$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

Chris,

I’m glad to hear of your restful Thanksgiving break. Listening to records and reading thought-provoking material is always a great pastime!

Thanks for the Rockport link. That’s some turntable! It's well above anything I will ever be able to afford, that's for sure.

Before spending the big bucks, you could always try a speed controller with your current turntable to see if it will make any difference.

I think you have your heart set on a Schroder, so you should simply get it. You most likely won’t be happy with anything else. I think it's clear that both Chris and Thom feel that the Schroder is the best match for their respective turntables. And now that we know the "string" holding up the Schroder armtube is very strong, there’s nothing to worry about, right? Just don’t leave any scissors lying around near your table when small children come to visit. Snip! Snip!

>>One of the things about perpetual upgrading is that it enables the audio guys to continue to design better equipment because there is that flow of capital into the market. <<

I will have to remember that one. Wow! My excuse for buying new gear is simply, “ I deserver it!” But who is this “I” am referring to and what is this state of deserving? That implies a really big rationalization: I am assuming that the universe does, indeed, have a moral design in which I am the perpetual recipient of good tidings, especially anything analog related. Then there’s plain ol’ “G’me! G”me! That usually works, for it reduces life to its biological-drive-state level. There’s nothing better than plain old id-cathexsis! In other words, if it feels good, do it!

With your new rack, I would anticipate blacker backgrounds, better focus, increased clarity, and better-defined transients with less sonic smearing due to equipment vibrations. Musical notes should stand out in greater relief, and there might even be better spatial relationships within the soundstage. But maybe I am going to far?

Did you say “four large” as in $4,000, or $400? It’s just an extra zero, I know, but what a zero!

And now for some news…

I bought a turntable, tonearm, cartridge, and phono stage since my last post. Any guess what I bought?

To be continued…

Artar,

You're right about all the things that you say about the rack, I am hearing the decay after the notes and this makes the totality of the listening experience that much more profound. I tend to just feel like I am listening to music, and though Alvin Lloyd of GPA told me to experiment with tweaks, I have been too busy listening to music. For once I don't feel like I need to eke out a little more of this or that with cones, sinks etc. Everything just sounds more natural. And yes, I meant four LARGE. I got the Apex footers with it and add on tax etc and you're over three and damn near four. Which has slowed down my turntable plans somewhat. Perhaps I will look into the Schroeder Model 2 which is the cheaper version of his arm, available only in carbon fiber armwand. However this experience has made me feel that having a good rack is essential, so my digital upgrade plans have been put on hold.....analog upgrade first, digital later......

So for yr "gimme, gimme, gimme" post, what happened to "next spring" for your purchase? Unless you went for the Teres but somehow I feel that if you made such a leap that perhaps you found a deal on something out of the box of what we'd been discussing......the real question for this thread is 'What $800 cartridge did you get? The Shelter? Inquiring minds want to know...."

By the way, I posted this elsewhere but you should check this out, the craziest system I ever saw!:

King of Audio!

We love to anthropomorphise things don't we? If you use the menu on the page look at the "Electric Baron and the Decca Brothers" link.

Chris

Hi Chris,
Thanks for your kind words(previous post). Fwiw, the No.2 arm is also available with a Pertinax(resin impregnated paper) based, three layer CLD armwand. Looks more like wood and has none of the carbon fiber sonic fingerprint.

A great weekend to this bunch,

Frank

Artar? Come back here buddy! You can't taunt me with your purchase then not fess up to what it is! Come on man!

Frank,

I was wondering what the sonic differences between the two materials would be? I am very interested in the Model 2. I had read that it might be better on rock music which is 85% of what I listen to. Would one or other of the materials sound better in this context?

Thanks,
Chris

Hey Chris,

I'm here. I wanted to make sure the purchase went through before blabbing about it on the net. I will write more.

Enjoy.