Artar 1 to Twl:
On the TT/arm/cartridge hierarchy thing, I was fiddling with cartridges this weekend and thought I'd try the opposite extreme from the cheap TT/expensive cartridge mismatch, just for haha's. While switching from one fancy MC to another I slipped my old ADC XLM MkII in the system.
Now this was about as ridiculous as the Koetsu Tiger Eye/Denon setup. $3900 TT, $3900 tonearm, 25-year-old MM cartridge that was about $140 back in the day. (It does have a fairly low-hours stylus, though it hasn't been used in about 18 months.)
I gave the old XLM quite a scare. First, she got mounted on this high-falutin rig. Then I brought out the alignment protractor. She had never seen one of those before, and she didn't like it one bit! Crookedest cantilever I've ever seen but there was enough play in the slots to line things up, more or less.
I pulled out some backup copies of one or two LPs and -OOPS! Don't forget to bypass the stepups. Can you say overload?
So how did this nonsensical mismatch sound. Damned impressive! Having lived with three top quality MC's the weaknesses were obvious of course, no highs, not much bass, kinda slow and sludgy. But it was also dynamic, musical and very listenable. If I had never heard the MC's I might go some time with the XLM before noticing what was missing.
Without coaching him I asked Paul which idiotic mismatch he'd rather live with, this cheap cartridge/expensive rig or the Shelter 901/cheap rig we listened to for a couple of weeks before our Teres showed up. With no hesitation he pointed at the good rig/cheap cartridge combo. "This makes music," he said, "the Shelter just showed up the flaws of the inadequate TT and arm."
It was silly, but it was fun to demonstrate the truth of the hierarchy Twl recommends. Balance is best of course, but if you must mismatch for a time, get the best rig you can afford and skimp (to a point) on the cartridge.
Nice point! You should be an audio dealer!ROFL!!! Artar, do you really think this quality of advice comes from an amateur? Or did you forget the ;-)?
On the TT/arm/cartridge hierarchy thing, I was fiddling with cartridges this weekend and thought I'd try the opposite extreme from the cheap TT/expensive cartridge mismatch, just for haha's. While switching from one fancy MC to another I slipped my old ADC XLM MkII in the system.
Now this was about as ridiculous as the Koetsu Tiger Eye/Denon setup. $3900 TT, $3900 tonearm, 25-year-old MM cartridge that was about $140 back in the day. (It does have a fairly low-hours stylus, though it hasn't been used in about 18 months.)
I gave the old XLM quite a scare. First, she got mounted on this high-falutin rig. Then I brought out the alignment protractor. She had never seen one of those before, and she didn't like it one bit! Crookedest cantilever I've ever seen but there was enough play in the slots to line things up, more or less.
I pulled out some backup copies of one or two LPs and -OOPS! Don't forget to bypass the stepups. Can you say overload?
So how did this nonsensical mismatch sound. Damned impressive! Having lived with three top quality MC's the weaknesses were obvious of course, no highs, not much bass, kinda slow and sludgy. But it was also dynamic, musical and very listenable. If I had never heard the MC's I might go some time with the XLM before noticing what was missing.
Without coaching him I asked Paul which idiotic mismatch he'd rather live with, this cheap cartridge/expensive rig or the Shelter 901/cheap rig we listened to for a couple of weeks before our Teres showed up. With no hesitation he pointed at the good rig/cheap cartridge combo. "This makes music," he said, "the Shelter just showed up the flaws of the inadequate TT and arm."
It was silly, but it was fun to demonstrate the truth of the hierarchy Twl recommends. Balance is best of course, but if you must mismatch for a time, get the best rig you can afford and skimp (to a point) on the cartridge.