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Do You Play Or Save Your Best Cartridges

I suspect I am like many here, I have a small collection of cartridges. Until recently I would keep a casual playing cartridge set up and I would save my "good" cartridges for evening listening sessions where I am focusing on listening to music at the listening chair. I always had a casual cartridge mounted on an arm, maybe an Audio Technica OC9 III or something along those lines. These days its either an Ortofon MC3000 II or MC5000. 

 

Earlier this year I finally decided to use the DAC in my Trinov pre amp, and this involved getting a subscription to Roon, and hardwiring the computer and preamp to the router with CAT 6 ethernet cable. The sound is remarkably good, to the point where this can easily be my casual listening format. 

I almost wonder if its necessary to have a casual cartridge. Or should I just play my best ones as often as I want and bite the bullet and know I am getting a new diamond fitted every few years. 

 

Anyone else go through this kind of decision process?

neonknight
terry9
2,342 posts
 

@grislybutter "I guess the rest of the setup would be just as expensive"

Unless you DIY. I like to budget for something pretty good, like a 10-20k turntable or a 5k tonearm, and see what I can do with that money. That’s led me to an air bearing TT with a very stiff air cushion in all three dimensions, and a superbly isolated motor which I may patent. That took me 3 years. Of fun.

Then I did the tonearm, again air bearing, linear tracker, another 3 years. I am currently experimenting with wands - I’ve had a sapphire tube on hold for 2 years because I have some useful thoughts on resonance control with a lightweight wand. So far, so good. I can adjust tangentiality (LT analogue of overhang) on-the-fly to 5 microns. VTA adjusts repeatably to 2 minutes of arc, azimuth also 2 minutes of arc. The only ’off-the-fly’ adjustment is VTF, which is adjustable to 10 mg.

When you have that much adjustability, you can get the most from a cartridge, and quite a lot it is, if the Mayajima and Koetsu are anything to go by. I’m fabricating a wand now for a Grado Lineage, we’ll see how that goes.

I think DIY is better than buying. It’s certainly a lot more fun.

DIY forever!!

grislybutter
3,128 posts
 

@terry9

if you have the skills. I am only good at breaking things :)

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,935 posts
 

why drink the same wine….every day….. ?

terry9
2,342 posts
 

Uh - because it's Romanee - Conti?

terry9
2,342 posts
 

@grislybutter You may surprise yourself. You don't need to do everything yourself - I sure don't. I buy off-the-shelf whenever I can.

Prefer to just design and assemble, but sometimes a craftsman can't think of how to do it, or is too expensive. Why not try something easy? Like a cartridge? (joke).

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