EMT 927 vs. Micro Seiki 5000 or 8000 - different?

I guess your opinion of "stuck" and "so so" is also quite subjective. I kinda remember the TSD15 was your or one of your favorite cartridges at one time or am I mistaken? The 997i is standard mount i.e. square pins, can work with most good cartridges (MC of course) and can be dropped right into a 927. Not so "stuck" anymore. Although as many know, the TSD15 and the OFD series of cartridges are up there with the best of them.

For what its worth, the 927 and 950 are quite different and can not be compared. The 927 is a whole different level of sonic performance compared to a 950. The 950 is/was great at what is was designed for- extremely fast starts for a radio station. Same can/should be said of the Technics SP series... they leave much to be desired sonically IMHO. To compare other high quality decks to a 950 is not so meanigful for me, its a good table but not "great." And you know how I feel about the 301 so no arguments from me. I'd still say the 927 is a really great table- much better than most, if not all, of the other 16" decks you mentioned- to my ears. Technically we have no contest. A EMT 927 is an engineering marvel and with the very rare exception, nothing has ever been made at this level and probably never will be again. Thats worth something or a lot depending on your personal take. Me, I'm happy to have my 927 and its not going anywhere anytime soon. I guess I'll just have to keep suffering which is better than falling off the bandwagon and risking my cueing arm.

Hi Vinyljh,

As the importer of the reproduction EMT 997 arm (Tone Imports) you have a cock in the ring on this. I don't. I'm also not comparing an EMT 950 with a 997 either. Just wanted to say I'm not against EMT- I also own one. I keep a lot of decks around as a reference.

As a huge fan of idler drive turntables, I think its great that people on this forum are discussing the EMT 997. I think its great that someone who owns a Continuum Caliburn likes a 50 year old idler drive turntable, too, perhaps even more than his $100K deck. That makes me smile.

As for the EMT carts, well, not my favorite, but nonetheless good carts.

Best,

Jonathan

Blue_Nose, thanks for your input as well as from Ipp, Vinyljh and Jonathan.

some of my gear may look expensive but somehow I was able to pick it up for very modest prices, even the Continuum Criterion ( its not a Caliburn, I would not have gone for it and do describe the reasons in the Caliburn thread).
My biggest bargain was the Micro SX 8000 II which I was able to buy when I returned from Tokyo under 10.000 some 15 years ago. But I do not wanna express how good I am in buying, I also bought some things for
too much regarding the value they have now. As I did own some TTs and tonearms in the last years listening to the gear in my own system I do sell them from time to time. Dertonearm does support my efforts.

Why do I mention this? I think the fascination in this hobby is listening to audio items in your own environment. There are many good tables out there. The discussion about the different drives is very funny, I have some
experience with all of them. When it comes to the idler drive there are some audio friends who will never accept a table of this kind. What a
mistake!

If an idler concept is well implemented, you see it also with the
Anastase,and also well serviced it is more than just transporting deep frequencies.

The Criterion built up to the extension as I did is a very good example how excellent TTs can be designed and produced even today. The superior sound quality of a 50 year old R 80 might be a big suprise to
many among us but not for the guys who are already owning a well serviced 927. I fullly understand Vinyljh that he will never depart from his EMT. The 950 is a very good car but for having fun you better use your convertible in the garage...

i forgot to answer Blue_Nose on the horn question. No, not from Cessario. I am building my own 4 way Horn system including two additional & exceptional Subs. Two guys are supporting me, a very well known German technology advisor in High-End Audio and a splendid carpenter. We will use TAD berrylium drivers for some of the installations. Launching date is end of March.

At 1990 for a brief period of 4 months, I use to listen via the EMT 950 that comes to me as a trade for my Piere Lurnee J4/SL5. To my personal taste, this TT failed to please me with it's perspective performance. But then, the same failure at these present days exposed by the Shindo 301 also! It seems to me that these 2 TT plays the music without the usual hi-fi trends, but mostly in a plain & unpretentious manner that shamelessly trascends the flamboyant & glitzy reproduction by refusing to analyse the signal into myriad pieces of innermost details, in favor for a more humble, naturalistic & coherent performance.
There are not any similarities to their way they play music, other than the above mentioned AND ...
... their dull, dark, clumsy, cloudy & veiled character.
IMHO there are quality layers of this holistic view & uncontrived perspective, depended by the offered clarity, transparency, speed & dynamic impact. An analogy between a 92db paper cone full-range driver & a 106db compression driver. Or between the Grado wood body cartridges & the London Decca Reference.
I agree that the EMT 950 was designed for practical studio priorities & not for top performance. I remember clearly my preferance for my Denon DP 80 / SME V / Grasshopper III M those days, that it was better overall, being more genuinly honest & balanced in it's own monitor way.
I can't say a thing about the 927 or 930 as I've never seen them in person, but I like the Idler drive sound even more than the finest Direct drives, for the emotional involvement that can engage when critically executed avoiding overdamping that can mask & veil their clarity.
Today I've found peace of mind with a Thorens TD124mkII and I'm almost done with my Lenco GL75 project and what I've found so far to be the most important thing in our hobby, is the learned & practiced skill that comes after many wrong decisions & disappointing results :
There are many paths to find pleasure in building a successful system. ... And the certain way to discarce this hobby is by having high expectations for ANY project in order to justify your expense. So, the rest of us with modest length of pockets, lets get over this giant iconoclastic EMT 927 & put some love & devotion into our formal way to fight our demons. Me too I've had the Studer C37 and I was staying ecstatic upon it's innards, but I felt OK when I substitute it for the Teac Z 7000 tape deck and even better the day that I got rid of this also, in order to dismantle my worries about their repairing needs.
You see the peace of mind only comes when you can listen to your fav music without such worries
.... unless of course your budjet is unlimited.
My point is that :
There are conponents that in pursuit of the art of music reproduction, are designed without compromise. But the cost & the difficulty of purchase, of maintenance service, of repairing service & even handling them without problems could be a serious insulting factor to our state of calm.
And there are some humble but inventive & sophisticated (ie: Lenco L75/Technics EPA100, Denon DP80/SME 312S ) that could bring a careless enjoyment without breaking our nerves & our bank account.
Are we having fun by collecting these mythical titans or we just care for a more faithful & puristic perpoduction ?
Can you answer honestly ?