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Turning lead into gold ?

Ok I'll admit a lot of stuff we read about makes this claim,but how often are we less than satisfied by the results?

I'd make a wild guess and say that most of the time what we hope will make a huge improvement to our sound,never does ,or at least not to the extent we wished for.

Perhaps that's because most of us are not privileged to do a review of the gear in question with components that can reveal such improvements.

To put it simpler,move up to a better turntable, such as the SME10, Sme V arm,and pop in a brand new pricey cartridge and audio nirvana should be a given.

And I would agree, I've just done that.
Moved up to the SME10,SME V combo.
Not the brand new pricey cartridge however.

Where things have taken a turn is that while waitng for my new upgraded cartridge to arrive,I've had to sink a few levels low and resort to an old, well worn Grado Platinum.

This I thought would be like putting re-treads on a Porsche, and about as foolish as one can get.

Who has ever read any review of an arm or turntable where the reviewer ever used anything but the very best most pricey cartridge available?
Mikey are ya lisning?

But hey when you can eat steak everyday of the week, why settle for a hot dog if you don't have to?

So by all accounts the component in review has a best case scenario for a great review.
Most times this is the case, but some stellar casts of all star performers have been turkeys at the box office ,we've all been privy to these.

But I digress.

What I found out when I had to use the old Grado, was that, I didn't think the sound was bad at all.
It was much better than I had expected, and the new cartridge for 6 times the price should be a game changer, or it better be.

Surprisingly, I never heard in past tables and arms how good that Grado was.
It was always an entry level item, a step along the way,to a much better sounding one.
Or so I always thought.

I now have a new found respect for this old cartridge, and also for how great the Sme combo is.

So the whole point of this is to not just pass some time on a rainy day, like I'm doing with the SME/Grado combo.

It's to point out that the measure of greatness isn't just when all the moons align in perfect sync.

It's when you can add something less than stellar to an all star cast and not feel any less impressed by the performance.

Will the new MC cartridge outperform the Grado?
My guess is yes,and I'll be impressed,but that's just what the reviewers would tell you also, so no news there.

What impresses me most about the SME combo is not that it will make a two grand cartridge sound good, but that it has made a well worn $300.00 one sound so good.

Lead into gold?
lacee
cousinbillyl
190 posts
 
I think 'Stringreen' will be displeased with me.

I have posted the following elsewhere, so I will shorten it.

30 years ago I was a student in London ont.. I went to London Audio, and was given an education in high end.

Straight to the punchline; The Linn LP12 with the top of the line 'tonearm', coupled to their cheapest cartridge "EASILY" outperformed the top of the line cart on the inexpensive tonearm. Case in point, the tonearm is wayyyyy more important then the cartridge. Do not expect a huge change, just a different one. By keeping your expectations low, you will be impressed.

My absolute best analogue rig contained the Zeta tonearm mated to the Koetsu 'Black'. Please realise this combo came into it's own when the Koetsu was near the end of it's life. A rebuild destroyed the magic.

It has been talked about a lot here. Synergy between arm and cart. is the trick. This is a crazy hobby. Don't be surprised if the grado/SME combo is more 'musical'.

Also remember; a well worn cart. is less susepticle to VTA and SRA. You 'will' have to spend a lot of time figeting with the VTA SRA Azimuth, anti-skate, etc. of the MC to get it perfect. Don't even get me started on the problem of album thickness's changing a few parameters.

Good Luck, and keep your expectations manageble.
lacee OP
811 posts
 
The new MC is in the arm and after spinning the first lp, here's my initial impression of a brand new MC 6 times the price of a well worn Grado MM.

Faster, more inner detail,but a bit like a lite beer, definetly not for the warm and romantic types.

Is there 6 times the improvemnet?

Not at this initial stage of the game.

I'll have to say that at this moment in time,the brand new coil is not a great improvemnt over the MM, even after fooling around with the loading in the Steelhead.

I'm not being hard on the coil,maybe the Grado is just a fine cartridge afterall.

I have a friend who really likes the Grado Sonata and he's fooled around with more pricey coils, and still prefers the Grado.

I think I know what he's talking about now.
oilmanmojo
472 posts
 
Cartridges do need a little break in to reach full sonic potential. Also, you will need to optimize the SRA and VTF for the new cartridge. What is the " new " MC?
lacee OP
811 posts
 
I don't wish to post the name of the new cartridge,that's not fair because it does need more playing time,but it is from a well established company with some truly stellar products that get high praise in all the major reviews.

I feel that there is nothing wrong with the new cartridge,it is doing it's job.

This post is about more than a cartridge review, it's about how our expectations can exceede our experiences.

In many cases spending 6 times the cash for a new power amp should provide quite the upgrade,as with most speakers etc.

When it comes to cartridges and cd players I'm afraid, things are not so straight forward.

I've listened to some very expensive digtal gear,some consisting of 4 pieces and costing just a few dollars from 100 grand, and yes it is great, but not 100 times greater.

Speakers, on the other hand,going from 1 grand to 100 grand, and things do change.

My personal take on this is that some things that we use really can't be improved upon to the extent that others can.
A cartridge is made up of only so much stuff, and only so many variables, setting aside craftsmanship,but in a cost to parts comparison, we are not talking about a lot of room for costly raw materials, certainly nothing like the parts cost of some of the top tier speakers.

The same goes for cd players, only so many parts makers and just a bit of juggling these around and re-badging them .Again like cartridges, only so much you can do to set yourself apart from the crowd.

I think the limitations inherent in the designs of each also makes so many of them sound alike.

If you can't tell one amp from another, then good luck with cd players under 10 grand.

Please, don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking any high end products, it's not all hype or smoke and mirrors,but there aren't always nite and day differences either as you go up the ladder.

I can now see why some folks call it quits afterawhile and settle for where they are at.
Diminishing returns,yes,there seems to be a plateau when reached, it's hard to go any further in either direction.

I remember when I started out, there were nite and day differences, but that's typical when you start out,moving from entry level to higher end gear.

It's when you get to a certain level that the Julian Hirsch mindset kicks in and everything starts to sound the same or as great as the last piece you heard.

I am sure the measuremnts improve as the price of admission increases, but it's not always equated to the pleasure factor.
lewm
13,777 posts
 
I believe it is impossible for most of us to make a totally subjective judgement after we have just spent a great deal of money on a new addition to the audio system. Just the fact that you've made the financial commitment will bias you to fall in love with the new at the expense of the old. I try to withhold judgement until several months and many hours of listening are under my belt. As to cartridges, I am absolutely convinced based on my own recent experiences that many relatively cheap MM or MI cartridges can more than compete with many very expensive MCs. On the other side of the coin, surely you did not expect that sonic quality would be directly proportional to the ratio of the price you paid for cartridge A to cartridge B (or insert other component in this equation). That never happens.
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