed variability of even a mediocre modern turntable is far superior to that achieved by your typical somewhat less than flat and concentric record. You will have to look elsewhere for pitch consistency besides drive type.“

Even considering the factors you mention, if two or three turntables are set up and the same LP used in testing, results were as I described and quite audible.  In fact after equating the less desirable sound with what the laser displayed it made it obvious which error was causing which problem.

For instance, slurred bass or bass that momentarily seemed to be deep but lacked definition was due to micro slowing of the LP due to error in drive system.   A couple of the most expensive turntables had serious speed problems, playing demanding LP such as Massive Attack with huge bass lines caused the laser to dance with the music.

Put the same LP on a table with superior drive system and speed accuracy and the bass error was solved.   It helps to be able to see and hear what causes what. 

It’s impossible to have a library with 100% perfect LPs, but if you can put together a turntable that does not add to that issue you are far better off.

Mijostyn, I’m used to Raul misinterpreting my English. After all, it’s his second language. But what I said or certainly meant to convey is that zenith IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT. Problem is that what we’re talking about is not strictly defined by the term “zenith”. Zenith, defined as the relationship of the long axis of the stylus tip to the groove, is very very important. The two companies that make all the cantilevers in the world have a +/-5% tolerance for mounting styli on them. A5% error in zenith is not good enough to get the most out of the cartridge. We have no argument about the importance of zenith for lowest distortion.

Citrucel? Nah, we need big guns here.

I used to like the apocryphal advert with the slogan "If the bottom falls out of your world, take Dulcolax and let the world fall out of your bottom."

@albertporter Albert's list of TTs and arms that he remembers using/owning kind of cracks me up. So glad to see you contributing here Albert. 

The rest of yas, love you too. :)

After reading through the thread, @mijostyn post struck a nerve with me. Truth be told I overlooked an important point. As a bit of history, I should say I am a hobbyist of modest means, and while I appreciate audio gear, I must be creative and opportunistic on how I spend money to build a system. In this world of connectivity and Paypal I am blessed to have the opportunity to own gear above what I could afford if buying from just new at a retail store. I am fortunate to own what I do, and it requires that I be a careful shopper. Within my system the SOTA Cosmos Eclipse was bought new, and I bought a Scheu Audio Laufwerk No 2 as a dealer demo. My JBL 4365 were less than a year old when bought. Everything else has come off the used market, such as an Esoteric E-03 phono stage, a pair of Classe Omega monoblock amps, and a Trinov Amethyst pre-amplifier.

The Transfiguration Proteus came from a dealer as a customer trade in. I knew the hours on it, and I sent it to VAS for service after about 6 months. At this time Matsudairasan had already passed and there were limited options for service. I removed the cartridge from the table and sent it in, and the table sat while I waited for a new diamond. When the cartridge came back i reinstalled it and verified settings and began playing music. That was a mistake, because the differences in diamond and mounting apparently are significant enough to cause issues.

Last night I reset overhang. Of course the previous setting is remarkably close and once you loosen the sled then all bets are off, its really a reset. Even though the SME headshell is not slotted, it allows for the slightest adjustments in offset. I worked with that, reset VTA, and dialed tracking force down a couple tenths of a gram.

The result is a significantly more immediate sound with improved attack and presence. Dynamic contrasts are improved, and bass response is not overblown and has improved timing. All around a better sound. The lesson I learned is treat a refurbished cartridge as a new installation no matter what.

What does that mean moving forward? Well it buys me time for one. I can be more introspective and deliberate on a choice of different arm. Before I make any decisions, I am going to wait and hear what the Ortofon Verismo sounds like as it is just being finished up. Once I hear this arm with both cartridges, then I can make a decision on where I might go. Sometimes I wonder about consolidating all my analog goodies, and a sale of the Scheu and both Dynavector arms could allow me to purchase a top end arm for the SOTA. But I am not sure I can live with one cartridge, as I do value being able to have a cartridge for casual listening and not fret about burning up stylus hours.

All in all this is not a bad place to be. One thing the Classe amps have taught me is that upper tier gear made in the last 10 to 15 years is still remarkable, and capable of holding its own with many other fine audio components. So what I chose for a replacement arm does not have to be the current darling, but it does need to be a superior product with above average engineering and craftsmanship.