Cardani - The "NOS" EDR.9 I received was claimed to be unused and sat on the shelf for 20+ years. As it turns out its arrival came a few days before Raul's visit to our area. It was a pleasure to meet him in person and to hear his Essential 3150 in a number of systems in town. The details of these terrific 4-5 days with Raul and his preamp will be posted in a separate thread.
During one of many of our analog listening sessions, we heard several recordings using a Miyabi/47 Labs MC (100 Ohm load), JMW 12.5, and VPI Extended Aries 1 through at least three phonostages. A nice feature of the JMW arm is that it makes it easy to compare cartridges if you have multiple arm wands. I surprised the group by showing them the EDR.9 already mounted (with VTF and azimuth already set) on another JMW arm wand. This cartridge had not seen a groove.
Out came the arm with the Miyabi, in went the wand with the EDR.9 and the Essential 3150 phonostage was set to MM. For starters, the VTA was quickly adjusted to a "neutral" position. This was done using a VDH spirit level aligned on top of the headshell, parallel to the tangential line along which the cartridge tracks the groove. [I have found that using this inexpensive tool leads to more repeatable VTA and azimuth settings than the standard eyeball methods.] So now we were ready to hear this oldie. Except for the MM setting and the SPL level, all other parameters were equal -- TT, arm, wire, IC, etc.
We listened again to the last LP heard through the Miyabi -- Eagles' Hotel California on the When Hell Freezes Over live album. The first task was to try and match the volume level to that of the Miyabi/MC setup. I can't remember if we did or not [likely not]. Instead what I remembered most was how the four of us were all taken by the quality of the music that came through. OK so the Eagles album is not acoustic and is far from a minimally mic'd recording. So we put on Rutter's Pie Jesus of Reference Recordings and we continued to smile.
No, the EDR.9 did not outperform the Miyabi. In all of the parameters mentioned below the Miyabi was more refined and was at a higher level of performance quality overall. But the differences between them were not night and day and the EDR.9 VERY impressively held its own. It immediately called attention to itself with its terrific tonal balance with convincingly natural timbral presentation of instruments and voices. It had acceptable dynamics & articulation while also having relatively smooth presentation (see below for more details). It was resolving and had good image focus with convincing layering, depth and overall scale of soundstage. We continued to smile...
The HF playback of the EDR.9 was the only area that stood out as not getting near enough to the Miyabi's performance. It just did not have the smoothness and tended to be on the brittle & hashy side (not in a dramatic way, only enough to be noticable). This was particularly evident in cymbals and sibilances. To these observations Raul replies, "BUT REMEMBER, THIS CARTRIDGE HAS NEVER BEEN PLAYED BEFORE." He went on to recommend at least 50-100 hours of break in before it "settles".
So you can see how why we never got to exactly matching the volume levels. We were so taken by the music the EDR.9 delivered. So what if we were missing the last 5% or so (hypothetical only with no quantitative basis) of what the top cartridges can do. It simply does not matter with the EDR.9. So what if you break the cantilever. The stylus replacement cost is around $55-60 USD + shipping. ;-)
Wanna continue to enjoy your LPs and increase the life of your MC's and bring them out only for special listening sessions or for critical listening? You can with the EDR.9. Thanks Raul for introducing me to this cartridge.
[Note: As an FYI, I consider the Miyabi/47 Labs MC to be among the top MCs I have heard. It is different in construction and in sonics from prior Miyabi MC versions, including those made with other manufacturers' label.
Other favorite MCs of mine are:
1) the Colibri - no two I have seen/heard are alike and you really have to know your system and your listening priorities well to appropriately place an order for one, and
2) and XV-1S.
All three of the above I own and I have compared and prefer them over the Condor, Universe, Rosewood Signature Platinum, Shelter 9000, or Jubilee. These five cartridges I prefer over the likes of Shelter 901, Koetsu Rosewood signature, and Celebration. I have not heard the Transfigutation Temper or Orpheus, Titan, Allaerts, Shelter 90X, or other Zyx cartridges.
I have not yet compared the EDR.9 to my other cartridges. It would also be great to compare other quality MM to it, so stay tuned.]
During one of many of our analog listening sessions, we heard several recordings using a Miyabi/47 Labs MC (100 Ohm load), JMW 12.5, and VPI Extended Aries 1 through at least three phonostages. A nice feature of the JMW arm is that it makes it easy to compare cartridges if you have multiple arm wands. I surprised the group by showing them the EDR.9 already mounted (with VTF and azimuth already set) on another JMW arm wand. This cartridge had not seen a groove.
Out came the arm with the Miyabi, in went the wand with the EDR.9 and the Essential 3150 phonostage was set to MM. For starters, the VTA was quickly adjusted to a "neutral" position. This was done using a VDH spirit level aligned on top of the headshell, parallel to the tangential line along which the cartridge tracks the groove. [I have found that using this inexpensive tool leads to more repeatable VTA and azimuth settings than the standard eyeball methods.] So now we were ready to hear this oldie. Except for the MM setting and the SPL level, all other parameters were equal -- TT, arm, wire, IC, etc.
We listened again to the last LP heard through the Miyabi -- Eagles' Hotel California on the When Hell Freezes Over live album. The first task was to try and match the volume level to that of the Miyabi/MC setup. I can't remember if we did or not [likely not]. Instead what I remembered most was how the four of us were all taken by the quality of the music that came through. OK so the Eagles album is not acoustic and is far from a minimally mic'd recording. So we put on Rutter's Pie Jesus of Reference Recordings and we continued to smile.
No, the EDR.9 did not outperform the Miyabi. In all of the parameters mentioned below the Miyabi was more refined and was at a higher level of performance quality overall. But the differences between them were not night and day and the EDR.9 VERY impressively held its own. It immediately called attention to itself with its terrific tonal balance with convincingly natural timbral presentation of instruments and voices. It had acceptable dynamics & articulation while also having relatively smooth presentation (see below for more details). It was resolving and had good image focus with convincing layering, depth and overall scale of soundstage. We continued to smile...
The HF playback of the EDR.9 was the only area that stood out as not getting near enough to the Miyabi's performance. It just did not have the smoothness and tended to be on the brittle & hashy side (not in a dramatic way, only enough to be noticable). This was particularly evident in cymbals and sibilances. To these observations Raul replies, "BUT REMEMBER, THIS CARTRIDGE HAS NEVER BEEN PLAYED BEFORE." He went on to recommend at least 50-100 hours of break in before it "settles".
So you can see how why we never got to exactly matching the volume levels. We were so taken by the music the EDR.9 delivered. So what if we were missing the last 5% or so (hypothetical only with no quantitative basis) of what the top cartridges can do. It simply does not matter with the EDR.9. So what if you break the cantilever. The stylus replacement cost is around $55-60 USD + shipping. ;-)
Wanna continue to enjoy your LPs and increase the life of your MC's and bring them out only for special listening sessions or for critical listening? You can with the EDR.9. Thanks Raul for introducing me to this cartridge.
[Note: As an FYI, I consider the Miyabi/47 Labs MC to be among the top MCs I have heard. It is different in construction and in sonics from prior Miyabi MC versions, including those made with other manufacturers' label.
Other favorite MCs of mine are:
1) the Colibri - no two I have seen/heard are alike and you really have to know your system and your listening priorities well to appropriately place an order for one, and
2) and XV-1S.
All three of the above I own and I have compared and prefer them over the Condor, Universe, Rosewood Signature Platinum, Shelter 9000, or Jubilee. These five cartridges I prefer over the likes of Shelter 901, Koetsu Rosewood signature, and Celebration. I have not heard the Transfigutation Temper or Orpheus, Titan, Allaerts, Shelter 90X, or other Zyx cartridges.
I have not yet compared the EDR.9 to my other cartridges. It would also be great to compare other quality MM to it, so stay tuned.]