I'd like to share my thoughts and Paul's.
First, our thanks for Andrew's kind words about our system. We heard the things he described, with one exception, plus some things he did not mention. He is not an experienced classical music listener, so comparing strange music in a strange system represented a double challenge.
I'll describe what we heard on each LP, to give context and to help organize my thoughts.
'Past Times - Piano Rags'
Nonesuch H-71299 (sealed promo copy)
Surprisingly good rendition of solo piano and soundspace for a non-audiophile label
The O lacked the last edge of speed and did not differentiate the many sounds of a piano so clearly (action of mechanism, hammer hitting string, string vibration, echo off the case, vibration of the case). It slightly muddied all of these.
The O also lacked true HF extension, but this often improves with break-in and it would be unfair to consider this a flaw at the 80 hour point. The shrillness Andrew described at 47K ohms, which was reduced at 1500 and gone at 200, all occured at ~14KHz and below. Frequencies above that were attenuated, though they will probably open up with time. Nsgarch is very probably correct that continually lower input impedances will prove best as the cartridge runs in. I have experienced this with several new cartridges.
'Trio' - Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmy Lou Harris
Warner Bros. Records W1-25491 (sealed copy)
The difficult thing about this record is differentiating between the very close vocal harmonies. In addition, this copy was in cellophane too long and developed a nasty warp.
The Orpheus was virtually unable to resolve Dolly and Linda when they sung tight harmonies. Emmy Lou is easy to resolve due to her unique vocal timbre, but the other two sounded almost like one rather full-bodied singer.
The Orpheus was unable to play track 1, at all. It literally jumped out of the groove. We double checked everything but setup was normal and nothing was brushing the record. The suspension simply couldn't handle that warp (the UNIverse tracks it cleanly and plays without distortion). We had to play middle tracks to hear the Orpheus on this record.
Certain accompanying instruments had a slightly smoothed over quality, but this was easier to hear on other records so I'll describe it there.
'Sonic Fireworks, Vol. 1'
Crystal Clear Records CCS-7010
Many of you are familiar with this direct-to-disk showoff disc. Enormously powerful bass and kettle drums, intense brass and a big cathedral pipe organ on some tracks will challenge the dynamic strength and subtlety of any component in the system.
The O's macrodynamics were very good, but its bass response was flawed. (This is where we and Andrew heard differently.) The O's bass was neither deeper nor stronger in amplitude than the U's. It was slightly boomy, which made it seem relatively more prominent compared to other frequencies. This proved problematical for two reasons.
First, it lacked texture. Compared to the U's deep and growly bass, the O's bass was bold but smeared.
Second, it interfered with the rest of the spectrum. I'll give two specific examples:
a) This record contains many large cymbal hits with long decays. When a big bass or kettle drum hit in the middle of a cymbal decay, the decay was temporarily overwhelmed and became inaudible, then reappeared after the drum energy died down a bit. Those familiar with the U know that it never does this. All frequencies are reproduced cleanly and independently, no matter how crazy, complex or dynamic the rest of the music gets. The O could not match this level of transparency.
b) This record contains both a huge bass drum and a set of very large kettle drums. The O had a hard time distinguishing which was which. The U not only does that, it resolves the size and shape of each.
'Fragile', Yes
Atlantic Records SD 19132 (very minty copy)
Andrew's a rock listener and this represents the best (and almost the only) LP from my rock "collection". ;-)
He asked for the beginning of the last cut on side 2, 'Heart of the Sunrise', and I'll defer to him for why that cut was chosen. Paul and I both heard the same thing however, a dynamically flatter or restrained presentation. The O did not attain the dynamic range between loudest and softest that we're used to.
I think that about covers what we heard. The Orpheus is, as Andrew said, a neutral, uncolored and resolving cartridge. Its bass is solid but flawed and it does not control energies well enough to attain the very low noise floor and wide dynamic range that ZYX listeners are used to. This is what prompted Paul to speculate that a Schroeder might be a good match, since Frank's arms tame excess energies better than any we know.
I'll be happy to answer any questions, but speculation about whether VTF, VTA, azimuth, impedance or other setup parameters might have improved things will not be answered, since that is pointless speculation. We did our honest best in the time we had, with the owner standing right there and confirming every adjustment. No audiophile I've met has ears to match Paul's for VTA and VTF. Andrew and I both confirmed the azimuth setting by ear and we all heard the impedance changes easily. My belief is that we got at least 95% of what this particular Orpheus is capable of given its fairly low hours.
