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Deciding on which of my cartridges to go on Origin Live and Kuzma arms

I have a Kuzma Ref 2 and Ref 313 VTA and I’m considering the purchase of a Feickert Volare w/ the packaged Origin Live Silver mk4 arm. I own a trio of cartridges that include a My Sonic Hyper, an EMT Tsd 75, and a Charisma (Denon) 103. I’m trying to figure out which cartridge to mount on each of these arms. I’m not the technical sort, but for those who are, I was hoping for some guidance. Here are the specs I have gathered:

Kuzma 313 VTA- Effective Mass: 13 Grams. Has played all 3 of my cartridges well.

Origin Live Silver mk 4- Effective Mass: 12 Grams. I read the OL Silver may be better suited to low/medium compliance cartridges. I believe my EMT is High Compliance.

My Sonic Lab Hyper: weight: 9.5 grams......Compliance: 10 X 10-6cm/dyen

EMT Tsd75: weight: 12 grams...... Compliance: 12 UM/mN

Charisma (Denon) 103: weight: 8.8 grams.....Compliance: 7 UM/mN

I’m aware it’s best to mount and compare each cartridge, but my goal is to obtain an educated starting point. I also noticed the Compliance spec on the My Sonic appears different than the other two, so hopefully this can be translated for comparison. One of these cartridges will be a backup, and will likely reside on a spare head shell I have for my 313. Any thoughts are appreciated. It’s been a fun ride.

fjn04
barolobrain
48 posts
 

Here's a thought from a fellow Kuzma Ref 2 owner.  Rather than change out the entire setup, instead take out the 313 and replace it with a 4point11.  Nothing against the Dr. Feickert TTs and I certainly would have them on my short list if my Kuzma needed replacement but I believe you and your cartridges would be better served with a 4point11.  As for your question, I've not heard any OL arm with your carts but optimal results are going to be totally driven by personal taste.  Read the Korf blog as it relates to matching of arm to cart.  It's a fairly scientific approach to the topic.  I ran an SME V for many years and then replaced it with an AMG 9wC.  Although in theory it was not compatible with my Dynvector XV-1s, the combo worked well is my system.  In fact almost as well as the same cart and the 4point11.  The 4point arm excels in the quality of the machining, engineering enabling easy and consistent repeatability of setup.  You know this from your 313 VTA.  Any way, just another view.

fjn04 OP
1,561 posts
 

This is certainly true as far as what shouldn't be a good match sometimes is. I've heard of two Volare/OG users having great success with a Koetsu Black. So while in theory it shouldn't work, sometimes it does. I've thought of a 4 point, but at the moment my budget is $4K max. Not only that, a second turntable allows me to complete a well balanced second system with the above mentioned Naim integrated and Harbeth speakers. 

jeffreylee
57 posts
 

the specs indicate the Charisma Ruby cantilever/wood 103 isn't a good match w/ the Kuzma.... but go figure...I'm quite happy with the sound.  

And yet you keep coming on here talking about something you apparently read regarding the Silver's compatibility with higher compliance cartridges, even though you're happy with an alleged mismatch between the Kuzma and the Charisma. This is at least the second thread you've started about the same thing.

You seem to sit around with all of this gear and instead of using it, you ask people to tell you what to use. Even though I'm posting two years later, you're probably still asking people what you should do when only you know what you like. Mount a cartridge and get on with it.

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