Tranfiguration Orpheus description

"I really can't see how any phono component can be evaluated other than as part of an evaluation of the complete system."

This is a very critical point often overlooked and I wholly-heartedly agree with Larry on this.

I too did listen to a host of top flight carts - Urushi, Allearts MC1B, Dynavector Te Kaitora and XX2, and at the end of the day, the conclusion was similar to Positive Feedback's Roger Gordon, who concluded saying "Each of the three cartridges gives a slightly different view of the music, but all three views are equally valid and equally beautiful. I could easily live with any of them."

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue22/cartridges.htm

Nsgarch wrote:

Oh really? I wonder what Nakatsuka-san would think of a customer who thought him such a sloppy craftsman as to make a cartridge that had to be raked BACKWARD to achieve proper SRA? (to say nothing of the hurt feelings of the tonearm designer!)

I guess a proper comparison remains in the future . . . .

Heh, more blind and incorrect assumptions, Neil. I haven't checked other TriPlanars, but on this one a slightly tail down arm results in a parallel cartridge and vertical SRA. That has been true with Denons, Shelters, Koetsus, ZYX's and now Trannys. We did not and do not play with negative VTA or SRA.

I guess a post from you based on first hand experience remains in the future...

I agree with the point made by Larryi and cmk that cartridge evaluation is part of the complete system.

However, that does not change the fact that some cartridges are quieter, track better, and retrieve more information than others.

Could most of live with a number of cartridges? Probably. If you could choose only one, what are your criteria? Mine are mentioned previously.

Neil,

I was checking SRA before fine tuning by ear for years before you ever posted about it. Spare us your smarmy "advice".

BTW, Jon Risch published the SRA methodology that some here give you credit for back in 1999, long before you did. While I have mentioned Jon's article repeatedly you have never acknowledged his pioneering work, though you apparently don't mind taking credit for it.

I wonder if SirSpeedy includes plagiarism in his definition of dishonesty? He's our expert on that subject.

Doug:

Neil. I haven't checked other TriPlanars, but on this one a slightly tail down arm results in a parallel cartridge

Then I think you should send the whole TA back to Tri and have him check the headshell alignment. Something wrong with either the headshell or cartridge mounting hardware, perhaps the ZYX spacer plate.

slightly tail down arm results in // vertical SRA.

My SME is also tail-down with vertical SRA, but vertical SRA is not what we're after. So, once you found vertical SRA (as I explained elsewhere) then the TA post needs to go up about 6mm to achieve the nominal 1.5 degrees SRA. At that point the TA wand should be parallel, or even sligntly nose down.

Put another way, and assuming a proper undamaged 23 cm.TA: were I to mount a cartridge and set the TA for vertical SRA (using my scope and mirror) and then after raising the TA post 6mm (to get nominal 1.5 degree SRA) discover that the TA wand was still sloping backward, I would return the cartridge AS DEFECTIVE (stylus improperly mounted in the cantilever)!!

Intelligent mechanical design demands that tonearms (including unipivots and most straight line trackers) have their horizontal pivot axis ABOVE the stylus' point of contact with the record, and not below. This, along with the more recent move to underslung counterweights, insures mechanical stability of the entire system with respect to gravity (e.g. improving the ability to better track warped records ;--)

My point is, that after going through proper setup procedure, including the use of a scope and mirror to determine vertical SRA (THERE'S SIMPLY NO OTHER PRACTICAL WAY TO DO THIS AT HOME!) still, if by some ironic miracle, one wound up with the correct 1.5 degree SRA, yet the cartridge and/or arm were sloping backward, then the cartridge and/or arm would need checking and service because one or both of them are defective or damaged.

Frankly, I doubt there's anything wrong with either your arm or your cartridge, and I'd be more than happy to send you whatever tools you lack to carry out this VERY NECESSARY determination. Can you imagine trying to cut a record without watching the ENTIRE PROCESS through a microscope?

Personally, I've NEVER met a cartridge that needed to be raked backward to achieve proper SRA, or that sounded better that way . . . . . unless it was loaded at 47Kohms ;--)

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