Transfiguration Orpheus - Has anyone tried it ?

A further update from my friend who has an Orpheus. Note that he has superb ears and I value his judgement. The comments are somewhat general but, he certainly gets his message across.

"I was not expecting this kind of improvement at all with the Orpheus, since the Temper V is so good, but it kicks the V's ass and doesn't look back. Might be the best all around cartridge I have ever heard...at any price. There are Koetsu lovers out there who will still stick by their $10K+ carts, but I don't even know about that. This thing is amazing."

Sorry for not coming back earlier. BTW you need to remove the antispam “outthisbit” part of my email address to send an email.

To put my comments in perspective I should say that I have been using a Colibri for the last 2 years or so and to be honest it was only my itchiness for change that set me looking elsewhere. The Colibri has not really put a foot wrong other than the occasional bad tracking.
I did manage to try out an Orpheus and I must say that it’s a great performer but being a row D type of person I was never totally satisfied with it although I have a feeling it may be one of those cartridges that would have gradually won me over.
With the itchy feeling for change persisting I then tried out the Decca London Reference for a week and I now own one. This cartridge was not easy to live with straight out of the box though, it was totally different to the demonstraightor, very hard sounding, with no finesse. I was beginning to think that I would be going back to the Colibri but I persisted with the run-in process. Now that it has about 30 hours on it the sound has just started to change, almost overnight, so may be it will stay but I think it needs another 50 hours or so before I will know for sure. But…. the Colibri is very special.

Hey TUBES 108,"Shaddup"!!I was just beginning to begin my state of "audio satisfaction",without feeling the need to start to really consider pondering something new.I have a very nice Temper-v.I LIKE THAT STATE OF MIND!Now you have put a dent in my summer vacation plans,as I'll have to begin to start an "Orpheus fund".
Thanks for nothing!! -:)

Andrew,
It's difficult for me to answer that type of question without hearing the Orpheus on MY system compared to my Temper W. I wouldn't call Larry's system all that warm to begin with. It's a very detailed system that excels with classical music, which IMO is no simple task. Also, we're talking about horns here.

That said, I didn't find the Orpheus to be much different than the Temper in the warmth category. It's slightly more detailed, digs a bit deeper and seem to have a blacker background with a bit more transparency. I really don't think it's a night and day difference as described above. It seems to do everything the Temper did, just a little better. There's also the issue regarding Larry's "V" which certainly sounded better six months ago than it did when he traded it in.

From what I've heard so far, I believe the Temper and the Orpheus are very similiar. Is the Orpeus worth the difference in price? It certainly was for Larry. I'm not so sure I'd feel the same way on my system playing old jazz LPs 90% of the time.

- Gary

sirspeedy. i have heard the temper v in my system for a short time and it is one fine cartridge. you know at some point in time, no matter how gd a piece of gear is, something will come along that betters what you have. i have not heard the Orpheus, and no doubt it beats the v, but...i am sure i could live with the v for a long time, regardless. though i bet my friend would be pleased that his quote has lead you to start an Orpheus fund. such is life in this hobby.