$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path



I am putting together an analog system, starting with the cartridge. I like a well-balanced sound with a slightly lush midrange and excellent extension at the frequency extremes. The cartridge should be a reasonably good tracker. Here are my choices:

1. Dynavector Karat 17D MkII
2. Shelter 501
3. Sumiko Black Bird
4. Grado Statement Master
5. Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood

Which one comes closest to my wish list? Which one would you choose?

Here are the upgrade cartridges to the above list, one of which would be purchased later:

1. Shelter 901
2. Benz Micro L2
3. Grado Statement Reference
4. Koetsu Black

Which one comes closest to my wish list? Which one would you choose?

Now, which turntable/tonearm combination (for new equipment up to $4,500) would you choose to handle a cartridge from the first group and the upgrade cartridge from the second group?

Any help you can provide is greatly welcomed. Thanks!
artar1

Doug,

>>Now you have to work out ROFLMAO.<<

Hmmmm…

Wait a minute…I think I have it…no wait…Hmmmm…

Don’t tell me: it’s how a dyslexic spells “Alfa Romeo?”

>>Well, that's probably the 25-year-old cart and 10-year-old suspension. It was musical though, with no extraneous noise from the TT of course. How was the Koetsu/Denon setup in that respect?<<

Well, I have to sort out the contribution made by the speakers to the overall sound, but I think I can do it.

First, the Denon was very susceptible to acoustic feedback like sticking one’s head in a rain barrel while someone else was beating it with a club. Now, that’s an exaggeration, but I was very conscious about NOT getting out of my chair to wander around the room, a small den on the second floor, for fear that my footfalls would be transferred to the speakers. I also noticed that Bob was also very careful not to jump up suddenly while the record was playing. I further noticed that Bob lowered the Denon’s dust cover VERY carefully, which still managed to send a LOUD thud to the speakers. You know, the sound of dropping a 100lb bag of potatoes from a second story building. These experiences told me that the plinth and platter (a good name for a pizza parlor for audiophiles) were doing a very poor job of providing good isolation and damping.

Second, while the midrange was clear and present, I noticed a lack of good pitch definition in the bass, which may have been due to the Carver Amazing Cubes rather than the cartridge. And there was a noticeable lack of upper-octave bloom and air that should have been there. When the music was first turned on, the subs were outputting too much “boom,” so the first order of business was to reduce their output. Then I had Bob adjust the bass Q of his Amazing speakers to 1, which is fairly tight and fast. This is how I have my woofers set up, and I believe it better corresponds to lower frequency reproduction in the concert hall and in real life, such as artillery fire, which I have heard close up. (By the way, no subwoofer ever made can even come close to reproducing the retort of a 105mm howitzer. Maybe that’s why I seldom listen to the finale of “The 1812 Overture” that so many audiophiles insist on playing. Give me a string quartet any day!)

Once the bass was brought back into line, Bob “goosed” (honk!) the midrange so that it would have more presence, but not at the expense of the very top octave. All was well, but I still noticed a slight lack of the rich overtones that live music possesses, especially when it’s played in the San Francisco Opera House. Okay, no biggie I told myself, but then I had to remember that I was listening to a $10,000 cartridge (now $13,000), and I was a little underwhelmed!

At the Analog Room many years ago, I heard a Koetsu cartridge on a Sota Sapphire Turntable with a modified SME tonearm driving a pair of Quad ESL 63s. Wow! There was life, breath, depth, air, and atmosphere in the records being played, a sound so beautiful that no CD player I have ever heard regardless of cost could possibly match. With this “gold” standard in mind, the Denon/Koetsu sounded more like a smooth, homogenized CD than really great vinyl; that’s how much deadening was applied to the music thanks to the Denon turntable.

While the midrange had presence, clarity, transparency, and openness that were very impressive, it lacked the ultimate in layering, shimmering nuance, and three dimensionality of the best tube/analog-based systems I have heard. The electronics were partly to blame, for they added a very slight dryness to the mix, but it was minor. Nevertheless, the Koetsu cartridge was at the helm, and I expected more, but the slightly dulling effects of the amp/preamp/turntable combination held it back. If the Koetsu had been mounted on your turntable, Doug, I would predict a far different outcome. Gone would be the sublime neutrality of your ZXY, and in its place we would be bathed in glorious golden tones with exquisite air and detail.

Huba! Huba! Huba! Oops, I think I need a cold shower!
Glorious golden goo you mean, and a shower would definitely be in order! I've heard two good Koetsu's on a Teres (RSP and Urushi). A ZYX sounds more like real music to me, YMMV.

Nice description though. You painted a good picture of this guy's setup and it ain't pretty. Carver Amazing Cubes? Midrange tone controls? Pity he wasted so much dough on a cartridge. He could have gotten better sound for half the money by asking Twl or the guys at the Analog Room.

Meet you at the Plinth & Platter for a Pint?
Mr. Kidknow: I'll add a "second" to your recommendation of Arthur Salvatore's Supreme Records list. If you're fond of classical music, this is a great list to peruse.
http://www.high-endaudio.com/index_ac.html

When I first saw Arthur's list appear several years ago, I was pleased to see how closely his list and my record collection coincided. So, I'm biased. His recommendations track right along with my own experience, including his contrarian comments about LP collecting and which pressings sound more like real live music (largely). Not sure he and I see quite as "eye-to-eye" when it comes to his equipment recommendations, however. But I sure do respect the man for his LP recommendations!
.

Doug,

The bass, midrange, and treble controls were on the back of the speakers! Now that's amazing!

The sound was not as bad as I have painted it, and it wasn't overly warm either.

By the way, Bob lives in Washington so the Sound Room would be a little far for him.

Twl,

I fully appreciate how lengthy the DC vs. AC discussion can be! Wow! Thanks for the information.

>>AC Synchronous motors use the AC line frequency (60Hz) that is generated by the power company to use as a speed reference that keeps their motor speed "constant", similar to an electric clock.<<

So the line frequency never varies? It’s always 60Hz?

In your estimation, what is the best controller for a DC motor?

>>Since the ear is most sensitive to minor speed variations occurring in a rapid manner (flutter), we strive to minimize flutter, but the methods we use may result in slower variations (wow).<<

You have given an excellent definition of flutter. I now understand that concept much better.

>>However, it is generally conceded that a well-implemented DC motor can sound better than an AC synchronous [one].<<

This is my understanding as well.

>>The individual TT makers use their ideas of what the best method is, and the user must decide which he prefers sonically. Most of the best units are very, very good, and will not intrude into the listening experience noticeably.<<

Good point. For most of us, how the motor controls a Teres turntable will be nearly inaudibly, especially for someone like me. Frankly I am not too worried about the AC vs. DC debate because under most circumstances I would have a hard time telling the two technologies apart on a sonic basis. Nevertheless, I am glad that the people at Teres have taken DC regulation seriously and have done as much as possible to create the best motor possible for the money.

>>If you want a better platter than the acrylic because of the reflected resonance issue, then stepping up to the next higher level of platter will be useful, not adding a mat.<<

I understand. The acrylic will be good enough for my purposes. Several turntable manufacturers use it. The other popular material is aluminum. But these platters always seem to have a mat. However, a few companies are using composites. I guess they are hoping that a mixture of materials will provide the best of all sonic worlds. But this may not be the case. Composites might simply magnify the weakness of each element used or create a rather dull sound, like mixing too many colors together on a painting which oftentimes creates a brown, gray, ugly mass.

>>In fact, every single choice you make as an audiophile will have plusses and minuses. It is up to you to select equipment, which has the plusses in the areas of most importance to you, and has the minuses in the areas of least sensitivity to you. This is the crux of assembling a satisfying system that will meet your needs as a listener, and it is also why there are so many different ideas of what is "best".<<

Brilliant! A wonderful statement! You have given the best argument against audio-absolutism I've seen, the idea that there can be only one best component for a given category, an idea promulgated by such people like Harry Pearson and Arthur Salvatore.