$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

Upgrade your phono cable to an Empress. After that improvement you may be able to judge better about the cartridge.

First off I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to respond to my analog questions. It's really tough these days to get good help. As you know many audio salons either have no analog setups, or if they do, they may have one or two turntables that are usually what I don't want.

Jphii,

It may be a little strange that I have decided to start with the cartridge, but I believe it's the cartridge that has the biggest impact upon the sound of an analog front end. That is not to say the turntable, tonearm, and phono preamp have no influence because they certainly do. But I feel the cartridge and its requirements need to be considered first, like speakers, before the rest of the analog system can be chosen. For example, the choice of cartridge influences the choice of tonearm. The tonearm needs to have the proper mass to be compatible with the compliance requirements of the cartridge. Moreover, the arm has to match the turntable and work well with it too. So all these components have to be chosen carefully and balanced in order to get the best sound possible.

As to my associated equipment, I am currently using a pair of Martin Logan Ascent loudspeakers with a pair of Cambridge Soundworks Newton P-1000 subwoofers. My amp is the Proceed AMP5 and my preamp is the Klyne Model 7LX3.5. I will have the phono module added sometime soon. The phono module has a fixed capacitance of 150 pF, variable loading from 100 ohms to 47K ohms, and selectable gain of 36, 50, 64, and 66 dB. Also in the near future, the Proceed will be relieved of its two-channel duties and replaced by a bi-amping arrangement, which will include an Adcom GFA 5500 for the woofers and a tubed amp for the ESL panels (e.g., Conrad-Johnson Premier 140, McIntosh MC275 monoblocks, Quicksiliver V4 monos, or Music Reference RM200).

My room measures 28 feet long and 14 feet wide. The listening portion is a 14-foot square. I sit about 10 feet from my speakers, and it seems that a 100 watt per channel amp into 4 ohms is all I need.

As for the type of music I listen to on vinyl, 85% is orchestral classical music and the rest is instrumental jazz.

I hope this information helps.

Twl,

I have looked at the Teres 245 very closely. I like the way that turntable looks; I am a real sucker for aesthetics. But there is no way for me to know in advance whether I will like how it sounds, and I will not have a frame of reference in which to judge it. However, by the testimonials I have seen and by the various posts on this bulletin board, my impression is that it must be a very good sounding turntable indeed, one that I could be very happy with.

I do have one question. It appears that I will have to finish the turntable myself. I am not opposed to that idea, but having to apply the finish to a $2,400 turntable in which there is no dealer markup seems a little too much to pay.

Now I am not trying to cause trouble here; I am just making an observation.

Also, how much sanding is involved and how is the final finish applied?

As for tonearms, I seem to like the SME 309 or Morch better than the Origin Live. What is your take on these alternatives?

To get started with analog, I will choose one of the cartridges from the first group, and maybe upgrade in a couple of years once I have a better understanding what my current cartridge can do and what analog is capable of delivering. So let me look at the choices presented.

I feel the point of diminishing returns sets in very steeply at the $800 price point. I am sure that $300-to-$500 cartridges come very close, but the $800 cartridge delivers that something extra I am willing to pay for. So $800 is the floor, but $1,500 is the ceiling. Above that level, I feel a little uncomfortable spending more.

I put the Dynavector on the list because of a review done by Paul Seydor of TAS. I have never heard the cartridge, but I get the feeling that I would like something with a little more midrange lushness and a little more output, perhaps 0.5 mV.

The Shelter 501 has been well reviewed and is the hot cartridge right now. It tops my list and should work well with the equipment I now have.

The Sumiko is also very good, but I think the Shelter might be slightly better, and certainly not worse. I can only choose one cartridge so the Shelter leads the group.

I was really excited about the Grado. But with its tracking and hum issues I am a little less excited about it now. I have heard the Grado Reference Sonata in the recent past. It did a fantastic job on vocals, but when it can to symphonies, there seemed to be a loss of air and bloom in the upper frequencies and the overall presentation was a little less exciting.

The Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood got such a strong recommendation by Bob Reina of Stereophile, but in the Audio Asylum and on Audiogon the reception has not been that strong. While I am sure it's a good cartridge, I don't see too many people singing its praises. I think the reason might be that anyone willing to spend $800 or more for a cartridge may want a moving coil design and not a moving magnet.

For my upgrade cartridge choice, it will most likely be either the Shelter 901 or the Benz Micro L2.

IMO the cartridge is very important, but you can't maximize performance of a cartridge without a solid foundation (table & arm) as a starting point.