MC-MM-MI CARTRIDGES . DO YOU KNOW WHICH HAS BETTER QUALITY PERFORMANCE? REALLY?

@mijostyn : Yes your Hyperion compliance is only 10cu, so in no way can even your rule of inferior limit tracking 80u. With that low compliance you can be lucky with around 70u this cartrisdge is a " bad " tracker and in this thread several gentlemants are in agreement of the critical importance of transient response all over the LP surface grooves does not matters the recordedd groove velocities and to achieve that transient response ( where MUSIC begin. ) the cartridge needs to has high tracking abilities.

You was extremely emphatic when in the Dava thread @mikelavigne posted that you need to test the Etsuro Gold and you said: never will bought a cartridge with at least minimum 80u on tracking spec.

That it’s not only an issue with that cartridge because talking of its cantilever the manufacturer says and a reviewer:

" “cactus spine” for the cantilever. The naturally tapered shape, stacked columnar fibers and desiccated resin damping fit the exact parameters of the perfect cantilever: Low mass, extreme rigidity, internal damping, and tremendous strength. "

"

its cactus-spine cantilever, an innovation motivated by the German engineer Frank Schröder, an expert in vinyl playback, a designer of tonearms, and a consultant to Ledermann. It may sound like a gimmick, but it’s not.

Soundsmith doesn’t specify the genus and species of cactus used, but claims that its spines combine the qualities most desirable in a cantilever: stiffness and damping. The spine’s stacked, longitudinal, columnar fibers are further damped with a desiccated resin. A. "

How those gentlemans can confirm those " desired " cantilever characteristics? over Boron or Diamod for example and that " resin " what and how is dampening and why need we that damping exctly in the cantilever?

In the other side the cartridge has not a wide frequency response for its price tag.

Dear friends, in several ways and through the time we audiophiles are way lower demanding and way conformist on the quality reproduction of almost all the audio items, more and more less demanding and with that conformism and that’s why manufacturers give us that so low quality products and we are truly satisfied with. In the past, say 30 years ago, any one of you can be sure that no audiophile at any price will be willing to buy a cartridge like the one in this post.

Almost the best TT’s/tonearms/cartridges came from the old/vintage times when audiophiles were really demanding. Those vintage analog items even today outperforms almost all today top ones like it or not that is the reality and if we audiophiles don’t improve way over today in the near future we have to eat only bs. and I’m sorry to tell it because I’m a member of the audio community.

Come on: Wake UP.

R.

@mijostyn I have shared with a advocate of using the Cactus Spine as a Cantilever, a White Paper I had in my possession while trying to fathom out where the Cacti and Madake share similarities. The White Paper was specific to a Few Plants from the Cactaceae Genus, which are specifically renowned in the field of Acanthochronology for their unique structure and properties shown when put under test, to show their unique resilience.

The info for somebody like myself was not the easiest to make full comprehension of the entirety of the content, but there is sections that are understood with relative ease. The good thing is I don't really have to know much, there are others who fully get the reasoning and have adopted it to what seems like a really good measure.

What was of real interest was the very positive response from the advocate of Cacti Spines I shared the info with, as one Species presented in the White Paper is a Acicular chosen by this person.

I was content with learning a Acicular with an approx' eight years of controlled environmental storage was in reserve for my design for a Cart's transformation. 

Repurposing Cart's, Cacti Spines as a Cantilever, using ones own owned materials for a extension of use. Really fits in with my progressing outlook on how I can develop a Circular Economy in my daily practices. It does seem like the Circular Economy concept has been rooted in myself before it actually received a trendy Title. 

As said, I can so I did, better for my person, than being usual, where discarding is practiced to buy in new.

Dear @dogberry It’s not try to dinish that cartridge because the real issue is deeper in the whole audioworld.

Take cartridges and please name it others than Lyra that really did it something real to up-grade this archaic medium that for been archaicis really a pain in the ass up grading.

Take TTs and other than the @richardkrebs K3 all is more of the same. Example Tech-Das a " rethinked Micro Seiki " at astronomical price tag. The SAT is in essence a Technics SP10.

Tonearms? please name itone today design that can compete with the EPA 100MK2 by Technics.

Now, not only audiophiles arebuying more of the same and even inferior that " the same " with lower quality reproduction at extremely high prices and unfortunatelly exist thousands of audiophiles willing to buy it and ceratinly they bought it.

Severalaudiophiles are waiting for the come back of Decca cartridges.

My home audio system performs at truly top levels with no single today ( other that our Essential 3180 ) audio item, not even atoday cartridge because the vintage ones Iown are very very good.Yes, at priorimy whole system is obsolete and archaic but competes with any $$$$ top system out there, my room/system truly honot MUSIC reproduction and this is at the end all about Ilook for and yes I’m way demanding and with out conformism other that what the life impedes.

dogberry the price tag of that cartridge is 10K and its frequency response 20hz-20khz hasaswing of 2db. Go figure of what you are paying and additionala bad tracker ! ! !  !  ? ? ? 

I'm not against the manufacturer he has not the culprit about, it's his design and gentlemans buy it knowing those.

R.

Raul, I’ve never heard the Hyperion, but to be fair an error of +/-1db, as quoted for it, does not allow for 2db of error at any single frequency, as I’m sure you know. Furthermore the Hyperion excels at channel separation and at a few other standard parameters. Do the latter excellent numbers make it a great cartridge? In my mind, no. The only thing that counts is listening.

The Math alone is a guide, The Math alone will assist with isolating certain Cart's to be recognised, to be worthwhile listening to.

The Math alone is not an End Sound, and almost all are using the End Sound as the method of Evaluation. If the Audible Experience is not had, there is not any real substantiation to a assessment being made or offered as a description.

Math, Materials used for the production, along with the interfacing mechanically and electronically are what would be considered the factors that influence the End Sound, of which there are numerous permutations and not all used will ever be known about within one forum.

It is always best to spread ones investigations wide and increase the knowledge base,