Tranfiguration Orpheus description

Neil,

Glad you're getting those good results.

Remember that our findings were strictly comparative, an attempt to describe differences, not a statement about absolute performance capabilities. 99% of the cartridges in the world would do worse than an Orpheus or a UNIverse.

Remember also that Andrew's Orpheus was relatively new and we had little time for fine tuning the setup.

Drop in next time you're passing through CT!

Late on this thread ...

Can anyone tell me of a cartridge whose essential character did NOT reveal itself after 80 hours?

That's 240 record sides, folks.

I have never experienced a cartridge that didn't show its nature after 10 and wasn't stable (meaning substantially broken in) after 25.

I have to wonder if people aren't taking 80-100 hours to learn the cartridge's secrets and master its setup as opposed to it taking this long to break in.

After the RMAF, I'll give this thread a good read, but the above question HAD to be asked.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Thom, I'll raise you 20 and call it 100, but basically I think you're correct. Whether it's 80, 100, or 125 really depends on the cartridge's suspension material, the ambient temperature, and the VTF.

Speaking of VTF, I now recommend breaking in cartridges at about 10% more than their max. rated VTF (up to 100 hours or so) By doing this you won't hurt anything but you gain two things: First, the break-in may take a bit less time (which doesn't really matter a lot -- you're going to play records anyway ;--) but second, and much more important, is that if you want to finally run your cart at max VTF (which a lot of folks are beginning to think sounds/tracks best with MCs) then by overflexing the suspension just a wee bit in the beginning, you can be sure that it will be operating at its rated compliance, even at max VTF.

As for your second statement:

"I have never experienced a cartridge that didn't show its nature after 10 and wasn't stable (meaning substantially broken in) after 25."

I just can't agree with that. In fact, my experience has been the opposite, i.e. I've always been "dissappointed" with my (new) cartridges until right around 50 hours when they begin to change just enough that I realize they're not always going to sound like shreiking banshees!

All this could change (i.e. maybe NO break-in period) if/when better(?) suspension materials come along -- already, Transfiguration advertises that their new suspension material is impervious to changes in temperature and humidity.
.

I think this thread (specifically comparisons of the Orpheus to the universe)has gone awry.

From my listening the actual sonic differences between these two cartridges were much smaller than what people are perceiving from the comments made by Doug. I think their use of phrases like "virtually unable" and "flawed" are a little unjustified in absolute terms. These comments should really be taken in context to the Universe, which was properly set up....and has a reputation to uphold (sorry doug, couldn't resist:).

As Doug confessed, we did not have much time to fully optimize the O's settings. After the experiment, I evaluated the sensitivity of the VTA/SRA and found that I could produce bomminess in the bass with HF and LF smearing when the SRA was too low. Increasing the arm height in my system above the levels we used in Doug's resolved this.

This comparison was flawed in several respects all of which Doug and I mentioned above, and as I said before, I'm a little embarassed for perfroming such an experiment which has led to unnecessary controversy. I think you will see positive press on the Orpheus as more and more reviewers get a chance to hear it. People reading this thread should not assume the Orpheus is a poor design or poor performer.

Andrew

Dear Thom: Yes, any cartridge show its nature after 10: it is a shadow but it is part of its nature.

The essential character after 80-100?, yes ( too ).

There are cartridges, like my Colibri, that take a lot more time to really know their " secrets ".

Anyway, in my case I take a little more time because I'm testing the cartridge with different tonearms and this is very time consuming.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.