Tranfiguration Orpheus description

Jtimothea...so true!"The heart of piccolodeum",ILOVE that!!
Actually as to all this piccolo business,I'm not talking about recognizing the instrument,as such.It is clear,on a good set-up,as to "it" being a piccolo,What I have never heard,is the correct timbre of the instrument(in playing lp's),as well as the actual bit of air,and slight vibrant,almost rich, etheral quality that is seemingly imposible to get.Almost a roundness to the frequencies.Sorry,but it is hard to describe,and easy to actually think we have it right.The piccolo analogy is "Perfect",for such a difficult performance parameter,with the best "tiny transducers",and other reproducers of musical signals.
I have only heard this on my friend's system,with the Air Tangent,and his Titan/Art/ultra modded Infinity speakers.I cannot get this,to the degree I am talking of,with my own set-up,even though,on paper,my system stands up to my friend's.Previously,I would have to adjust for vta frequently,for each disc,whereas my friend can simply sit back and have it,almost dead on,CONSTANTLY.Lp to Lp,and label to label(the Black Hole thing,I guess).The lucky bastard!Maybe my new audio "gizmos",and the new,more accurate stylus pressure guage can aid me,but I'm not holding my breath.
BTW,who am I to doubt if any of you guys can obtain this!!Sorry for my arrogance,here.It has just been SO damn hard to get this parameter "really right" for me,the way I "need" to hear it,as well as another frustrated audio pal of mine,that I don't want to have the "I can recognize it's a piccolo",confused with "WOW,listen to that breathy timbre,and natural TOOT,on that darn piccolo".There IS a difference!That difference seperates really great musical reproduction from merely very good.Trust me.All of my variables,as to other components are in order.Cables etc.It's a "tracking/voicing/intricate setting" thing.Of that I am sure!If the Orpheus can ameliorate this,for me,I will consider myself set,in this hobby.
Boy,I'm getting carried away,and I'm sorry,but ponder this piccolo business when some of you fine 'philes are fotzing around with voicing.It can be a big help,over time.
Best!

No, the Supreme was an earlier cartridge with an aluminum tube cantilever and silver coil wire. The sound was very pleasant in the midrange, but the top end was a little "papery" (sorry, that is the only way I can think of to describe it, like a paper-cone driver trying to go too high up) The first couple years of production of the V (boron cantilever, back to copper wire) had permalloy coil formers, then came the W with ss-u (mu) material, then the V was changed to this material and gained about .1mV output, plus improved sound. I also did have two of the older supremes which, as you state, were nice at the time, but not in the same league as the v/w, and probably not quite as refined (though slightly more natural sounding) as the original AF-1. Over the years I have also tried numerous Benz' and Koetsu's, Spectral, aq7000, audionote, linn, kiseki...all the way back to the first cartridge that "opened my ears" back in the early '70's and actually got this cartridge passion started (after several empire's), the microacoustics (1001? 2002? or something...that was over 30 years ago). Never had a supex and missed the real early m/c revolution, as, even though there was a lot more info, the tonal balance just sounded too much "audiophile" (as I would now call it) and not enough like what I heard at the concert hall (sounded more like the sports arena...). Since the V/W series, though, I have been pretty settled in the Transfig camp, as just about everything else, no matter how great the positives, has too many negatives, usually a veering away from the timbral accuracy that got me there in the first place. On certain recordings, I long for the seductive sound of the Koetsu Rosewood Sig. Platinum, but that is mostly the need for a band-aid. Before the Orpheus, I also found myself thinking the explosive dynamics of the Magic Diamond would be nice, but, again, there seem to be phase/timing things going on with most of the yoked cartridges that bug me more and more over the years, as I get more and more used to hearing the Transfigs.

The piccolos I heard on the dealer setup. All the other comparisons are based on listening to my own Orpheus, which I have had since April, in my own system. My own system is quite a bit higher res than the dealer's (again, why the passage caught my attention), though, I have to say, I was very impressed with how musical that system sounded, considering its (relatively) modest (ok, let's face it, how nuts does this make us?) cost. Just haven't listened to anything with loud piccolo passages (not something I often listen for/to) on my own system. Though I will, now, just out of curiosity.

Thanks. Will do.

Now about those piccolos: I just listened to the LennyB/NYP Tai-Chi 4th/3rd piccolito passage(s) with my W -- sounded excellent, and I found it enabled me to dial-in the AS even closer.

I don't know what recording led to the comments above, but Lenny must've had a hell of a time finding piccolo players in NY that year, there couldn't have been more than six pics on my recording, but it was enough to hear what y'all are talking about.

Stats:

SME V arm
Goldmund Studietto TT w/ sorbothane PandaPaws (no springs)

VTF = 1.95 gm
AS = 1 (gm? on the SME dial)
Silicone damping = minimum, 1 or 2 threads on the dipstick

Glad to see some glowing testimonicles finally surfacing for the Trannies -- it's about time ;--)

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I don't want to have the "I can recognize it's a piccolo",confused with "WOW,listen to that breathy timbre,and natural TOOT,on that darn piccolo".

Speedy - yes exactly. Piccolos (and flutes) have their timbre - and that of breath across a hole in *metal* is unique and not quite as sweet as wood. Bodies can be wood or metal. I agree it is indeed tougher to catch the breathy quality of a piccolo versus, say,a flute. IMO, getting that breathy quality right also means getting the timing and microdynamics right, especially on passages as the one I cited. Tonality alone goes a long way though I believe the 'quality of the real' rolls up dynamics, timing, and tonality. We can dissect and analyze, but it is the synthetic capacity of both musician and system that delivers the magic.

Until I get off the pot and decide on a cartridge, my system will remain, as you say, 'merely very good'. This discussion of the Orpheus makes it sooo tantalizing. Thanks to Nsgarch amd Bc3 for your insights.