$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

Dear Artar1: I'm sorry for my comment on blend electronics ( Pass amps ? ). I know that this was not the topic.
Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Artar1: It is a heavy drawback to blend differents amps in a bi-amp system, even if its are from the same manufacturer.
Be carefully on this subject.
Raul.

If the Shelter 901 sounds over the top in your system, how do you think it would sound in mine? I will have to pass on this cartridge. Did different loadings have any effect? Did you try a lower resistance setting to try to soften the top end?

Yes, I've tried quite fine impedance adjustments. Our stepup tranniess have resistor terminals built in, so I can change cartridge loading in a few seconds to any value I choose. With the 901 we tried values from 19 ohms to 50 before settling on 38. This was with a HIFI modded OL Silver. When we changed arms the optimal load for the 901 changed to 37.5 ohms, no doubt due a slight difference in arm cables.

For the ZYX Airy, I started at 10 ohms, because this gives a similar ratio of impedance load to internal cartridge impedance as 38 ohms does for a Shelter 901. This seems to be pretty nearly ideal in our system.

The slight brightness or etched-ness of the 901 cannot be tamed by loading it down, unless you suppress the highs altogether I suppose. We heard it through Cello's Supratek Cortese at 500, 100 and 50 ohms. It's audible in my very different system at any listenable load. As Soliver says, it's just in the nature of the cartridge. It's a kind of ringing or resonance that causes the 901 to slightly over-emphasise detail and surface noise, and throws everything to the front. The ZYX lets truly quiet passages play as soft as a mouse. The 901 doesn't know how to do that.

Twl,

As always, you have provided useful and sage comments about the tubes versus solid state issue. For me, the issue is closed and it's a solved problem as far as my system is concerned. What's more, I agree with you about the choice between the two as being a matter of personal taste. That sure works for me.

Hey Dougdeacon,

Thanks for responding.

It might have been very silly of me to ask you about the loading question. I should have known you must have tried every conceivable resistance, and then some.

The Shelter 901 is now off my upgrade list. If it sounds bright in your system, can you imagine what it would sound like with my Ascents, like perhaps breaking glass or fingernails being drug across a blackboard? These could be the horrors of brightness awaiting me with that cartridge.

You didn’t respond about the sonic degradation that one might expect with detachable arm tubes. Perhaps the loss of fidelity would be small for most people, but for those who have considerable experience, it could be a small problem with top quality, low-output MCs.