Glanz moving magnet cartridges

Hi Acman3,

Just ask him to make the adjustments that he made to my (Desmond Bailey) 420. I can see that this involves a new stylus and cantilever but am not certain what else it involves. I know that the last revamp had his most exotic and expensive stylus but I was not fully satisfied with this. Unlike that shibata tip this one is elliptical (I know this denies logic) and the performance is much warmer (more midrange detail) while maintaining the tracking and staging abilities of the original. I hope this helps and let me know if I can be of any assistance or how it goes for you.

As always...

Hi Nandric,

On my sanity, I'm not fully certain and see no way of answering that: a mad man rarely thinks he is thus (rather like turkeys being asked to vote for Thanksgiving).

But the changes do have a major impact on the cartridge. The main change is in the midrange and seeing as that was the only area in which I was unhappy with the original, it seems a major change to me. As I said, it has amazing staging and tracking abilities and this means that the resolution in large scale orchestral works (I cite Mahler's 8th - Solti, Decca as a litmus test here. Just compare its rendition of the colour and detail, say on Side 1, to renditions of the same by other top cartridges) is phenomenal.

I'd therefore still suggest that it's worth a try if you already own the 420 STR and, like myself and a few other present or former owners, are not fully satisfied with its performance.

As always...

Hi All,

Just one more point on the 420STR revamp: it needs careful set up as very small changes (say in VTF and VTA) have a larger than normal affect on its performance. Within a couple of millimetres of parallel it can move from a super rich, midrange vibrant performer to a lean, critical and super analytical one.

Hope this helps.

As always...

Hi Nandric,

Sorry, I just realised that I might have misread your post as questioning my general sanity when it seems you were actually questioning whether I was annoyed with the MM thread. If that is the case, my answer is "no". Sadly, I have turned my attentions elsewhere recently and so do not find the time to follow or respond to much of the interesting commentary on there. I do still try and follow it when the time and inclination allow though.

As always...

Dgob, what changes did Alex performed on the Acutex 420STR ?