Dear Mauidj, Nolitan (content consolidation from another thread):
>What is the expected price and will it be shipping in quantities?
Due to currency fluctuations, differences in the cost of doing business in various countries etc., the price will vary depending on the country. However, according to Music Direct, the US retail price will be US$1500.
http://www.musicdirect.com/product/86577
>will it be shipping in quantities?
Each Delos is hand-made by one man and his apprentice, so quantities will never be as high as, say, an Ortofon or Benz-Micro of similar price. That said, to us the Delos will be a large-volume product (smile).
>still curious how you would describe the sound as compared to the Argo
The Argo has a relatively dynamic, immediate, upfront and incisive sound which is particularly well-suited for rhythms. The Dorian is less forward and more relaxed, somewhat softer but also a little less resolving.
What I hear from the Delos is generally better tracking (the first 50 cartridges all seem to clear 80um), wider dynamic range and resolution with both louder and softer sounds. This results in greater timbral differences between instruments in the same frequency range, and also among notes played by the same instrument. When I listen to very good acoustic performers playing live, I am continually struck by the wide range of sounds that they can coax out of their instruments.
For example, I heard Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea and Lenny White play at the Blue Note in Tokyo this past Sunday, and each performer was pulling a huge range of sounds and phrasing out of his instrument, and doing so with ease and impeccable taste. Each note had individual character, likewise each phrase. This wide range of sounds and phrases gives these artists a very wide vocabulary of sounds to choose from and use, which directly translates into their ability to sound extraordinarily expressive. If Stanley, Chick or Lenny were to reduce the range of sounds and phrasing that each pulled out of his instrument, I am pretty sure that they wouldn't sound quite as expressive.
When I listen to recordings and consider how a similar performer or instrument would sound live, I am reminded that recordings sound far more "homogenized" (as in various notes sounding more similar rather than more different), and therefore simpler and less musically expressive (as well as less "real"). Although the Delos has more immediacy and conveys a stronger sense of presence than with the Dorian or Argo, what I find particularly attractive is that the homogenizing effect that you normally hear from recordings is in notably less evidence. IOW, the Delos does a better job than the Argo or Dorian at conveying the individuality and vividness of each note and phrase, and sounds that amount closer to the range of expressiveness that you'd hear from the musician in person. At the end of the day, the Delos gives you deeper musical insight and a more educational, more rewarding experience from the recordings that you listen to, which I think are worthwhile.
These sonic benefits arise largely because the vertical tracking force no longer needs to be a compromise between more secure mechanical trackability (which requires higher force) and maximum magnetic linearity (which generally requires lower force). The Delos' engineering approach allows the tracking force to be set for a net value that gives secure mechanical tracking as well as minimal magnetic biasing and maximum electrical linearity and sensitivity, which is not the case with any other cartridge that I am aware of (please refer to the following pdf on the AudioNord website).
http://www.audionord.se/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/delos-tracking-angle-compared-1-v12.pdf
cheers and thanks
