Titan, Transfiguration Orpheus or Air Tight PC1??

One should be mindful in all these exchanges about cartridge loading- whether that was done in the case of each system and experience where cartridges are compared. For example, if you were to listen to the PC1 you might think that it is cold and analytical, but this cartridge is very sensitive to loading and if the loading value is 47K, the above result will be your conclusion. Yet, loaded, the PC1 is quite involving and musical.

In fact the loading issue IMO/IME is so important that I would regard it as more important than the choice of cartridges in this thread! Is there any way to know in the previous posts how many cartridges were loaded at critical damping, how many were approximated, and how many were at the 'stock' 47K?? It would make this discussion more useful...

Dear Atmasphere: No, I don't run any of those cartridges at 47K and yes I agree one important factor is how we load a cartridge.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Hello Sunnyboy, it is a Miyabi Standard (Metal Body, not plastic like the 47Lab version), a good match with the Triplanar, but different Sound compared to the Skala (and the other ones)

PC-1 was loaded at 500 ohms ultimately. For me the Titan I was better. Not night & day but still clearly better. I have owned both the Skala & Titan I. The description above is accurate but fails to address where the Skala's performance excels beyond the Titan I. It has excellent low resolution detail and a superior sense of space. This is at the expense of bass impact| dynamic contrast & body. Hard to pick a cartridge that does it all. That is until you try a Colibri that is optimized for your system. Yet the Titan I is preferred from time to time. It is more forgiving on many recordings & conveys a nice alternative balance of body & detail. Still for me a Colibri is an 80% of the time cartridge.

Jfrech

There were only the two Spiral Groove decks in that room in 2008. I could only say a word about the whole setup, which I found very detailed and dynamic.
I could detect the sonic signature of Triplanar in the sound, and also the Skala's sonic signature in this high-resolution setup. I also had the Skala in my system at home for some time, but despite its high resolution I dislike it for its sound.
Look here: http://www.tnt-audio.com/shows/munich08b_e.html

But in 2007, I could listen to an early prototype of the Spiral Groove in the same room, where a Raven One was playing the day before, using same Schroeder tonearm and Lyra cartridge. It was with big Magnepan speakers and Rowland amps. I found this early model a bit on the detailed, analytical side compared to the more integrated presentation of the Raven One. Coming to personal preference, I liked the Raven more. I discussed this with others at the show, and some disagreed.
Look here: http://www.tnt-audio.com/shows/munich07a_e.html

Sorry that I cannot really answer your question. You have to go out and listen for yourself. At this gear level all the analogue setup qualities are quite hit-or-miss the synergy and perceptions are very subjective. Then, judging the sound quality of gear at a show is difficult and dangerous, both.

best regards, Hartmut