Synergy

@mulveling 

I was looking at the Van den Hul. They have a very high compliance which I think may have been your problem. I have the Hyperion MR coming which is replacing the Platinum Signature which was very nice , but a bit too polite for me. I'm about to sell the Atlas, another long unfortunate story. So, I was looking at Van den Hul, the MSL Ultra Eminent EX, the Kuzma Car 50 and the EMT Novel Gold. I'm leaning towards the Ultra Eminent EX as it's 0.6 ohm impedance makes it a great match for my current mode phono stage and the build quality of MSL cartridges is excellent. The preamp I have coming has a high output phono stage in it designed by Dynavector. I will collect a few high output cartridges. The Soundsmith Voice will be one of them, the Nagaoka MP500 another and the third is open for argument. I am not sure about the Verismo for you. If it is anything like the MC Diamond it will be a great classical cartridge with loads of detail and a fine image but a bit shy in bass and slam. I'm keeping the Diamond because it does string quartets better than any cartridge I have ever owned. 

@mijostyn  I recently had an MSL Eminent Ex (briefly) and it was nice but just not for me. Somewhat echoing your Platinum experience, it was too polite and a bit boring. I was ready to continue trying other models in their line, but this put me off. I always roll phono stages / arms / etc when trying to optimally match a new cartridge, and got some combos which injected a bit of much needed life (best was Hagerman Trumpet Reference with the build-in JFET MC stage), but it still wasn't enough in the end. 

I got the MSL because I like my AirTight PC-7 so much, and thought I should try MSL's own line. And though there's similarity in the midrange, it ends there - the PC-7 is vastly more energetic, detailed, and fun to listen with (at times bordering on a bit too bright). The PC-7 has a more traditional coil arrangement (0.6mV at 7 ohms) and boron cantilever - not sure which of those makes the bigger difference. 7 ohms, though much higher than the MSL, is still sufficiently low for any reasonable SUT matching.  

The Van den Huls are fun (after break in), you should try one :) 
The high compliance was not an issue. I've added VPI arms here (both kinds of Fatboys, metal unipivots, and dual pivot) with sufficiently low mass (10g - 11g) to accommodate. The Colibri simply wasn't usable on ANY arm until the suspension broke in some. Then it went through an additional ~16 hours of being a sibilant nightmare mess (it's rare I have issue with sibilance). THEN it sounded great. Crimson XGW Strad was rough at the start too, but not nearly as bad. Frog Gold never had problems w/ tracking or sibilance from the start, but just sounded plain mediocre until it got around 30 hours (now I really like it too). 

I just picked up the brand new Hagerman Piccolo Zero to (finally) play with current injection instead of a SUT or JFET voltage stage. Worked GREAT with my Koetsu Blue Lace last night. I like it a lot. Not sure it will work as well with the Van den Hul (they seem to use a lot of coil for a given output) but I'll try there next. 

@mulveling  I know the Sumiko Pearwood very well, I have heard the Cart' used on all TT Drives, but mainly BD's. 

I have heard it mounted on a SME V/12 and 2 x Origin live TA's I missed it on the upper in range OL as a 12".

Most recently it was demo'd on a Vertier TT > TA.

On all occasions the Pearwood sang in a way that was very very appealing, as a Cart' with a Wood Body, it certainly keeps itself up the ladder and avoids the label of full bodied. A underpinning of a Rich Tone will be more accurate as a description. 

Although I find the Clearaudio cart to be superior to the Hanna in many ways,
I do find it a little bright and somewhat lacking in mellowness.
Can someone suggest a cart that would meet that criteria. It’s probably unrealistic but Im looking for something in the $1000-$1500 price range.

Dear @mulveling : I hope this time you can give me some explanation.

" I always roll phono stages / arms / etc when trying to optimally match a new cartridge.. "

Certainly I understand try to match the tonearm/cartridge combinations and even a SUT ( I did it in the past till I found out the top Denon SUT that I changed only when the cartridge need it higher gain. ) but to change electronics ( as in this case the phono stage ) just to match the cartridge let me to ask: why? .

Thank's in advance and kind regards,

R.

" I always roll phono stages / arms / etc when trying to optimally match a new cartridge.. "

Certainly I understand try to match the tonearm/cartridge combinations and even a SUT ( I did it in the past till I found out the top Denon SUT that I changed only when the cartridge need it higher gain. ) but to change electronics ( as in this case the phono stage ) just to match the cartridge let me to ask: why? .

@rauliruegas Why not? It boils down to the very topic of this thread: synergy. Every phono stage I’ve used has its own distinct sonic signature & nuances. I still keep many on hand. They’re useful for a different perspective, an occasional change of pace, or a better match to certain cartridges. It’s not just "match warm with bright" either - it’s sometimes more complex and unpredictable than that (though not always). Multiply this by the complexity of matching SUTs or MC pre-preamps - and you have the countless possibilities worthy of an enjoyable hobby :)

Of course I still have favorites. Audio Research Reference 3SE’s Low Gain mode (paired with SUT) was stunning. VAC Renaissance SE (also with outboard SUT) has been my longtime reference. Herron VTPH-2A (also with SUT - see the pattern?) pairs super well to my Koetsu Blue Lace, but had me running out the room with Windfeld Ti. And Hagerman Trumpet Reference has a warm open sound, vaguely tape-like, that I quite enjoy. Now I also have the new Hagerman Piccolo Zero to experiment with current injection!

Folks on this forum will discuss cable rolling without batting an eye. I can assure anyone the changes from swapping phono stage are orders of magnitude more significant.