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...
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...