It is interesting, the more expensive or rare a unit is, the more it is hyped. This is more or less normal ("..I never was mad for their cheaper models but THAT one is really something special, a revelation... I can't be without it....try to get it...highly recommended..." but what does it show in reality?
In most cases you can use the same descriptions for a 1.5k cartridge, no big difference. Some of the real expensive ones are indeed nothing special, more or less good for the Ego of the owner only.
I compared all my cartridges among themselves and I never had a problem to use one which is "only" 1k$ and lots of them are much better than most think.
I sold more expensive ones based on low performance than I expected, sometimes it was frustrating. And not because I didn't "like" it, most lacked in Performance or were quite simply wrong in the frequencies. They simply do not sound like music, the "High end" was only their price tag.
Of course most love the Olympos (because it is so rare and you can't get it when you want...) but after all my years in analog I know, most don't know why that one is special. Even when they buy it, they won't hear it. Because their System can't show the difference.It is not more of detail, deeper bass than others, the abilities are somewhere else.
Cartridges are mostly a tool to compensate something in the Playback System, sometimes I wonder what would happen when a cartridge would do everything right and the price would be "only" 2k$.
For most it would be uninteresting, because wouldn't be a task to get it. And listening to music would be boring.
In most cases you can use the same descriptions for a 1.5k cartridge, no big difference. Some of the real expensive ones are indeed nothing special, more or less good for the Ego of the owner only.
I compared all my cartridges among themselves and I never had a problem to use one which is "only" 1k$ and lots of them are much better than most think.
I sold more expensive ones based on low performance than I expected, sometimes it was frustrating. And not because I didn't "like" it, most lacked in Performance or were quite simply wrong in the frequencies. They simply do not sound like music, the "High end" was only their price tag.
Of course most love the Olympos (because it is so rare and you can't get it when you want...) but after all my years in analog I know, most don't know why that one is special. Even when they buy it, they won't hear it. Because their System can't show the difference.It is not more of detail, deeper bass than others, the abilities are somewhere else.
Cartridges are mostly a tool to compensate something in the Playback System, sometimes I wonder what would happen when a cartridge would do everything right and the price would be "only" 2k$.
For most it would be uninteresting, because wouldn't be a task to get it. And listening to music would be boring.