Killing sibilance distortion - VPI & Jubilee

Interesting thread. Love that you've taken the trouble to make the sound clips.

I've listened to the 3 different tracks (via pc - Auzentech Prelude directly into Audio Technica AD900 phones) and to be honest I don't find the sibilance to be that bad, though a bit more than desireable. I can certainly understand how sibilance like this could sound over the top with a 'hot' tweeter and/or untreated room acoustics.

My ranking of the SQ of the cartridges would be:
1. Jubilee
2. Benz
3. AT-33

To me the AT-33 sounds quite bland, the Jubilee sounds much more interesting, resolving and tonally neutral (disclaimer, I'm a Jubilee owner).

I find this thread somewhat perplexing because I've found the Jubilee to be probably the least sibilant cartridge I've owned - and certainly the best tracking.
FWIW, I've used the Jubilee in both a Graham 1.5T and Phantom 2, both on the VPI TNT and setup with MintLp tractor.

Hi, Goatwuss, the turntables are mmf-7 with the aluminum Pro-Ject 9 arm. Nothing fancy but they work. The DV-20XL rarely has problems tracking but there are a few recordings that seem to give the cartridge a bit of trouble. The AT33PTG just plays on through. It isn't quite the cartridge that the 20XL is so I don't listen to the 33PTG as often.

Tom

Hi Tobes,

Thanks for chiming in! It's good to get another opinion on here, even if it's different from mine.

To me, the sibilance distortion on the Jubilee sounds really bad regardless of system. What I've been using for the most part is my Sennheiser HD-650, plugged into Corda Aria amp, plugged into an Auzen Meridian sound card. I hear it the same way in both my 2 channel room (Gallo 3.1, Supratek pre, Wyred amp, heavily treated), and my HT room (Anthem electronics, GR Research sealed box monitors w/ ribbon tweeters)

The Benz is a bit better, and the AT much better than the Benz on the sibilance to my ears. I'm sure different ears, different systems, all plays into this, but for whatever reason sibilance distortion really bugs me.

To me, other than the sibilance, the audio quality sounds really close between the carts. I probably agree with your rankings, but to me the better sibilance handling of the AT far outweighs the other gains that the Jubilee and the Benz carts may have.

Does anyone else have any comments about the cartridge sound quality differences/rankings from these audio clips?

That is interesting that you've found the Jubilee to be your best tracking cartridge. The big variable here is the tonearm. You are using Graham arms, and I am using a JMW9sig. It is completely possible, though as of now not confirmed to me, that the whole problem could be the matching with the tonearm (or just the tonearm itself), as opposed to just the tracking capability of the cartridge. My suspicion is that the Graham arms are much better at tracking than the JMW9sig.

I also wonder if there are any top notch, high end carts that track as well as the AT33PTG. ZYX perhaps, as Doug mentions above?

Goatwuss, I would have thought the medium compliance Jubilee (16cu) would be a good match to the JMW9 - at least from a low freq resonance perspective.
Is it possible that the JMW9 doesn't 'like' the heavier weight of the Jubilee (10.5g)?
For reference the Benz L2 weighs 9g and AT33 weighs 6.8g.
Looking at the specs the AT33 would appear to have medium compliance (at 10hz) and low weight, which perhaps works better with the JMW9.

When using the Jubilee in the Graham 1.5T, I always used the heavier counterweight - the Phantom 2 comes stock with a large diameter heavy C/W located close to the pivot - ie designed to work with heavier cartridges. In effective mass terms the 1.5T was supposedly around 11g, and judging by the lowering of fundamental resonance with the HFNRR disc, the Phantom 2 has a somewhat higher effective mass.

If the JMW9 does prefer lighter cartridges, then a ZYX at 5g and 15cu could be a just the ticket. Best to ask Doug, I have no personal experience with the ZYX (though I once owned their grand-daddy the Monster Sigma Genesis).

I heard a Rega P5 with a Benz Ace today. Sounded really good on the sibilants... RB701 perhaps?