2. analog
  3. 1340396949

Moving coil with a bit less leading edge

I'm interested in a moving coil cartridge that offers a little less on the leading edge, and perhaps a bit more on decay or the trailing edge. In other words, something a little easier on the ears without sounding noticeably blunted or dulled. Thanks for your suggestions/impressions.
opus88
pani
1,220 posts
 
Actually sometimes very simple things when analyzed too deep seem really complex. Hifi is littered with equipments which do detail for the sake of detail, transparency at the expense of presence, soundstage at the expense of body etc etc...obviously there is market for such products. One may say, after all this is what hifi brings to the table compared to lo-fi. The point is even the cartridge world such examples are in plenty..why is it so difficult to accept that ? Why do we need to get into deep analysis of live music ? Just to defend such cartridges ? Thats not really important to someone who doesnt want to get into the hyper-detailed hifi world. Why has no one spoken about Miyabi 47 till now in this thread ?
frogman
7,497 posts
 
Some really excellent and insightful comments above. But, no one is trying to defend unrealistically bright and aggressive cartridges. Lew, they certainly do exist; way too many of them. I think that the point that Doug, Pete, myself and others are making is that contrary to what appears to be the OP's goal (based on the original post), adding a cartridge that, by design, blunts the leading edge and tames the high frequencies is usually a recipe for failure. Better to think about the system as a whole and go for as much realism as possible every step of the way, particulary in those components closest to the source.
opus88 OP
530 posts
 
I get the gist of what you're saying, Lino. Personal tastes notwithstanding, when it comes to reproduced music you make good sense, and so do Doug and Pete. What I took issue with previously were Doug's comments about having so sit in better seats or better halls to avoid hearing sound as rounded. Perhaps there was some confusion or misreading centering around the term rounded. Based on my elaboration above, I hope I have corrected that.
pani
1,220 posts
 
If the brain is rejecting something, there must be something artificial about it that one is too sensitive to. No amount of live music listening at any chair can fix that IMO.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Frogman,
Thanks for clarifying. You said it simply and clearly, and without any annoying overshoot/ringing on the leading edge. ;)

Opus88,

I didn't know what halls you frequent, so thanks for clarifying. I haven't been to the Musikverein or Concertgebouw, unfortunately, but like most classical buffs I have many recordings made there. Their renowned "warmth" is quite audible in the rich harmonics and long decays, yet I don't hear any rounding at all, plenty of clean, crisp leading edges. I think we suffered a vocabulary malfunction. :)

As Frogman said, your OP did seem to be seeking a bandaid approach. It was that which I was urging against. By finding the VTA adjustment problem you actutally did what I'd recommended: identifed the source of the problem. Good job!

Doug

P.S. On any arm with a threaded VTA/SRA tower, it's advisable to make adjustments by taking the arm below where you want to end up, then move it back UP to the desired setting. This takes up the backlash in the threads and assures that the arm is actually at the setting you want. This was discussed several years ago on my "TriPlanar Tips" thread but it applies to any arm with a similar design.
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