I also second Daniel's appreciation of the Professor's contributions to this thread.
I have found his encyclopedic mind....and faultless ears.....to be a guiding light for me in this honorable quest for analogue perfection :^)
His recommendation of any cartridge should never go uninvestigated and the recent mention of the Acutex LPM 310/312/315/320 is a case in point.
From the depths of Kentucky.......a well packed parcel arrived chez moi containing said mentioned Acutex :^)
A difficult run-in period (especially on the 315) saw dividends with the 312 eventually singing on the TT-101 turntable.
Mounted on my 'go-to' Yamamoto Ebony headshell in my 'go-to' multiple-adjustable MA-505S tonearm........the Acutex LPM 312 enveloped my room (and within it my ears) with a sound so lush and exciting....it is probably banned in certain states of the southern USA?
That it must be 'coloured' goes without saying :^)
If we emphasise the lower registers so that they 'hit' the guts whilst retaining a tunefulness and tightness more akin to the 'real thing' than any other cartridge I have heard...........we must have a 'coloured' sound?
If....at the same time......the midrange stuns with a realism and three-dimensionality almost unimaginable from a cartridge costing somewhat less than $10,000.......we must have a 'coloured' sound?
Add a high-frequency performance which shimmers and tingles and vibrates and shines without a hint of harshness or distortion and we must have a 'coloured sound'?
Throw in a soundstage that reaches forward and swallows you whilst showing you a room you never had behind your speakers and we must have a 'coloured sound'?
But can it really be 'coloured' when ALL these attributes are combined at the same time?
Can we really be suspicious that one cartridge can be so revealing compared to others when we see that one turntable can be?
Why are we surprised that one component can get it right whilst most others can miss the mark so badly?
OK.....so I'm drunk! But as well as being intoxicated on a fine blend of Scotch.....I am also intoxicated on a sound conjured by a small metal and plastic blob sitting on the end of my tonearm.
Will I persist with the recalcitrant LPM 315? You bet I will......why?.......because the Professor tells me to :^)
I have found his encyclopedic mind....and faultless ears.....to be a guiding light for me in this honorable quest for analogue perfection :^)
His recommendation of any cartridge should never go uninvestigated and the recent mention of the Acutex LPM 310/312/315/320 is a case in point.
From the depths of Kentucky.......a well packed parcel arrived chez moi containing said mentioned Acutex :^)
A difficult run-in period (especially on the 315) saw dividends with the 312 eventually singing on the TT-101 turntable.
Mounted on my 'go-to' Yamamoto Ebony headshell in my 'go-to' multiple-adjustable MA-505S tonearm........the Acutex LPM 312 enveloped my room (and within it my ears) with a sound so lush and exciting....it is probably banned in certain states of the southern USA?
That it must be 'coloured' goes without saying :^)
If we emphasise the lower registers so that they 'hit' the guts whilst retaining a tunefulness and tightness more akin to the 'real thing' than any other cartridge I have heard...........we must have a 'coloured' sound?
If....at the same time......the midrange stuns with a realism and three-dimensionality almost unimaginable from a cartridge costing somewhat less than $10,000.......we must have a 'coloured' sound?
Add a high-frequency performance which shimmers and tingles and vibrates and shines without a hint of harshness or distortion and we must have a 'coloured sound'?
Throw in a soundstage that reaches forward and swallows you whilst showing you a room you never had behind your speakers and we must have a 'coloured sound'?
But can it really be 'coloured' when ALL these attributes are combined at the same time?
Can we really be suspicious that one cartridge can be so revealing compared to others when we see that one turntable can be?
Why are we surprised that one component can get it right whilst most others can miss the mark so badly?
OK.....so I'm drunk! But as well as being intoxicated on a fine blend of Scotch.....I am also intoxicated on a sound conjured by a small metal and plastic blob sitting on the end of my tonearm.
Will I persist with the recalcitrant LPM 315? You bet I will......why?.......because the Professor tells me to :^)